Soil-nitrogen net mineralization increased after nearly six years of continuous nitrogen additions in a subtropical bamboo ecosystem

In order to understand the effects of increasing atmospheric nitrogen （N） deposition on the subtropical bamboo ecosystem, a nearly six-year field experiment was conducted in a Pleioblastus amarus plantation in the rainy region of SW China, near the western edge of Sichuan Basin. Four N treatment levels---control （no N added）, low- N （50 kg N ha-1 a-l）, medium-N （150 kg N ha-1 a-l）, and high-N （300 kg N ha-1 a-1）--were applied monthly in the P. amarus plantation starting in November 2007. In June 2012, we collected intact soil cores in the bamboo plantation and conducted a 30-day laboratory incubation experiment. The results showed that the soil N net miner- alization rate was 0.96 4- 0.10 mg N kg-1 day-1, under control treatment. N additions stimulated the soil N net mineralization, and the high-N treatment significantly increased the soil N net mineralization rate compared with the control. Moreover, the soil N net mineralization rate was significantly and positively correlated with the fine root biomass, the soil microbial biomass nitrogen content and the soil initial inorganic N content, respectively,whereas it was negatively correlated with the soil pH value. There were no significant relationships between the soil N net mineralization rate and the soil total nitrogen （TN） content and the soil total organic carbon content and the soil C/N ratio and the soil microbial biomass carbon con- tent, respectively. These results suggest that N additions would improve the mineral N availability in the topsoil of the P. amarus plantation through the effects of N additions on soil chemical and physical characteristics and fine-root biomass.