Litter decomposition and C and N dynamics as affected by N additions in a semi-arid temperate steppe, Inner Mongolia of China

Litter decomposition is the fundamental process in nutrient cycling and soil carbon（C） sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems. The global-wide increase in nitrogen（N） inputs is expected to alter litter decomposition and,ultimately, affect ecosystem C storage and nutrient status. Temperate grassland ecosystems in China are usually N-deficient and particularly sensitive to the changes in exogenous N additions. In this paper, we conducted a 1,200-day in situ experiment in a typical semi-arid temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia to investigate the litter decomposition as well as the dynamics of litter C and N concentrations under three N addition levels（low N with 50 kg N/（hm2？a）（LN）, medium N with 100 kg N/（hm2？a）（MN）, and high N with 200 kg N/（hm2？a）（HN）） and three N addition forms（ammonium-N-based with 100 kg N/（hm2？a） as ammonium sulfate（AS）, nitrate-N-based with 100 kg N/（hm2？a） as sodium nitrate（SN）, and mixed-N-based with 100 kg N/（hm2？a） as calcium ammonium nitrate（CAN）） compared to control with no N addition（CK）. The results indicated that the litter mass remaining in all N treatments exhibited a similar decomposition pattern： fast decomposition within the initial 120 days, followed by a relatively slow decomposition in the remaining observation period（120–1,200 days）. The decomposition pattern in each treatment was fitted well in two split-phase models, namely, a single exponential decay model in phase I（〈398 days） and a linear decay function in phase II（≥398 days）. The three N addition levels exerted insignificant effects on litter decomposition in the early stages（〈398 days, phase I; P〉0.05）. However, MN and HN treatments inhibited litter mass loss after 398 and 746 days, respectively（P〈0.05）. AS and SN treatments exerted similar effects on litter mass remaining during the entire decomposition period（P〉0.05）. The effects of these two N addition forms differed greatly from those of CAN after 746 and 1,053 days, respectively（P〈0.05）. During the decomposition period, N concentrations in the decomposing litter increased whereas C concentrations decreased, which also led to an exponential decrease in litter C：N ratios in all treatments. No significant effects were induced by N addition levels and forms on litter C and N concentrations（P〉0.05）. Our results indicated that exogenous N additions could exhibit neutral or inhibitory effects on litter decomposition, and the inhibitory effects of N additions on litter decomposition in the final decay stages are not caused by the changes in the chemical qualities of the litter, such as endogenous N and C concentrations. These results will provide an important data basis for the simulation and prediction of C cycle processes in future N-deposition scenarios.

Responses of soil microbial respiration to plantations depend on soil properties in subtropical China

Assessing the impact of plantation on microbial respiration （MR） is vitally important to understand the interactions between belowground metabolism and land use change. In this study, cumulative MR was determined by alkali absorption method in 1, 3, 7, 14, 21,28, 35, 42, 49, and 56 days from the soil in a representative plantations in the subtropical region of China. The treatment of plantations contained no plant （CK）, orange trees （Citrus reticulata）＋Bahia grass （Paspalum notatum） （GB）, orange trees （C. reticulata）＋Bahia grass （P. notatum）＋soybean （Giycine max （L.） Merrill） （GBH）. Results showed that plantation had significant effects on microbial respiration and the responses of microbial respiration to plantation from different soil layers and topographies were different： in 0-20 cm in uphill： GB〉GBH〉CK; in 20-40 cm in uphill： GBH〉CK〉GB; in 0-20 cm in downhill： GBH〉CK〉GB; in 20-40 cm in downhill： GB〉CK〉GBH. Furthermore, plantation also altered the relationships between MR and soil properties. In CK, microbial respiration was positively correlated with NH4＋ and soil total N, and negatively correlated with soil moisture, pH, NO3-, and microbial biomass carbon （MBC）. In GB, microbial respira- tion under GB significantly negatively correlated with dissolved organic carbon （DOC）. In GBH, microbial respiration under GBH was positively correlated with NH4＋, MBC, total soil carbon （TC）, and total soil nitrogen （TN）, and negatively correlated with soil moisture （SM）, pH, NO-, and DOC. The underlying mechanisms could be attributed to soil heterogeneity and the effects of plantation on soil properties. Our results also showed that plantation significantly increased soil C storage, which suggested plantation is a key measure to enhance soil C sequestration and mitigate global CO2 emission, especially for the soil with low initial soil carbon content or bared soil.

Effects of a conversion from grassland to cropland on the different soil organic carbon fractions in Inner Mongolia, China

Cultivation is one of the most important human activities affecting the grassland ecosystem besides grazing, but its impacts on soil total organic carbon （C）, especially on the liable organic C fractions have not been fully understood yet. In this paper, the role of cropping in soil organic C pool of different fractions was investigated in a meadow steppe region in Inner Mongolia of China, and the relationships between different C fractions were also discussed. The results indicated that the concentrations of different C fractions at steppe and cultivated land all decreased progressively with soil depth. After the conversion from steppe to spring wheat field for 36 years, total organic carbon （TOC） concentration at the 0 to 100 cm soil depth has decreased by 12.3% to 28.2%, and TOC of the surface soil horizon, especially those of 0-30 cm decreased more significantly （p〈0.01）. The dissolved organic carbon （DOC） and microbial biomass carbon （MBC） at the depth of 0-40 cm were found to have decreased by 66.7% to 77.1% and 36.5% to 42.4%, respectively. In the S.baicalensis steppe, the ratios of soil DOC to TOC varied between 0.52% and 0.60%, and those in the spring wheat field were only in the range of 0.18%-0.20%. The microbial quotients （qMBs） in the spring wheat field, varying from 1.11% to 1.40%, were also lower than those in the S. baicalensis steppe, which were in the range of 1.50%-1.63%. The change of DOC was much more sensitive to cultivation disturbance. Soil TOC, DOC, and MBC were significantly positive correlated with each other in the S. baicalensis steppe, but in the spring wheat field, the correlativity between DOC and TOC and that between DOC and MBC did not reach the significance level of 0.05.