Soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communities
The importance of forest floor plants (herbs and mosses) and understory communities on soil C dynamics has been grossly understudied in forest ecosystems; however, there is currently very little knowledge on the impact of forest floor vegetation composition on soil organic C (SOC) accumulation and t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-10-01
|
| Series: | Geoderma |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706123003257 |
| _version_ | 1797689583842885632 |
|---|---|
| author | Jia Xiong Genxu Wang Andreas Richter Thomas H. DeLuca Wei Zhang Hailong Sun Zhaoyong Hu Xiangyang Sun Shouqin Sun |
| author_facet | Jia Xiong Genxu Wang Andreas Richter Thomas H. DeLuca Wei Zhang Hailong Sun Zhaoyong Hu Xiangyang Sun Shouqin Sun |
| author_sort | Jia Xiong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The importance of forest floor plants (herbs and mosses) and understory communities on soil C dynamics has been grossly understudied in forest ecosystems; however, there is currently very little knowledge on the impact of forest floor vegetation composition on soil organic C (SOC) accumulation and the microbial metabolic processes. To bridge this gap of knowledge, a forest floor vegetation-removal experiment involving nonvascular mosses (Pleurozium schreberi (PS); Rhizomnium tuomikoskii (RT); and Hylocomiastrum pyrenaicum (HP)) and vascular sedges (Carex sp., CS) was conducted in a subalpine coniferous forest on the eastern edge of Tibetan Plateau, to investigate the associations of different forest floor vegetation communities with mineral soil C accumulation and microbial physiology (C use efficiency (CUE) and microbial biomass turnover). Soils beneath the forest floor vegetative communities differed in soil C and nitrogen (N) concentrations and had distinctively different microbial community structure and physiology. Compared to bare soils, sedge soils had significantly greater SOC and dissolved organic C (DOC) accumulation, greater microbial DNA, biomass C and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) concentrations, and higher microbial CUE and shorter microbial biomass turnover time. While effects of mosses differed among species, P. schreberi had similar effects as sedges, but the effects of H. pyrenaicum and R. tuomikoskii were minimal. Relative to bare soil, P. schreberi and Carex sp. soils were 61.5% and 51.6% higher in microbial CUE and had an obviously shorter microbial biomass turnover time. Variations in the level of DOC and PLFAs (rather than their portion relative to SOC) were the most important regulators of microbial CUE and biomass turnover rate in soils with different forest floor vegetation covers. These results highlight how differences in soil organic matter quality that are directly related to the forest floor vegetation community influence the microbial CUE and biomass turnover and the long-term soil C dynamics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:47:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b1c7dcb8ef33494cbb93741903f25ad8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1872-6259 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:47:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geoderma |
| spelling | doaj.art-b1c7dcb8ef33494cbb93741903f25ad82023-09-09T04:54:18ZengElsevierGeoderma1872-62592023-10-01438116648Soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communitiesJia Xiong0Genxu Wang1Andreas Richter2Thomas H. DeLuca3Wei Zhang4Hailong Sun5Zhaoyong Hu6Xiangyang Sun7Shouqin Sun8Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 9, Block 4, South Renmin Rd, Chengdu 610041, China; State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10049, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, ChinaDivision of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, AustriaCollege of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5704, USAYibin University, Yibin, Sihcuan 644000, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China; Corresponding author.The importance of forest floor plants (herbs and mosses) and understory communities on soil C dynamics has been grossly understudied in forest ecosystems; however, there is currently very little knowledge on the impact of forest floor vegetation composition on soil organic C (SOC) accumulation and the microbial metabolic processes. To bridge this gap of knowledge, a forest floor vegetation-removal experiment involving nonvascular mosses (Pleurozium schreberi (PS); Rhizomnium tuomikoskii (RT); and Hylocomiastrum pyrenaicum (HP)) and vascular sedges (Carex sp., CS) was conducted in a subalpine coniferous forest on the eastern edge of Tibetan Plateau, to investigate the associations of different forest floor vegetation communities with mineral soil C accumulation and microbial physiology (C use efficiency (CUE) and microbial biomass turnover). Soils beneath the forest floor vegetative communities differed in soil C and nitrogen (N) concentrations and had distinctively different microbial community structure and physiology. Compared to bare soils, sedge soils had significantly greater SOC and dissolved organic C (DOC) accumulation, greater microbial DNA, biomass C and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) concentrations, and higher microbial CUE and shorter microbial biomass turnover time. While effects of mosses differed among species, P. schreberi had similar effects as sedges, but the effects of H. pyrenaicum and R. tuomikoskii were minimal. Relative to bare soil, P. schreberi and Carex sp. soils were 61.5% and 51.6% higher in microbial CUE and had an obviously shorter microbial biomass turnover time. Variations in the level of DOC and PLFAs (rather than their portion relative to SOC) were the most important regulators of microbial CUE and biomass turnover rate in soils with different forest floor vegetation covers. These results highlight how differences in soil organic matter quality that are directly related to the forest floor vegetation community influence the microbial CUE and biomass turnover and the long-term soil C dynamics.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706123003257Microbial metabolismMicrobial biomass turnoverPLFAUnderstory communitiesVascular and nonvascular plants |
| spellingShingle | Jia Xiong Genxu Wang Andreas Richter Thomas H. DeLuca Wei Zhang Hailong Sun Zhaoyong Hu Xiangyang Sun Shouqin Sun Soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communities Geoderma Microbial metabolism Microbial biomass turnover PLFA Understory communities Vascular and nonvascular plants |
| title | Soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communities |
| title_full | Soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communities |
| title_fullStr | Soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communities |
| title_short | Soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communities |
| title_sort | soil organic carbon accumulation and microbial carbon use efficiency in subalpine coniferous forest as influenced by forest floor vegetative communities |
| topic | Microbial metabolism Microbial biomass turnover PLFA Understory communities Vascular and nonvascular plants |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706123003257 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jiaxiong soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities AT genxuwang soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities AT andreasrichter soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities AT thomashdeluca soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities AT weizhang soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities AT hailongsun soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities AT zhaoyonghu soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities AT xiangyangsun soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities AT shouqinsun soilorganiccarbonaccumulationandmicrobialcarbonuseefficiencyinsubalpineconiferousforestasinfluencedbyforestfloorvegetativecommunities |