Nitrogen saturation in humid tropical forests after 6 years of nitrogen and phosphorus addition: Hypothesis testing
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Nitrogen (N) saturation hypothesis suggests that when an ecosystem reaches N-saturation, continued N input will cause increased N leaching, nitrous oxide (N<inf>2</inf>O) emission, and N mineralization and nitrification rates. It also suggests that a different element will become the main limiting factor when N saturation has been reached. Although this hypothesis has been tested in temperate forests, whether they can be directly applied to N-saturated tropical forests remain poorly addressed. To test this hypothesis, soil inorganic N, soil N mineralization and nitrification rate, soil N<inf>2</inf>O emission rate and nitrate (NO3-) leaching rate were measured in an N-saturated old-growth tropical forest in southern China, after 6 years of N and P addition. We hypothesized that N addition would stimulate further N saturation, but P addition might alleviate N saturation. As expected, our results showed that six continuous years of experimental N addition did cause further N saturation, which was indicated by significant increases in soil inorganic N concentration, N<inf>2</inf>O emission and nitrate (NO3-) leaching. However, in contrast to our expectations, N addition significantly decreased in situ rates of net N mineralization and nitrification, which could be related to associated changes in enzyme activity and microbial community composition. On the other hand, P addition mitigated N saturation, as expected. Soil inorganic N concentration, N<inf>2</inf>O emission and NO3- leaching decreased significantly after P addition, but the net rates of N mineralization and nitrification were significantly increased. Our results provide a new understanding of the N saturation hypothesis, suggesting that the effects of long-term N deposition on net N mineralization and nitrification rates in N-saturated tropical forests can be negative and that P addition can alleviate N saturation in such tropical systems.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
---|---|
Tidsskrift | Functional Ecology |
Vol/bind | 30 |
Sider (fra-til) | 305–313 |
Antal sider | 9 |
ISSN | 0269-8463 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2016 |
- China, N<inf>2</inf>O emission, Nitrogen deposition, Nitrogen mineralization and nitrification, Nitrogen saturation, Phosphorus addition, Tropical forest
Forskningsområder
ID: 141801305