Urbanization and fragmentation have opposing effects on soil nitrogen availability in temperate forest ecosystems

Nitrogen (N) availability relative to plant demand has been declining in recent years in terrestrial ecosystems throughout the world, a phenomenon known as N oligotrophication. The temperate forests of the northeastern U.S. have experienced a particularly steep decline in bioavailable N, which is expected to be exacerbated by climate change. This region has also experienced rapid urban expansion in recent decades that leads to forest fragmentation, and it is unknown whether and how these changes affect N availability and uptake by forest trees. Many studies have examined the impact of either urbanization or forest fragmentation on nitrogen (N) cycling, but none to our knowledge have focused on the combined effects of these co-occurring environmental changes. We examined the effects of urbanization and fragmentation on oak-dominated (Quercus spp.) forests along an urban to rural gradient from Boston to central Massachusetts (MA). At eight study sites along the urbanization gradient, plant and soil measurements were made along a 90 m transect from a developed edge to an intact forest interior. Rates of net ammonification, net mineralization, and foliar N concentrations were significantly higher in urban than rural sites, while net nitrification and foliar C:N were not different between urban and rural forests. At urban sites, foliar N and net ammonification and mineralization were higher at forest interiors compared to edges, while net nitrification and foliar C:N were higher at rural forest edges than interiors. These results indicate that urban forests in the northeastern U.S. have greater soil N availability and N uptake by trees compared to rural forests, counteracting the trend for widespread N oligotrophication in temperate forests around the globe. Such increases in available N are diminished at forest edges, however, demonstrating that forest fragmentation has the opposite effect of urbanization on coupled N availability and demand by trees.     

Contribution of winter processes to soil nitrogen flux in taiga forest ecosystems

We measured annual net nitrogen (N) mineralization, nitrification, and amino acid production in situ across a primary successional sequence in interior Alaska, USA. Net N mineralization per gram dry soil increased across the successional sequence, but with a sharp decline in the oldest stage (black spruce). Net N mineralization expressed per gram soil organic matter exhibited the opposite pattern, suggesting that soil organic matter quality decreases significantly across succession. Net N mineralization rates during the growing season from green-up (early May) through freeze-up (late September–early October) accounted for approximately 60% of the annual inorganic N flux, whereas the remaining N was released during the apparent dormant season. Nitrogen release during winter occurred primarily during October–January with only negligible N mineralization during early spring in stands of willow, alder, balsam poplar and white spruce. By contrast, black spruce stands exhibited substantial mineralization after snow melt during early spring. The high rates of N mineralization in late autumn through early winter coincide with high turnover of fine root biomass in these stands, suggesting that labile substrate production, rather than temperature, is a major controlling factor over N release in these ecosystems. We suggest that the convention of restricting measurements of soil processes to the growing season greatly underestimate annual flux rates of inorganic nitrogen in these high-latitude ecosystems.     

Soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in forest ecosystems of Northeast China: a comparison between natural secondary forest and larch plantation

Aims Natural secondary forest (NSF) and larch plantation are two of the predominant forest types in Northeast China. However, how the two types of forests compare in sustaining soil quality is not well understood. This study was conducted to determine how natural secondary forest and larch plantation would differ in soil microbial biomass and soil organic matter quality.Methods Microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) in the 0- to 15-cm and 15- to 30-cm soil layers were investigated by making chemical and biological measurements in the montane region of eastern Liaoning Province, Northeast China, during the growing season of 2008 in stands of NSF and Larix olgensis plantation (LOP).Important findings We found that soil MBC and MBN were significantly lower in the LOP than in the NSF. Both MBC and MBN declined significantly with increasing soil depth in the two types of stands. The ratios of MBC to SOC (MBC/SOC) and MBN to TN (MBN/TN) were also significantly lower in the LOP than in the NSF. Moreover, the values of MBC, MBC/SOC, and MBN/TN significantly varied with time and followed a similar pattern during the growing season, all with an apparent peak in summer. Our results indicate that NSF is better in sustaining soil microbial biomass and nutrients than larch plantation in the temperate Northeast China. This calls for cautions in large-scale conversions of the native forests to coniferous plantations as a forest management practice on concerns of sustaining soil productivity.     

Symptoms of nitrogen saturation in two central Appalachian hardwood forest ecosystems

By synthesizing more than twenty years of research at the Fernow Experimental Forest, we have documented 7 symptoms of nitrogen saturation in two adjacent watersheds. The symptoms include: 1) high relative rates of net nitrification, 2) long-term increases in stream-water concentrations of nitrate and base cations, 3) relatively high nitrate concentrations in solution losses, 4) little seasonal variability in stream-water nitrate concentrations, 5) a high discharge of nitrate from a young aggrading forest, 6) a rapid increase in nitrate loss following fertilization of a young aggrading forest, and 7) low retention of inorganic nitrogen when compared with other forested sites. These data support current conceptual models of nitrogen saturation and provide a strong, and perhaps the best, example of nitrogen saturation in the United States.     

中国森林生态系统氮循环特征与生产力间的相互关系

为了更好地了解森林生态系统净初级生产力(NPP)与氮循环之间的关系,本文对中国主要森林生态系统类型中净初级生产力(NPP)、枯落物氮、植被年氮积累量和土壤氮矿化速率之间的关系进行了研究分析.结果表明,我国森林生态系统净初级生产力与枯落物氮、植被年氮积累量和土壤氮矿化速率之间均存在比较显著的相关关系.其中相关性最显著的是净初级生产力与氮矿化速率之间的相关关系(R₂=0.7,n=37),其次是净初级生产力与植被年氮积累量之间的相关关系(R₂=0.60,n=37).     

Aspects of the nitrogen cycle in peatland and plantation forest ecosystems in western Ireland

Extensive plantation forests cover large areas of blanket peatland in western Ireland. Sites are characterised by the ombrotrophic nature of the peat and the often extreme maritime conditions prevailing. The study area is located close to two coastlines and in consequence, ions of marine origin are dominant in the bulk precipitation. Mean annual nitrogen deposition is 2.26 kg ha^-1. Forestry development in the region dates from the early 1950s. Deficiency of phosphorus is universally encountered, sometimes accompanied by a shortage of nitrogen. A fertilizer experiment in the study area was maintained for 16 years. The principal response was to applied phosphorus and although nitrogen had a positive influence on growth in the early years, it was of little consequence in the longer term.Over 900 kg N ha^-1 was accumulated in the forest floor. In a mineralisation study of peat collected from plots fertilized 14 years previously, differences in total mineral nitrogen production between treatments were small, but in nitrogen-treated plots a higher proportion of the mineral nitrogen was as nitrate than in those which had not received fertilizer nitrogen. Throughfall measurements in pole-stage crops of Sitka spruce and lodgepole pine which had received no fertilizer nitrogen, showed significantly greater quantities of nitrogen than bulk precipitation.     

森林生态系统土壤氮矿化影响因素研究进展

森林生态系统土壤氮矿化是生态系统中最重要的功能之一,综述了近10余年来森林生态系统土壤氮矿化影响因素的研究,在前人的基础上将其影响因素归成3类;（1）环境因子,（2）凋落物质量,（3）土壤动物和微生物,其中环境因子中的土壤温、湿度是影响土壤氮矿化的最重要因子,氮素可利用性、氮转化与群落演替、植物多样性间相互关系的研究正受到愈来愈多的重视,研究CO2倍增及其引起的全球变暖对土壤氮素转化的潜在影响也已成为当前全球变化问题研究的热点之一。     

Seasonal patterns of ammonium and nitrate uptake in nine temperate forest ecosystems

Summary Seasonal patterns of net N mineralization and nitrification in the 0–10 cm mineral soil of 9 temperate forest sites were analyzed using approximately monthlyin situ soil incubations. Measured nitrification rates in incubated soils were found to be good estimates of nitrification in surrounding forest soils. Monthly net N mineralization rates and pools of ammonium-N in soil fluctuated during the growing season at all sites. Nitrate-N pools in soil were generally smaller than ammonium-N pools and monthly nitrification rates were less variable than net N mineralization rates. Nitrate supplied most of the N taken up annually by vegetation at 8 of the 9 sites. Furthermore, despite the large fluctuations in ammonium-N pools and monthly net N mineralization, nitrate was taken up at relatively uniform rates during the growing season at most sites.     

Biological nitrogen fixation: rates,patterns and ecological controls in terrestrial ecosystems

New techniques have identified a wide range of organisms with the capacity to carry out biological nitrogen fixation (BNF)—greatly expanding our appreciation of the diversity and ubiquity of N fixers—but our understanding of the rates and controls of BNF at ecosystem and global scales has not advanced at the same pace. Nevertheless, determining rates and controls of BNF is crucial to placing anthropogenic changes to the N cycle in context, and to understanding, predicting and managing many aspects of global environmental change. Here, we estimate terrestrial BNF for a pre-industrial world by combining information on N fluxes with ¹⁵N relative abundance data for terrestrial ecosystems. Our estimate is that pre-industrial N fixation was 58 (range of 40–100) Tg N fixed yr⁻¹; adding conservative assumptions for geological N reduces our best estimate to 44 Tg N yr⁻¹. This approach yields substantially lower estimates than most recent calculations; it suggests that the magnitude of human alternation of the N cycle is substantially larger than has been assumed.     

森林生态系统碳氮循环功能耦合研究综述

在大气CO2浓度升高和氮沉降增加等全球变化背景下,森林生态系统减缓CO2浓度升高的作用及其对全球变化的响应和反馈存在诸多不确定性.森林生态系统碳氮循环相互作用及功能耦合规律的研究是揭示这些不确定性的基础,也是反映森林生态系统生物产量与养分之间作用规律,涉及林地持久生产力（sustainability of long-term site productivity）的生态学机理问题.森林生态系统碳氮循环的耦合作用表现在林冠层光合作用的碳固定过程,森林植物组织呼吸、土壤凋落物与土壤有机质分解、地下部分根系周转与呼吸等碳释放过程,这些过程存在反馈机理和非线性作用,最终决定森林生态系统的碳平衡.着重在生态系统尺度上,综述了碳氮循环耦合作用研究的一些进展与存在的问题,对今后研究方向进行了展望.     

Influence of climate,soil moisture,and succession on forest carbon and nitrogen cycles

The interactions between the biotic processes of reproduction, growth, and death and the abiotic processes which regulate temperature and water availability, and the interplay between the biotic and abiotic processes regulating N and light availabilities are important in the dynamics of forest ecosystems. We have developed a computer simulation that assembles a model ecosystem which links these biotic and abiotic interactions through equations that predict decomposition processes, actual evapo-transpiration, soil water balance, nutrient uptake, growth of trees, and light penetration through the canopy. The equations and parameters are derived directly from field studies and observations of forests in eastern North America, resulting in a model that can make accurate quantitative predictions of biomass accumulation, N availability, soil humus development and net primary production.     

Density of organic carbon in soil at coniferous forest sites in southern Finland

More detailed knowledge of the density of organic carbon in soils of boreal forests is needed for accurate estimates of the size of this C stock. We investigated the effect of vegetation type and associated site fertility on the C density at 30 mature coniferous forest sites in southern Finland and evaluated the importance of deep layers to the total C store in the soil by extending the sampling at eight of the sites to the depth of ground water level (2.4–4.6 m). The C density in the organic horizon plus 1 m thick mineral soil layer ranged from 4.0 kg/m² to 11.9 kg/m², and, on the average, increased towards the more productive vegetation types. Between the depth of 1 m and the ground water level the C density averaged 1.3–2.4 kg/m² at the studied vegetation types and these layers represented 18–28% of the total stock of C in the soil. The results emphasize the importance of also considering these deep layers to correctly estimate the total amount of C in these soils. At the least fertile sites the soil contained about 30% more C than phytomass, whereas at the more fertile sites the amount of C in soil was about 10% less than the amount bound in vegetation.     

Successional and physical controls on the retention of nitrogen in an undisturbed boreal forest ecosystem

Floristic succession in the boreal forest can have a dramatic influence on ecosystem nutrient cycling. We predicted that a decrease in plant and microbial demand for nitrogen (N) during the transition from mid- to late-succession forests would induce an increase in the leaching of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), relative to dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). To test this, we examined the chemistry of the soil solution collected from within and below the main rooting zones of mid- and late-succession forests, located along the Tanana River in interior Alaska. We also used a combination of hydrological and chemical analyses to investigate a key assumption of our methodology: that patterns of soil water movement did not change during this transition. Between stands, there was no difference in the proportion of DIN below the rooting zone. 84–98% of DIN at both depths consisted of nitrate, which was significantly higher in the deeper mineral soil than at the soil surface (0.46±0.12 mg NO⁻ ₃ –N l⁻¹ vs 0.17±0.12 mg NO⁻ ₃ –N l⁻¹, respectively), and 79–92% of the total dissolved N consisted of DON. Contrary to our original assumption that nutrients were primarily leached downward, out of the rooting zone, we found much evidence to suggest that the glacially-fed Tanana River (>200 m from these stands) was contributing to the influx of water and nutrients into the soil active layer of both stands. Soil water potentials were positively correlated with river discharge; and ionic and isotopic (δ¹⁸O of H₂O) values of the soil solution closely matched those of river water. Thus, our ability to elucidate biological control over ecosystem N retention was confounded by riverine nutrient inputs. Climatic warming is likely to extend the season of glacial melt and increase riverine nutrient inputs to forests along glacially-fed rivers.     

内蒙古自治区土壤有机碳、氮蓄积量的空间特征

采用全国策二次土壤普查中内蒙古自治区的典型土种剖面资料,在剖面深度的基础上,用地统计学和地理信息系统(GIS)方法,分别按土壤类型和土地覆被类型计算了土壤有机碳、氮密度,分析了内蒙古自治区土壤有机碳、氮蓄积量的空间分布特征,探讨了土壤有机碳、氮蓄积量与主要气候要素的关系．结果表明,内蒙古自治区土壤有机碳密度处于3．24-43．24kg·m^-3之间,土壤有机氮密度处于269．56-3085．60g·m^-3之间,土壤碳、氮比(C／N)大致在4．46-17．13之间．土壤有机碳、氮密度与温度呈负相关,相关系数分别为0．557和0．460(n＝245);与年均降水量呈正相关,但相关性不是很强,相关系数分别为0．285和0．203．从内蒙古自治区东北地区到西南地区,土壤有机碳、氮蓄积量随着温度递升和降水量递减呈现降低的趋势。     

黄土高原次生林演替过程土壤氮矿化特征及其影响因素

土壤氮矿化速率限制着森林土壤有效氮素供给能力,但目前关于黄土高原次生林演替过程土壤氮矿化特征的认识还不清楚。选择黄土高原黄龙山次生林区草本阶段、灌木阶段、先锋乔木群落阶段、混交森林群落阶段和顶级森林群落阶段等5个演替阶段的9种群落类型,测定了其林下土壤氮矿化速率,并分析了土壤理化性质、凋落物养分特征和土壤酶活性及其对氮矿化的影响。结果表明:随着演替进展,土壤有机碳和氮不断积累,土壤硝态氮和铵态氮含量逐渐增加,凋落物养分和土壤酶活性也发生了显著变化。土壤硝化速率从草本群落阶段到顶级森林群落阶段显著增加了71.73%;土壤氨化速率一直为负值且持续负向增加;土壤净矿化速率从草本群落阶段的(0.16±0.06) mg kg^-1 d^-1逐渐增加到混交森林阶段的(0.31±0.08)mg kg^-1 d^-1,但从混交林群落到顶级森林群落阶段有所下降。土壤理化性质(路径系数-0.530)和酶活性(路径系数-0.268)对氮矿化速率有显著的直接作用;凋落物养分对氮矿化速率的影响来自于其直接作用(路径系数-0.283)和通过调控土壤理化性质、酶活性产生的间接影响(路径系数-0.315)。结果有助于认识黄土高原植被演替过程中土壤氮循环过程,对森林可持续经营也有一定的意义。     

氮沉降对森林土壤磷循环的影响

磷是生物体必需的大量元素之一,也是许多生态系统的主要限制因子。近年来,大气氮沉降日益加剧,已对森林生态系统磷循环产生了不可忽视的影响。关于氮沉降对生态系统磷循环的影响已开展了一系列的研究,然而尚缺少对其整体的认识。因此,通过收集国内外已发表的相关文章,从以下五个方面综述氮沉降对森林生态系统土壤磷循环的影响及其机理:1)阐述了森林生态系统土壤磷循环的概念;2)介绍了氮沉降对森林土壤磷循环影响的研究方法,包括长期定位模拟氮沉降法、自然氮沉降梯度法和同位素示踪法等;3)概述了氮沉降对森林生态系统土壤磷循环的影响。目前的研究结论趋向于认为长期氮沉降使森林土壤磷循环速率加快。长期氮输入易于使土壤中可溶性磷向非活性磷酸盐库迁移而难以被利用。因此,为了满足需求,土壤磷酸酶活性将增加以加速有机磷的矿化,从而加速磷素在土壤-植物-微生物之间的周转。4)探讨了氮沉降影响森林土壤磷循环的机制。氮沉降可通过改变土壤有机质的性质、微生物群落组成、磷酸酶活性以及阳离子的流动性等途径影响森林土壤磷循环;5)指出了当前研究存在的问题及未来的研究方向。     

Nitrogen fixation and the mass balances of carbon and nitrogen in ecosystems

Ecosystems with high rates of nitrogen fixation often have high loss rates through leaching or possibly denitrification. However, there is no formal theoretical context to examine why this should be the case nor of how nitrogen accumulates in such open systems. Here, we propose a simple model coupling nitrogen inputs and losses to carbon inputs and losses. The nitrogen balance of this model system depends on plant (nitrogen fixer) growth rate, its carrying capacity, N fixed/C fixed, residence time of nitrogen and carbon in biomass, litter decay rate, litter N/C, and fractional loss rate of mineralized nitrogen. The model predicts the requirements for equilibrium in a nitrogen-fixing system, and the conditions on nitrogen fixation and losses in order for the system to accumulate nitrogen and carbon. In particular, the accumulation of nitrogen and carbon in a nitrogen-fixing system depend on an interaction between residence time in vegetation and litter decay rate in soil. To reflect a possible increased uptake of soil nitrogen and decreased respiratory cost of symbiotic nitrogen fixers, the model was then modified so that fixation rate decreased and growth rate increased as nitrogen capital accumulated. These modifications had only small effects on carbon and nitrogen accumulation. This suggests that switching from uptake of atmospheric nitrogen to mineral soil nitrogen as nitrogen capital accumulates simply results in a trade-off between energetic limitations and soil nitrogen limitations to carbon and nitrogen accumulation. Experimental tests of the model are suggested.     

Effects of nitrogen: phosphorus supply ratios on nitrogen fixation in agricultural and pastoral ecosystems

An analysis of data compiled from the literature confirms a strong inverse relationship between annual rates of nitrogen fixation and the soil nitrogen content in agricultural and pastoral ecosystems. However, this inverse relationship is strongly modified by the rate of application of phosphorus fertilizer, which strongly influences the activities of both symbiotic and non-symbiotic nitrogen fixing organisms. In the case of symbiotic legumes, the response of N-fixation to N and P is in part a result of changes in legume dominance within the plant community. These results, as well as supporting data presented from a review of experiments on nitrogen fixation in a variety of other terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, provide important support for the hypothesis that phosphorus availability is a key regulator of nitrogen biogeochemistry. Published as Paper No. 9950, Journal Series, Nebraska Agricultural Research Division, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA.