Bulk soil pH and rhizosphere pH of peach trees in calcareous and alkaline soils as affected by the form of nitrogen fertilizers

One-year old nectarine trees [Prunus persica, Batsch var. nectarina (Ait.) Maxim.], cv Nectaross grafted on P.S.B2 peach seedlings [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] were grown for five months in 4-litre pots filled with two alkaline soils, one of which was also calcareous. Soils were regularly subjected to fertigation with either ammonium sulphate or calcium nitrate providing a total of 550 mg N/tree. Trees were also grown in such soils receiving only deionized water, as controls. Rhizosphere pH, measured by the use of a microelectrode inserted in agar sheet containing a bromocresol purple as pH indicator and placed on selected roots, was decreased by about 2–3 units compared to the bulk soil pH in all treatments. This decrease was slightly less marked when plants were supplied with calcium nitrate rather than ammonium sulphate or control. Measurements conducted during the course of the experiment indicated that ammonium concentration was similar in the solution of soils receiving the two N fertilizers. During the experiment, soil solution nitrate-N averaged 115 mg L^–1 in soil fertilized with calcium nitrate, 68 mg L^–1 in those receiving ammonium sulphate and 1 mg L^–1 in control soils. At the end of the experiment nitrate concentrations were similar in soils receiving the two N sources and bulk soil pH was decreased by about 0.4 units by ammonium sulphate fertigation: these evidences suggest a rapid soil nitriflcation activity of added ammonium. Symptoms of interveinal chlorosis in apical leaves appeared during the course of the experiment in trees planted in the alkaline-calcareous soil when calcium nitrate was added. The slightly higher rhizosphere pH for calcium nitrate-fed plants may have contributed to this. The findings suggest that using ammonium sulphate in a liquid form (e.g. by fertigation) in high-pH soils leads to their acidification and the micronutrient availability may be improved.     

Diversity and Abundance of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in Diverse Chinese Paddy Soils

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) in three types of paddy soils of China before and after rice plantation were investigated by using an integrated approach including geochemistry, 454 pyrosequencing, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The abundances of AOA amoA gene were 1～2 orders of magnitude higher than AOB amoA gene. The types of paddy soils had important impacts on the diversities of both AOA and AOB via clay mineralogy (smectite or illite-rich) and bioavailability of ammonium. The Nitrososphaera subcluster 5 and Nitrosopumilis cluster of AOA, and Nitrosomonas subcluster 5 and Nitrosospira subcluster 3 of AOB were well adapted to soils with high ammonium concentrations. AOA and AOB community structures were different before and after rice plantation, likely due to changes of pH and ammonium fertilization. The Nitrosospira subclusters 2 and 9 were well adapted to acidic paddy soils. However, the sensitivity of AOA and AOB community structures to these factors may be complicated by other geochemical conditions. The results of this study collectively demonstrated that multiple environmental factors, such as clay mineralogy, ammonium content and total organic carbon as well as soil pH, shaped AOA and AOB community structure and abundance.     

Low Nitrification Rates in Acid Scots Pine Forest Soils Are Due to pH-Related Factors

In a previous study, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB)-like sequences were detected in the fragmentation layer of acid Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest soils (pH 2.9–3.4) with high nitrification rates (>11.0 μg g⁻¹ dry soil week⁻¹), but were not detected in soils with low nitrification rates (<0.5 μg g⁻¹ dry soil week⁻¹). In the present study, we investigated whether this low nitrification rate has a biotic cause (complete absence of AOB) or an abiotic cause (unfavorable environmental conditions). Therefore, two soils strongly differing in net nitrification were compared: one soil with a low nitrification rate (location Schoorl) and another soil with a high nitrification rate (location Wekerom) were subjected to liming and/or ammonium amendment treatments. Nitrification was assessed by analysis of dynamics in NH₄ ⁺-N and NO₃ ⁻-N concentrations, whereas the presence and composition of AOB communities were assessed by polymerase chain reaction–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and sequencing of the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene. Liming, rather than ammonium amendment, stimulated the growth of AOB and their nitrifying activity in Schoorl soil. The retrieved amoA sequences from limed (without and with N amendment) Schoorl and Wekerom soils exclusively belong to Nitrosospira cluster 2. Our study suggests that low nitrification rates in acidic Scots pine forest soils are due to pH-related factors. Nitrosospira cluster 2 detected in these soils is presumably a urease-positive cluster type of AOB.     

Shifts in priming partly explain impacts of long‐term nitrogen input in different chemical forms on soil organic carbon storage

Input of labile organic carbon can enhance decomposition of extant soil organic carbon (SOC) through priming. We hypothesized that long‐term nitrogen (N) input in different chemical forms alters SOC pools by altering priming effects associated with N‐mediated changes in plants and soil microbes. The hypothesis was tested by integrating field experimental data of plants, soil microbes and two incubation experiments with soils that had experienced 10 years of N enrichment with three chemical forms (ammonium, nitrate and both ammonium and nitrate) in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Incubations with glucose–¹³C addition at three rates were used to quantify effects of exogenous organic carbon input on the priming of SOC. Incubations with microbial inocula extracted from soils that had experienced different long‐term N treatments were conducted to detect effects of N‐mediated changes in soil microbes on priming effects. We found strong evidence and a mechanistic explanation for alteration of SOC pools following 10 years of N enrichment with different chemical forms. We detected significant negative priming effects both in soils collected from ammonium‐addition plots and in sterilized soils inoculated with soil microbes extracted from ammonium‐addition plots. In contrast, significant positive priming effects were found both in soils collected from nitrate‐addition plots and in sterilized soils inoculated with soil microbes extracted from nitrate‐addition plots. Meanwhile, the abundance and richness of graminoids were higher and the abundance of soil microbes was lower in ammonium‐addition than in nitrate‐addition plots. Our findings provide evidence that shifts toward higher graminoid abundance and changes in soil microbial abundance mediated by N chemical forms are key drivers for priming effects and SOC pool changes, thereby linking human interference with the N cycle to climate change.     

AMMONIUM AND UV RADIATION STIMULATE THE ACCUMULATION OF MYCOSPORINE‐LIKE AMINO ACIDS IN PORPHYRA COLUMBINA (RHODOPHYTA) FROM PATAGONIA,ARGENTINA1

The combined effects of ammonium concentration and UV radiation on the red alga Porphyra columbina (Montagne) from the Patagonian coast (Chubut, Argentina) was determined using short‐term (less than a week) experimentation. Discs of P. columbina were incubated with three ammonium concentrations (0, 50, and 300 μM NH₄Cl) in anilluminated chamber (PAR=300 μmol photons·m^?2·s^?1, UVA=15 W·m^?2, UVB=0.7 W·m^?2) at 15°C. Algae incubated at 300 μM ammonium showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in the concentration of mycosporine‐like amino acids (MAAs) compared with the initial value or with the other ammonium treatments. The increase of MAAs was, however, a function of the quality of irradiance received, with a higher increase in samples exposed to UVA compared with UVB (29% and 5% increase, respectively). However, UVB radiation was more effective in inducing MAA synthesis per unit energy received by the algae. Samples exposed to PAR only had an intermediate increase in MAA concentration of 16%. Chl a concentration decreased through the incubation with the greatest decrease at high ammonium concentration. Phycobiliprotein (BP) decreased through time with the smallest decrease occurring at high ammonium concentration. Photoinhibition (as a decrease of optimal quantum yield) was significantly greater under nitrogen‐deprived conditions than that under replete ammonium levels. Maximal gross photosynthesis (GP_max), as oxygen evolution, and maximal electron transport rate (ETR_max), as chl fluorescence, increased with the ammonium concentration. Positive relationships between maximal GP or ETR and pigment ratios (BP/chl a and MAAs/chl a) and negative relationships with chl a concentration were found.     

Decomposition of organic matter by fungi in saline soils

The object of the present investigation was to study the fungal decomposition of organic matter from different sources, added to the saline soils. The organic matter added was in the form of fresh cuttings of two salt tolerant harbaceous plants namelyDiplachne fusca (Kallar grass) andSesbania aculeata (Dhancha). In addition to these treatments, farm yard manure and press mud (waste of sugar industry) were also used as a source of organic matter. Twelve combinations of these treatments were studied. A number of fungi were isolated from differently treated saline soils incubated at 30 °C. Among the fungi isolatedAspergillus spp. andFusarium solani had the highest frequency of occurrence. The relative cellulolytic ability of 10 fungal species was also estimated.Alternaria humicola andNigrospora sp. were found to be the most cellulolytic among the fungi isolated. The decrease in organic matter due to microbial decomposition was found to be most rapid during first two weeks of incubation. Among the treatments with one organic matter source, press mud produced maximum humus equal to 0.28 %. The pH and electrical conductivity increased slightly due to the closed system where no leaching took place.     

Comparative Diversity of Ammonia Oxidizer 16S rRNA Gene Sequences in Native, Tilled, and Successional Soils

Autotrophic ammonia oxidizer (AAO) populations in soils from native, tilled, and successional treatments at the Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research site in southwestern Michigan were compared to assess effects of disturbance on these bacteria. N fertilization effects on AAO populations were also evaluated with soils from fertilized microplots within the successional treatments. Population structures were characterized by PCR amplification of microbial community DNA with group-specific 16S rRNA gene (rDNA) primers, cloning of PCR products and clone hybridizations with group-specific probes, phylogenetic analysis of partial 16S rDNA sequences, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis. Population sizes were estimated by using most-probable-number (MPN) media containing varied concentrations of ammonium sulfate. Tilled soils contained higher numbers than did native soils of culturable AAOs that were less sensitive to different ammonium concentrations in MPN media. Compared to sequences from native soils, partial 16S rDNA sequences from tilled soils were less diverse and grouped exclusively within Nitrosospira cluster 3. Native soils yielded sequences representing three different AAO clusters. Probes for Nitrosospira cluster 3 hybridized with DGGE blots from tilled and fertilized successional soils but not with blots from native or unfertilized successional soils. Hybridization results thus suggested a positive association between the Nitrosospira cluster 3 subgroup and soils amended with inorganic N. DGGE patterns for soils sampled from replicated plots of each treatment were nearly identical for tilled and native soils in both sampling years, indicating spatial and temporal reproducibility based on treatment.     

The effects of sod cutting and additional liming on potential net nitrification in heathland soils

The effects of sod cutting, a common restoration measure to remove excess nutrients from grass-dominated heathlands, on nitrification were studied in dry and wet Dutch heathlands and in incubation experiments. In the field, soil ammonium and nitrate concentrations were measured after treatment by sod cutting, with or without additional liming. Potential net nitrification was measured by incubating soil samples of all treatments with extra ammonium in a climate chamber at pH 6. Potential net nitrification of heaths dominated by Molinia caerulea was significantly higher than that of dwarf-shrub dominated heaths. Sod cutting of the former areas significantly decreased potential net nitrification, whereas in the latter areas no differences were found. Liming of sod-cut soils greatly increased potential net nitrification and the accumulation of ammonium in the soil up to toxic concentrations could be prevented. Our results show that the combination of sod cutting and liming would create suitable soil conditions for the germination and establishment of endangered plant species of dry and wet heathlands. The success of restoration projects of these areas can thus be increased.     

Release of inorganic N,P and K in peat soils; effect of temperature,water chemistry and water level

In the Netherlands, fens that are fed by polluted river water are often eutrophic, whereas fens fed by calcium-rich groundwater often are mesotrophic. Differences in trophic status can not always be attributed to differences in the nutrient load of the water. In this paper we try to determine if the inflow of river water in fens, in fact, accelerates the soil nutrient release, thereby creating more eutrophic conditions (‘internal eutrophication’). For this purpose, we compared nutrient release rates (N, P and K) in soil cores fromSphagnum peat andCarex peat saturated with different media, that were artificially created to mimic the three basic water sources: polluted river water, unpolluted calcium-rich groundwater and rainwater. In addition, we studied the effect of temperature and water level on nutrient release rates. The experiments proved thatSphagnum peat released much more P and ammonium thanCarex peat. The strong site effect proved consistent throughout the water chemistry treatments, which indicates that soil quality may be the most important agent determining nutrient release rates. Nevertheless, it was established that water chemistry and water level are of significant influence on nutrient release rates in peat soils. In particular, river water stimulated P release by the peat, most notably in theSphagnum peat. P-release in both soils was only minor when the soils were incubated in clean Ca-rich groundwater. It is suggested that P release is strongly associated with soil chemical processes, and that high P release rates after incubation in river water are due to the high sulphate content of the water. The net release from the soil of ammonium, potassium and phosphate increased with increasing temperature. A freezing treatment significantly increased nutrient availability. The results of the experiments are examined in the context of hydrologic management strategies for the conservation of fens in agricultural landscapes.     

Ammonium Nutrition as a Strategy for Cadmium Mobilisation in the Rhizosphere of Sunflower

Ammonium nutrition of higher plants results in rhizosphere acidification due to proton excretion by root cells. The acidification induced by ammonium-fed plants can be exploited to promote a localised metal mobilisation in neutral to alkaline polluted soils and therefore to improve phytoextraction. The effects of ammonium uptake by sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plants on the external medium pH, aerial and root growth and tolerance to soluble Cd were studied in hydroponic culture. The ammonium-fed sunflowers induced a strong acidification of the solution and, compared to the nitrate-fed sunflowers, a small modification in mineral nutrition and a different Cd partitioning between root and shoot. Moreover, ammonium nutrition was found to induce a great mobilisation of a sparingly soluble form of cadmium (CdCO₃). A pot experiment studied the ability of different ammonium-based fertilisers (ammonium sulphate, ammonium thiosulphate, urea) to modify bulk and rhizo-soil pH, compared to the effect of calcium nitrate and to the unfertilised soil. Furthermore, in order to promote the persistence of ammonium in soil, a combined treatment of ammonium sulphate and DMPP, a nitrification inhibitor, was tested. Soil pH was strongly modified by chemical and biological processes involved in fertiliser transformations. In particular, due to nitrification, all ammonium-based treatments showed a bulk soil acidification of over 1.5 pH units and a relative increase in rhizo-soil pH as a consequence of nitrate uptake. The treatment with DMPP showed an opposite trend with a lower pH in rhizo-soil than in bulk soil. The ability of ammonium-fed plants to mobilise heavy metals from the non-labile pool was studied in another pot experiment using three soils with different properties and at different degree and type of heavy metal contamination. Whatever the soil, the metal concentrations in shoots were higher in plants fed with ammonium (ammonium sulphate plus DMPP treatment). Our results support the hypothesis that ammonium nutrition with nitrification inhibitors is a viable strategy to improve heavy metals phytoextraction while protecting bulk soil from acidification and presumably from metal leaching. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Molecular genetic analysis of the response of three soil microbial communities to the application of 2, 4-D

The responses of three different soil microbial communities to the experimental application of 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) were evaluated with a variety of molecular genetic techniques. Two of the three soil communities had histories of prior direct exposure to 2, 4-D, and one had no prior direct application of any herbicide. Dominant 2, 4-D degrading strains isolated from these soils the previous year were screened for hybridization with three catabolic genes (tfdA, tfdAII, and tfdB) cloned from the well-studied 2, 4-D degradative plasmid, pJP4, revealing varying degrees of similarity with the three genes. Hybridization of total community DNA from the three soils with the tfd gene probes also indicated that pJP4-like tfd genes were not harboured by a significant percentage of the community. Community level response was evaluated by the comparison of different treatments by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints and by community DNA cross-hybridization. No differences between treatments within the same soil were detected in any of the RAPD fingerprints generated with 17 primers. Community DNA cross-hybridization also indicated that the application of 2, 4-D at the applied rates did not quantitatively affect the structure of the soil microbial communities present in the three soils during the time-frame studied.     

Nitrogen fertilization alters the functioning of arbuscular mycorrhizas at two semiarid grasslands

The effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization on arbuscular mycorrhizas were studied at two semiarid grasslands with different soil properties and N-enrichment history (Shortgrass Steppe in Colorado, and Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico). These sites are part of the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research Network. The experimental plots at Shortgrass Steppe were fertilized with ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) from 1971 to 1975, and have not received additional N since then. The experimental plots at Sevilleta were also fertilized with NH₄NO₃, but were established in 1995, 2 years before the soils were used for this study. Greenhouse experiments were conducted to compare the growth response of local grasses to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi from fertilized (FERT) and unfertilized (UNFERT) field soils, at each site. Two species per site were chosen, Bouteloua gracilis and Elymus elymoides from Shortgrass Steppe, and B. gracilis and B. eriopoda from Sevilleta. Plants were grown for 3 months at HIGH N and LOW N levels, with FERT or UNFERT soil inoculum and in a non-mycorrhizal condition. Fertilization with N altered the functioning of AM fungi at both sites. Grasses inoculated with AM fungi from UNFERT soils had the most tillers, greatest biomass and highest relative growth rates. There were no significant differences in the growth response of plants inoculated with AM fungi from FERT soils and the non-mycorrhizal controls. These results were consistent across sites and species except for the plants grown at LOW N in Sevilleta soils. These plants were deficient in N and phosphorus (P) and did not show growth enhancement in response to AM inoculation with either FERT or UNFERT soils. Percent root length colonized by AM fungi was not directly related to plant performance. However, enrichment with N consistently decreased root colonization by AM fungi in the grasses grown in soils from Shortgrass Steppe with high P availability (18.4 mg kg^–1), but not in the grasses grown in Sevilleta soils with low P availability (6.6 mg kg^–1). Our study supports the hypotheses that (1) fertilization with N alters the balance between costs and benefits in mycorrhizal symbioses and (2) AM fungal communities from N fertilized soils are less beneficial mutualists than those from unfertilized soils.     

Arbuscular mycorrhizas reduce nitrogen loss via leaching

The capacity of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal root systems to reduce nitrate (NO₃ ⁻) and ammonium (NH₄ ⁺) loss from soils via leaching was investigated in a microcosm-based study. A mycorrhiza defective tomato mutant and its mycorrhizal wildtype progenitor were used in this experiment in order to avoid the indirect effects of establishing non-mycorrhizal control treatments on soil nitrogen cycling and the wider soil biota. Mycorrhizal root systems dramatically reduced nitrate loss (almost 40 times less) via leaching, compared to their non-mycorrhizal counterparts, following a pulse application of ammonium nitrate to experimental microcosms. The capacity of AM to reduce nutrient loss via leaching has received relatively little attention, but as demonstrated here, can be significant. Taken together, these data highlight the need to consider the potential benefits of AM beyond improvements in plant nutrition alone.     

Trace elements extractable by 2-ketogluconic acid from soils and their relationship to plant contents

Summary Trace element levels extractable by 2-ketogluconic acid (2-KG), ammonium acetate, acetic acid, EDTA, and DTPA were determined in three different soils of the Tarves association. The 2-ketogluconic acid was derived from 2-litre batch cultures of a soil bacterium,Erwinia sp. Pasture grasses and clovers growing on these soils were also analysed. At the same pH, 2-KG extracted more Co, Ni and Zn and considerably more Fe, Ti and V than ammonium acetate. The quantities of Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni and Zn extracted by 2-KG from the three soils generally reflected, in a similar way to the other extractants, the contents of these elements in grasses and clovers growing on the soils.     

Effects of ammonium-N on development and infectivity of the take-all fungus

Effects of applications of a mixture of ammonium sulphate and mono-ammonium phosphate and of ammonium nitrate on the incidence of take-all disease of wheat (caused by Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici) and on subsequent inoculum levels were studied in field and glasshouse experiments. In a field experiment in Western Australia, on a sandy soil at pH 5·4, nitrogen applications had no detectable effect on disease severity at anthesis, but ammonium sulphate treatment increased the number of propagules of the pathogen in the soil. In a pot experiment, in which seed was sown in the field experiment soils, disease was greater in soil from plots treated with ammonium sulphate and least in soil from the nil-nitrogen plots, reflecting the respective inoculum levels in the field plot. However, treatment of the soils of lower inoculum with ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate during this pot experiment decreased disease. A second pot experiment confirmed the effectiveness of ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate in reducing take-all at lower inoculum levels, and their ineffectiveness at higher inoculum levels.     

Thermal adaptation of heterotrophic soil respiration in laboratory microcosms

Respiration of heterotrophic microorganisms decomposing soil organic carbon releases carbon dioxide from soils to the atmosphere. In the short term, soil microbial respiration is strongly dependent on temperature. In the long term, the response of heterotrophic soil respiration to temperature is uncertain. However, following established evolutionary trade‐offs, mass‐specific respiration (R_mass) rates of heterotrophic soil microbes should decrease in response to sustained increases in temperature (and vice‐versa). Using a laboratory microcosm approach, we tested the potential for the R_mass of the microbial biomass in six different soils to adapt to three, experimentally imposed, thermal regimes (constant 10, 20 or 30 °C). To determine R_mass rates of the heterotrophic soil microbial biomass across the temperature range of the imposed thermal regimes, we periodically assayed soil subsamples using similar approaches to those used in plant, animal and microbial thermal adaptation studies. As would be expected given trade‐offs between maximum catalytic rates and the stability of the binding structure of enzymes, after 77 days of incubation R_mass rates across the range of assay temperatures were greatest for the 10 °C experimentally incubated soils and lowest for the 30 °C soils, with the 20 °C incubated soils intermediate. The relative magnitude of the difference in R_mass rates between the different incubation temperature treatments was unaffected by assay temperature, suggesting that maximum activities and not Q₁₀ were the characteristics involved in thermal adaptation. The time taken for changes in R_mass to manifest (77 days) suggests they likely resulted from population or species shifts during the experimental incubations; we discuss alternate mechanistic explanations for those results we observed. A future research priority is to evaluate the role that thermal adaptation plays in regulating heterotrophic respiration rates from field soils in response to changing temperature, whether seasonally or through climate change.     

Alterations in anaerobic ammonium oxidation of paddy soil following organic carbon treatment estimated using 13C-DNA stable isotope probing

In this study, soil samples from the typical rice-wheat cropping system in Jiangsu Province, China, subjected to different fertilizer application treatments―no carbon (CK), urea (UR), straw (SR), pig manure (PM), starch (ST), and glucose (GL)―were used to determine potential anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) rate and its association with bacterial abundance, diversity, and activity by using DNA stable isotope probing combined with ¹⁵N isotope tracing and molecular techniques. The effects of different organic carbon sources on anammox were significant, in the following order: GL > ST, SR > UR > PM; anammox activity differed significantly across treatments; however, the ¹³C active anammox bacteria were only closely related to Ca. Brocadia. The anammox hydrazine synthase β subunit functional gene sequences were highly associated with the Candidatus genus Brocadia in PM and CK treatments. The different organic carbon sources had different inhibitory effects with anammox rate, which dropped from 3.19 to 1.04 nmol dinitrogen gas g⁻¹ dry soil h⁻¹ among treatments. About 4.2–22.3% of dinitrogen gas emissions were attributed to anammox and indicated that a specific population of anammox bacteria was present and varied with the addition of exogenous organic compounds in paddy soils, although a small part of dinitrogen gas was emitted from the soil via anammox.

     

桧叶白发藓对不同氮源胁迫的形态和生理响应

桧叶白发藓(Leucobryum juniperoideum)在我国东南部常见,被认为是一种理想的、适用于庭院栽培的苔藓植物,而氮是植物必需的矿质元素,但过量摄入会对其造成伤害,近年来氮沉降水平的提高对苔藓植物的多样性造成了严重影响。该研究为揭示氮沉降加剧对桧叶白发藓的影响,以经6个月断茎培养的桧叶白发藓配子体为材料,用Ca(NO3)2、NH4HCO3和NH4NO3代表三种氮源,设置2、4、8、16gN·m-2 4个水平,以喷洒去离子水为对照,进行不同氮源的胁迫试验。结果表明:氮处理浓度的增加引起组织氮含量的显著提高,增加幅度分别为69.1%、25.7%和43.1%;同时引起植株坏死率显著上升,增加幅度分别为16.5%、12.5%和13.9%。三种氮源处理对株高和净重的影响有显著差异,低浓度的铵态氮(4gN·m-2)引起株高和净重的显著增加,而硝态氮和混合态氮处理差异不显著;加氮浓度的进一步提高,引起株高和净重的减低,硝态氮处理的减低幅度最大,铵态氮的降低幅度最小。三种氮源处理均引起叶绿素含量先上升后下降,但同一水平铵态氮处理的叶绿素含量要高于其它两种氮处理,而且引起叶绿素含量下降的处理浓度要高于其它两种氮源;三种氮源均引起SOD活性显著增加、可溶性蛋白和脯氨酸含量先升后降,但不同氮源间生理指标的变化不同步。这说明桧叶白发藓对硝态氮胁迫的响应比铵态氮敏感,硝态氮的增加对桧叶白发藓造成严重危害,而少量的铵态氮(4gN·m-2)则能促进桧叶白发藓的生长。研究结果可作为桧叶白发藓繁殖与生产的氮源。     

模拟水淹-干旱胁迫对水杉幼树实生土壤营养元素含量的影响

模拟三峡库区消落带水位变化情况,对2年生水杉幼树实生土壤p H值和主要营养元素含量进行研究。试验共设置3个处理阶段,阶段1为淹水处理阶段,包括常规供水组(C),半淹组(H)和全淹组(F);阶段2为干旱处理阶段,包括常规供水(C),半淹(H),全淹(F),常规供水-轻度干旱(CD),半淹-轻度干旱(HD)和全淹-轻度干旱(FD)6种不同水分处理组;阶段3时将所有处理组恢复到正常供水处理,每种水分处理均设置水杉幼树实生土壤与无植物空白对照土壤。测试的指标包括p H值,有机质(OM)、碱解氮(AN)、有效磷(AP)、速效钾(AK)、全氮(TN)、全磷(TP)和全钾(TK)含量。研究结果表明,阶段1结束时,C组和H组水杉幼树盆栽土壤的氮素及TP含量较无植物组显著下降,H组的AP含量及F组的氮素和TP含量显著升高;与正常供水组(C组)相比,淹水处理增高了水杉幼树盆栽土壤的p H值和OM含量,降低了其AP含量,而F组水杉土壤的TN、TP和AN含量分别较C组显著升高17.1%,16.9%和34.2%。阶段2结束时,前期水淹增加了水杉幼树实生土壤p H值、OM、AN和AP含量后期对干旱的敏感性;与无植物组相比,水杉幼树的栽植增加了除C组外的其他水分处理组土壤的OM含量;在水杉盆栽土壤中,与C组相比,H和F组的p H值分别升高2.6%和3.8%,OM含量却未出现显著差异。经过21 d的正常供水处理,H、HD组水杉土壤的p H值较无植物组土壤显著下降,所有水淹组土壤的OM含量则显著升高,与此同时,C组、CD组的TN和CD组的TP含量显著升高;各淹水处理组的水杉土壤在恢复生长后,其p H值及多项营养元素含量均已恢复至C组水平,HD和FD组水杉土壤的所有化学性质亦恢复至CD组水平。在对水杉幼树盆栽土壤化学性质的相关分析中发现,OM、TN、TP和AN含量两两之间存在极显著的正相关,p H值与OM、TN、TP、TN含量呈极显著负相关关系。研究证实,在三峡库区消落带适度营造水杉对于恢复库区植被、改良土壤肥力状况具有积极作用,但是在水库退水期时应及时浇水灌溉,避免将其置于干旱环境当中。