Factors influencing limit values for pine needle litter decomposition: a synthesis for boreal and temperate pine forest systems

We synthesized available data for decomposition of pine (Pinus) needle litter in pine forests to determine the litter chemical characteristics and climate factors that explained variation in the limit value, i.e. the level of accumulated mass loss at which the decomposition process either continues at a very low rate or possibly stops. Our data base included 56 separate studies on decomposition of pine needle litter, spanning Scots pine, lodgepole pine, Aleppo pine, stone pine and white pine, mainly incubated at the site of collection. Studies had 5 to 19 samplings, on average 10, and the decomposition was followed to a mass loss ranging from 47 to 83%, on average 67%. The periods from 3.0 to 5.4 years, on average 3.9 years, were of sufficient duration to allow estimates of limit values of decomposition. We used a linear mixed model with regression effects to relate limit values to potential explanatory variables, namely the sites’ long-term mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) and to substrate-chemistry factors. Regarding the latter, we explored two models; one that included initial concentrations of water solubles, lignin, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and Mn and one that included only lignin, N, Ca, and Mn to focus on those nutrients known to influence lignin degradation. Using backward elimination significant explanatory variables were determined. For litter decomposed in its site of origin we found the limit value to depend mainly on the initial concentration of Mn, with higher Mn concentrations resulting in higher accumulated mass loss. Thus, litter with higher Mn reached a higher limit value and left a smaller stable fraction. This is likely due to the fact that Mn is an essential component of ligninolytic enzymes important for degrading litter in the later stages of decomposition. Manganese has received little attention in decomposition studies to date. Given its significance in this synthesis, the role of Mn in influencing variation in the late stages of decomposition among ecosystems and among litters of other genera besides Pinus deserves further attention.     

Four decades of post-agricultural forest development have caused major redistributions of soil phosphorus fractions

Fertilisation of agricultural land causes an accumulation of nutrients in the top soil layer, among which phosphorus (P) is particularly persistent. Changing land use from farmland to forest affects soil properties, but changes in P pools have rarely been studied despite their importance to forest ecosystem development. Here, we describe the redistributions of the P pools in a four-decadal chronosequence of post-agricultural common oak (Quercus robur L.) forests in Belgium and Denmark. The aim was to assess whether forest age causes a repartitioning of P throughout the various soil P pools (labile P, slowly cycling P and occluded P); in particular, we addressed the time-related alterations in the inorganic versus organic P fractions. In less than 40 years of oak forest development, significant redistributions have occurred between different P fractions. While both the labile and the slowly cycling inorganic P fractions significantly decreased with forest age, the organic fractions significantly increased. The labile P pool (inorganic + organic), which is considered to be the pool of P most likely to contribute to plant-available P, significantly decreased with forest age (from >20 to <10% of total P), except in the 0-5 cm of topsoil, where labile P remained persistently high. The shift from inorganic to organic P and the shifts between the different inorganic P fractions are driven by biological processes and also by physicochemical changes related to forest development. It is concluded that the organic labile P fraction, which is readily mineralisable, should be taken into account when studying the bioavailable P pool in forest ecosystems.     

Dramatic changes in ectomycorrhizal community composition, root tip abundance and mycelial production along a stand-scale nitrogen deposition gradient

? Nitrogen (N) availability is known to influence ectomycorrhizal fungal components, such as fungal community composition, biomass of root tips and production of mycelia, but effects have never been demonstrated within the same forest. ? We measured concurrently the abundance of ectomycorrhizal root tips and the production of external mycelia, and explored the changes in the ectomycorrhizal community composition, across a stand-scale N deposition gradient (from 27 to 43 kg N ha?1 yr?1) at the edge of a spruce forest. The N status was affected along the gradient as shown by a range of N availability indices. ? Ectomycorrhizal root tip abundance and mycelial production decreased five and 10-fold, respectively, with increasing N deposition. In addition, the ectomycorrhizal fungal community changed and the species richness decreased. The changes were correlated with the measured indices of N status, in particular N deposition and N leaching. ? The relationship between the altered ectomycorrhizal community, root tip abundance and mycelial production is discussed in the context of the N parameters. We suggest that increased N deposition to forests will cause large changes in ectomycorrhizal fungal community structure and functioning, which, in turn, may result in reduced N uptake by roots and fungi, and increased losses of N by leaching.