Effects of seasonal snow cover on decomposition and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus release of Picea schrenkiana leaf litter in Mt. Tianshan, Northwest China

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2017.0298

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims The effects of freeze-thaw cycles on seasonal snow thickness may play a significant role in the decomposition process of forest litter in arid areas, whereas the understanding on this issue remains poor. Therefore, our objective was to understand the effects of snow cover on the decomposition and the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus release of Picea schrenkiana leaf litter, the representative species in arid areas in northwest China.

Methods A field experiment was conducted in Mt. Tianshan of Xinjiang from October 2015 to October 2016 using litterbag method. Air-dried leaf litter of P. schrenkiana was put into nylon litterbags and the litterbags were placed on the forest floor along the gradient of snow cover depth from forest gap to full canopy. Mass loss rates and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus release of P. schrenkiana leaf litter were measured at three critical stages (freeze-thaw period, deep-freeze period, thawing period) under snow cover and the growing seasons (early growing season and late growing season) during one year of decomposition.

Important findings The results showed that (1) after one year’s decomposition, the decomposition rates of the P. schrenkiana leaf litter under different snow depths were 24.6%-29.2%, and there were significant difference (p < 0.05) between the decomposition rates under different snow depths. The decomposition constant (k) was highest under thick snow cover and lowest under no snow cover. (2) The decomposition during the winter snow cover period contributed 46.0%-48.5% of total decomposition of P. schrenkiana leaf litter in the whole year, and the litter decomposition was the fastest during the freeze-thaw cycles. (3) With the decomposition of leaf litter, the nitrogen content of P. schrenkiana leaf litter increased while the content of carbon and C:N decreased roughly. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in carbon content between different snow treatments in the deep freezing period and late growing season. The phosphorus content in leaf litter is irregular with the decomposition of leaf litter. Snow thickness significantly influenced the phosphorus content in leaf litter during freeze-thaw period and thawing period (p < 0.05). (4) Net N immobilization during leaf litter decomposition was observed in the whole snow cover season, C and P were mainly released. Among them, thin and medium snow patches showed higher carbon enrichment rates in the thawing period. Thin, medium and thick snow treatments in the freeze-thaw period, no and thick snow treatments in the thawing period and medium and thick snow patches in the late growing season showed higher nitrogen enrichment rates. In contrast, the effect of snow cover on the release of leaf litter phosphorus was not significant (p > 0.05).

Key words: Mt. Tianshan, leaf litter decomposition, Picea schrenkiana, snow cover thickness

Wen-Jing CHEN, Lu GONG, Yu-Tong LIU. Effects of seasonal snow cover on decomposition and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus release of Picea schrenkiana leaf litter in Mt. Tianshan, Northwest China[J]. Chin J Plan Ecolo, 2018, 42(4): 487-497.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2017.0298

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2018/V42/I4/487

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Thickness changes of snow cover in different sampling time (mean ± SD, n = 5). The lowercase letters indicate significant difference among different snow cover thickness for the same sampling date (p < 0.05).

Fig. 2 Dynamics of soil temperature under different depths of snow cover in the sampling forest. DFP, deep-freeze period; EGS, early growing season; FTP, freeze-thaw period; LGS, late growing season; TP, thawing period.

Fig. 3 Mass loss rates of Picea schrenkiana leaf litter under different depths of snow cover (mean ± SD, n = 5). DFP, deep-freeze period; EGS, early growing season; FTP, freeze-thaw period; LGS, late growing season; TP, thawing period. The capital letters indicate the difference of same period in different snow thickness. The lowercase letters indicate the difference of same snow thickness in different periods (p < 0.05).

Table 1 Non-linear regression fitting Olson exponent model for leaf litter of Picea schrenkiana

雪被 Snow cover	回归方程 Regression model	分解系数 k Decomposition constant k	相关系数 r Correlation coefficient r	半分解时间 Time of half decomposition (a)	95%分解时间 Time of 95% decomposition (a)
厚雪被 Thick snow cover	y = 98.009e^-0.310^x	0.310	0.97	2.336	9.664
中雪被 Medium snow cover	y = 98.592e^-0.296^x	0.296	0.98	2.342	10.121
薄雪被 Thin snow cover	y = 98.556e^-0.277^x	0.277	0.98	2.502	10.815
无雪被 No snow cover	y = 99.251e^-0.273^x	0.273	0.98	2.539	10.973

Fig. 4 Proportional contribution (%) of the decomposition in different periods to the total decomposition of Picea schrenkiana leaf litter under different depths of snow cover. DFP, deep- freeze period; EGS, early growing season; FTP, freeze-thaw period; LGS, late growing season; TP, thawing period.

Fig. 5 Dynamics of C, N, P contents and C:N in Picea schrenkiana leaf litter under different depths of snow cover. DFP, deep-freeze period; EGS, early growing season; FTP, freeze-thaw period; LGS, late growing season; TP, thawing period. initial, initial period. *, significant difference among different snow cover thickness in the same period (p < 0.05).

Fig. 6 Release rates of C, N, P in leaf litter during decomposition under snow cover with different depths in different period (mean ± SD, n = 4). DFP, deep-freeze period; EGS, early growing season; FTP, freeze-thaw period; LGS, late growing season; TP, thawing period. Different small letters meant significant difference among different snow thickness in the same period (p < 0.05).

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