Changes in soil-microbe-exoenzyme C:N:P stoichiometry along an altitudinal gradient in Mt. Datudingzi, Northeast China

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2019.0141

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Altitude-induced changes in temperature, moisture, vegetation types and other conditions would significantly affect soil carbon (C_soil), nitrogen (N_soil), phosphorus (P_soil) concentrations and their stoichiometry. How soil microorganisms adapt to the variability of soil resource stoichiometry by regulating their biomass and extracellular enzymatic stoichiometry remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to quantify the altitudinal trends of soil-microbe-exoenzyme C:N:P stoichiometry and to explore the correlations among soil-microbe- exoenzyme stoichiometry.Methods In the present study, we investigated the C_soil, N_soil, P_soilconcentrations, microbial biomass C (C_mic), N (N_mic), P (P_mic) concentrations, and the activities of C (β-1,4-glucosidase, BG), N (N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, NAG), and P (acid phosphatase) acquiring extracellular enzymes for microorganisms in four ecosystems along an altitudinal gradient on Mt. Datudingzi, Northeast China. These four ecosystems are a mixed broadleaf-coniferous forest at 800 m, a coniferous forest at 1 100 m, a Betula ermanii forest at 1 600 m and a grassland at 1 700 m.Important findings The results showed that: (1) altitude had no significant effect on C_soil and C_micconcentrations but had significant effects on soil and microbial biomass N and P concentrations. (2) The activities of BG and NAG decreased significantly with increasing altitude, likely due to the high elevation induced low temperature that inhibits microbial activities. (3) Altitude had significant effects on soil C:N, microbe C:N:P, and exoenzyme C:N:P; exoenzyme C:N:P decreased with the increasing stoichiometric imbalances between microorganisms and soils (ratios of soil C:N:P to microbe C:N:P, respectively). Overall, these results suggested that microorganisms can adapt to the variability of soil C:N:P by regulating their biomass C:N:P and exoenzyme C:N:P, and supported the microbial resource allocation theory.

Key words: stoichiometry, microbial activity, C:N:P, altitude, extracellular enzyme

YIN Shuang, WANG Chuan-Kuan, JIN Ying, ZHOU Zheng-Hu. Changes in soil-microbe-exoenzyme C:N:P stoichiometry along an altitudinal gradient in Mt. Datudingzi, Northeast China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2019, 43(11): 999-1009.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2019.0141

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2019/V43/I11/999

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 Soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) concentrations and their stoichiometric ratios under different altitudes in Mt. Datudingzi (mean + SE, n = 3). Different uppercase letters represent significant differences at 0.05 level among different altitudes.

Fig. 2 Microbial biomass carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) concentrations and their stoichiometric ratios under different altitudes in Mt. Datudingzi (mean + SE, n = 3). Different uppercase letters represent significant differences at 0.05 level among different altitudes.

Fig. 3 Exoenzyme carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) activities and their stoichiometric ratios under different altitudes in Mt. Datudingzi (mean + SE, n = 3). Different uppercase letters represent significant differences at 0.05 level among different altitudes. AP, acid phosphomonoesterase; BG, β-1,4-glucosidase; NAG, N-acetyl-β- glucosaminidase.

Fig. 4 Relationships between exoenzyme stoichiometry and soil and microbial stoichiometry in Mt. Datudingzi.

Fig. 5 Relationship between mean annual temperature and the slope of linear relationship between soil C storage and altitude. The data is from the global meta-analysis of Tashi et al. (2016). The open triangle is the slope from the current study. The open circle is the outlier. The slope stands for the change in soil C storage (kg·m-2) per km increase in elevation.

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