Characteristics of soil nitrogen mineralization in the rhizosphere of trees, shrubs, and herbs in subtropical forest plantations

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2020.0225

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims The objective was to explore the characteristics of soil nitrogen mineralization in the rhizosphere soils of trees, shrubs, and herbs in plantations and their variations among different species, forest types, and seasons.
Methods The rhizosphere soils of trees, shrubs (Loropetalum chinense, Adinandra millettii, and Eurya muricate), and herbs (Woodwardia japonica and Dryopteris atrata) were sampled in the early growth season (April) and the vigorous growth season (July) in Cunninghamia lanceolata, Pinus massoniana, and Pinus elliottii plantations at Qianyanzhou Ecological Research Station, Taihe, Jiangxi. Net mineralization rate (N_min), net ammonification rate (N_amm), net nitrification rate (N_nit), soil chemical properties, and microbial properties were measured.
Important findings The results found that, 1) Species, forest types, and sampling seasons significantly affected N_min, N_amm, and N_nit. Understory plants showed a higher seasonal sensitivity of rhizosphere soil N_nit than trees did in P. massoniana plantations and P. elliottii plantations. It means that rhizosphere soil N_min and N_amm of trees were significantly higher than those of most of the understory plants in April, but rhizosphere soil N_min and N_amm of the understory plants significantly increased and showed no difference with those of trees in July. This finding was consistent with the variance analysis of comprehensive scores by principal component analysis. Generally, rhizosphere soil N_min and N_nit in C. lanceolata plantation were higher than those in P. massoniana and P. elliottii plantations. Rhizosphere soil nitrogen mineralization in July was higher than those in April. 2) Soil ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, soil total nitrogen concentration, and soil microbial nitrogen concentration were the main factors affecting net nitrogen mineralization of rhizosphere soil. Soil chemical properties contributed to 29.2% of the variation of rhizosphere soil nitrogen mineralization, which was significantly higher than soil microbial properties. Consideration of the seasonal variations of soil nitrogen mineralization in the rhizosphere of understory plants and their influencing factors will provide an important foundation for accurately evaluating nutrient cycling in the plantation ecosystem.

Key words: rhizosphere soil nitrogen mineralization, understory vegetation, overstory tree, plantation, red soil

HU Ming-Yuan, YUAN Ye, DAI Xiao-Qin, FU Xiao-Li, KOU Liang, WANG Hui-Min. Characteristics of soil nitrogen mineralization in the rhizosphere of trees, shrubs, and herbs in subtropical forest plantations[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2020, 44(12): 1285-1295.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2020.0225

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2020/V44/I12/1285

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 Net mineralization rate (Nmin), net ammonification rate (Namm), and net nitrification rate (Nnit) of the rhizosphere soil of overstory trees, understory shrubs, and herbs in subtropical plantations. AM, Adinandra millettii; CL, Cunninghamia lanceolata; DA, Dryopteris atrata; EM, Eurya muricate; LC, Loropetalum chinense; PE, Pinus elliottii; PM, Pinus massoniana; WJ, Woodwardia japonica. Different lowercase letters denote significant difference among species of each plantation in the same season (p < 0.05), while unmarked lowercase letters denote inapparent difference. Different uppercase letters denote significant difference among plantations in the same season (April is in the bracket, July is outside the bracket; p < 0.05). *denotes significant difference between the different seasons for the same species in each plantation (p < 0.05).

Fig. 2 Principal component analysis (PCA) of net nitrogen mineralization rate, net ammonification rate, and net nitrification rate of the rhizosphere soil of trees, understory shrubs, and herbs within subtropical plantations. A, April. B, July. AM, Adinandra millettii; CL, Cunninghamia lanceolata; DA, Dryopteris atrata; EM, Eurya muricate; LC, Loropetalum chinense; PE, Pinus elliottii; PM, Pinus massoniana; WJ, Woodwardia japonica.

Fig. 3 Redundancy analysis (RDA) of the relationship between net nitrogen mineralization rate (Nmin), net ammonification rate (Namm), and net nitrification rate (Nnit) of the rhizosphere soil and soil chemical properties and soil microbial properties in subtropical plantations. MBN, microbial biomass nitrogen concentration; NH4+-N, ammonium nitrogen concentration; NO3--N, nitrate nitrogen concentration; TN, soil total N concentration.

Fig. 4 Relative importance of soil chemical and soil microbial properties in determining the variation in net nitrogen mineralization rate, net ammonification rate, and net nitrification rate of the rhizosphere soil in subtropical forest plantations. Each ellipse represents the percentage of the variations explained by soil chemical properties or soil microbial properties. The overlap of two ellipses represents the variation jointly explained by soil chemical and microbial properties. *indicates a significant effect (p < 0.05), ** indicates a highly significant effect (p < 0.01).

Table 1 Mixed linear model analysis of the effects of species, forest types, and seasons on four main soil chemical and microbial properties in subtropical forest plantations (p value)

变异来源 Source of variation	NH₄⁺-N	NO₃^--N	TN	MBN
物种 Specise (S)	<0.001^**	0.082	<0.001^**	0.136
林型 Forest type (F)	0.002^**	<0.000^**	0.303	0.695
季节 Time (T)	<0.001^**	<0.001^**	0.725	0.002^**
S × F	0.773	0.590	0.769	0.901
S × T	0.928	0.626	0.929	0.931
F × T	0.026	0.061	0.516	0.086
S × F × T	0.581	0.854	0.655	0.727

Fig. 5 Multiple comparison of soil ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and total soil nitrogen concentrations (TN) in the rhizosphere soil of different species in subtropical forest plantations (mean ± SE). AM, Adinandra millettii; CL, Cunninghamia lanceolata; DA, Dryopteris atrata; EM, Eurya muricate; LC, Loropetalum chinense; PE, Pinus elliottii; PM, Pinus massoniana; WJ, Woodwardia japonica. Different lowercase letters showed significant differences among species (p < 0.05).

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