Effects of root and mycorrhizal fungi of Cleistogenes squarrosa on soil carbon and nitrogen under drought conditions

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2024.0439

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Grassland plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi are the main sources of soil organic carbon, which play an important role in the formation and turnover of soil organic carbon and its components, and they also affect the soil nitrogen pool. Under the scenario of climate change, global drought events are frequent. How drought affects the role of roots and mycorrhizal fungi on soil carbon and nitrogen pools of different components is still unclear.
Methods In this study, Cleistogenes squarrosa was planted in indoor pots and subjected to control and drought treatments. Root bags and mycorrhizal bags were set up to distinguish the effects of plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi on the carbon and nitrogen content of soil organic matter and its components during plant growth. After 64 days of plant growth, the plants were harvested. The soil inorganic nitrogen content, plant biomass, plant leaf carbon and nitrogen content, carbon and nitrogen content of soil organic matter and its components in root bags and mycorrhizal bags, and microbial community composition were measured.
Important findings The results showed that compared with mycorrhizal bags without root participation, the soil organic carbon and particulate organic carbon content in the root bags enhanced by 17.5% and 55.8%, and the mineral-associated organic nitrogen content increased by 10.1%. Drought treatment increased soil inorganic nitrogen content, reduced plant biomass, had no significant effect on the carbon and nitrogen content of soil organic matter and its components in the root bag, but significantly reduced the content of particulate organic carbon in the mycorrhizal bag. Drought treatment did not significantly change the microbial biomass in the root bag, but increased the microbial biomass in the mycorrhizal bag. The particulate organic carbon content in the mycorrhizal bags was negatively correlated with the amount of mycorrhizal fungi and the total microbial biomass. The results showed that during plant growth, the roots mainly affected the content of particulate organic carbon in the soil, and mycorrhizal fungi mainly affected the content of mineral-associated organic nitrogen. Short-term drought reduced the content of particulate organic carbon in the soil where mycorrhizal fungi were present. Future research should pay more attention to how global change affects the relative contributions of grassland plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi to soil organic matter and its components and their potential impact on soil organic carbon and nitrogen on a long-term scale.

Key words: plant roots, mycorrhizal fungi, soil organic matter, particulate organic matter, mineral-associated organic matter, drought

LIU Ying, LI Jiang-Feng, WU Jia-Qi, WANG Yi-Fan, YIN Qing-Lin, WANG Jing. Effects of root and mycorrhizal fungi of Cleistogenes squarrosa on soil carbon and nitrogen under drought conditions[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2025, 49(9): 1388-1398.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2024.0439

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Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 Effects of drought treatment on aboveground, root biomass and the carbon (C) concentration, nitrogen (N) concentration, C:N of Cleistogenes squarrosa (mean ± SE). ** indicated that the treatment effect was extremely significant (p ≤ 0.01); * indicated that the treatment effect was significant (p ≤ 0.05); # indicated that the treatment effect was marginally significant (p ≤ 0.1).

Fig. 2 Effects of drought treatment on soil inorganic nitrogen (N) content (mean ± SE). ** indicated that the treatment effect was extremely significant (p ≤ 0.01). NH4+-N, ammonium nitrogen; NO3--N, nitrate nitrogen.

Fig. 3 Effects of drought treatment on carbon and nitrogen concentration of soil organic matter (SOM) (mean ± SE). The results of two-way ANOVA were shown in the figures. Trt represents the main effect of drought, Bag represents the main effect of different sources of root bag and mycorrhizal bag, and Trt × Bag represents the interactive effect of both. ** indicated that the main effect or interaction effect of the treatment was extremely significant (p ≤ 0.01); # indicated that the main effect or interaction effect of the treatment was marginally significant (p ≤ 0.1). SOM_C, carbon concentration of soil organic matter; SOM_N, nitrogen concentration of soil organic matter.

Fig. 4 Effects of drought treatment on carbon and nitrogen concentration of soil particulate organic matter (POM) and soil mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) (mean ± SE). The results of two-way ANOVA were shown in the figures. Trt represents the main effect of drought, Bag represents the main effect of different sources of root bag and mycorrhizal bag, and Trt × Bag represents the interactive effect of both. ** indicated that the main effect or interaction effect of the treatment was extremely significant (p ≤ 0.01); * indicated that the main effect or interaction effect was significant (p ≤ 0.05). MAOM_C, carbon concentration of mineral-associated organic matter; MAOM_N, nitrogen concentration of mineral-associated organic matter; POC_C, carbon concentration of particulate organic matter; POC_N, nitrogen concentration of particulate organic matter.

Fig. 5 Effects of drought treatment on soil microbial community composition (mean ± SE). The results of two-way ANOVA were shown in the figures. Trt represents the main effect of drought, Bag represents the main effect of different sources of root bag and mycorrhizal bag, and Trt × Bag represents the interactive effect of both. AMF, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. # indicated that the main effect or interaction effect of the treatment was marginally significant (p ≤ 0.1).

Fig. 6 Relationships between carbon concentration of soil particulate organic matter (POM_C) and total amount of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, A) or total microbial biomass (B). Dots and circles represent the data from root bags and mycorrhizal bags, respectively.

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