Contribution of fine root to soil nutrient heterogeneity at two sides of the bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2013.00077

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims The encroachment of Phyllostachys pubescens into woodland was commonly thought to lead to a change in the amount of nutrient stored in the ecosystems. Our objective was to investigate the soil nutrients of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (STN) and total phosphorous (STP) heterogeneity at two sides of the bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface (BBLFI), i.e., P. pubescens forest (PPF) - evergreen broad-leaved forest (EBF) transition, and to quantify the contribution of fine roots to the accumulative difference in soil nutrients.
Methods We selected typical BBLFI plots straddling PPF and EBF in natural areas around the Dagangshan Forest Ecosystem Research Station, State Forestry Administration. We investigated the distribution and dynamics of soil nutrients, fine root biomass, annual production and decomposition rate in 2010-2011 by means of sequential coring and ingrowth into cores. We calculated the fine roots C, N and P stocks, SOC, STN and STP pools and the contribution of fine roots to soil nutrient heterogeneity at two sides of BBLFI.
Important findings There was a significant soil nutrient difference between the two sides of BBLFI. The SOC and STN contents in PPF were 20.51 and 0.53 g·kg^-1, respectively, which were higher than in EBF by 34.53% and 50.35%, respectively, but the STP was 25.54% lower. Fine root biomass, nutrient stock and amount of return to soil between two sides of BBLFI were also obviously different. PPF root biomass was 1201.60 g·m^-2, which is 5.86 times as much as EBF. Nutrient stock was 591.42 g C·m^-2, 5.44 g N·m^-2 and 0.25 g P·m^-2, which were 6.12, 3.77 and 3.11 times higher than EBF. The amount of return nutrient was 278.54 g C·m^-2·a^-1, 2.36 g N·m^-2·a^-1 and 0.11 g P·m^-2·a^-1, which were 6.93, 4.29 and 3.67 times higher than EBF, respectively. The fine roots of the two sides decomposed at almost the same rate. The annual contribution of fine roots to the soil nutrient heterogeneity was 76.79% for SOC and 28.33% for STN, but P returned from dead fine root slowed the progression of forming STP heterogeneity by 6.17% annually. These findings indicated that bamboo encroachment had changed the EBF soil nutrients, leading to a significant accumulative soil nutrient heterogeneity at two sides of BBLFI, and fine roots played an important role in forming this heterogeneity for SOC and STN.

Key words: bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface, fine root turnover, nutrient return, Phyllostachys pubescens, soil nutrient heterogeneity

LIU Jun,YANG Qing-Pei,YU Ding-Kun,SONG Qing-Ni,ZHAO Guang-Dong,WANG Bing. Contribution of fine root to soil nutrient heterogeneity at two sides of the bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2013, 37(8): 739-749.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1258.2013.00077

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2013/V37/I8/739

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Soil nutrient heterogeneity at two sides of bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface (mean ± SE). EBF, evergreen broad-leaved forest; PPF, Phyllostachys pubescens forest. Different lowercase letters denote signi?cant difference (p < 0.05) among soil nutrients in the same soil layers in different forest stands.

Fig. 2 Fine root biomass and necromass at two sides of bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface (mean ± SE). EBF, evergreen broad-leaved forest; PPF, Phyllostachys pubescens forest. Different lowercase letters denote signi?cant difference (p < 0.05) among fine root biomass and necromass in the same soil layers in different forest stands.

Fig. 3 The C、N、P density of live and dead fine root at two sides of bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface (mean ± SE). EBF, evergreen broad-leaved forest; PPF, Phyllostachys pubescens forest. Different lowercase letters denote signi?cant difference (p < 0.05) among the C、N、P density of live and dead fine root in the same soil layers in different forest stands.

Fig. 4 Annual fine root mortality at two sides of bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface (mean ± SE). EBF, evergreen broad-leaved forest; PPF, Phyllostachys pubescens forest. Different lowercase letters denote signi?cant difference (p < 0.05) among annual fine root mortality in the same soil layers in different forest stands.

Fig. 5 Dynamics of fine root decomposition. EBF, evergreen broad-leaved forest; PPF, Phyllostachys pubescens forest.

Table 1 Parameters of the best fitting curves for the fine root decomposition (according to the ninth formula)

林分 Forest stand	死细根C : N : P Dead fine root C : N : P	参数 Parameter			R²	t_0.5	t_0.95
林分 Forest stand	死细根C : N : P Dead fine root C : N : P	a	b	m	R²	t_0.5	t_0.95
毛竹林 Phyllostachys pubescens forest	1 351:23:1	0.087	0.484	13.846	0.853	7.57	34.03
常绿阔叶林 Evergreen broad-leaved forest	980:19:1	0.089	0.812	8.962	0.920	6.77	32.64

Table 2 Contribution of fine root to the formation of soil nutrient heterogeneity at two sides of bamboo and broad-leaved forest interface

养分 Nutrient	细根养分输入量(I) Nutrient input by fine root (I, g·m^-2·a^-1)			土壤养分年均输出量(E) Annual mean nutrient output in soil (E, g·m^-2·a^-1)			土壤养分密度(S) Soil nutrient density (S, g·m^-2)			细根平均年贡献率 Annual mean contribution rate by fine root (%)
养分 Nutrient	I_PPF	I_EBF	I_PPF - I_EBF	E_PPF	E_EBF	E_PPF - E_EBF	S_PPF	S_EBF	S_PPF - S_EBF	细根平均年贡献率 Annual mean contribution rate by fine root (%)
碳 C	278.54	40.17	238.37	893.25	713.17	180.03	1 1371.12	7 459.45	3 911.67	76.79
氮 N	2.36	0.55	1.81	3.54	2.02	1.52	282.40	136.36	146.04	28.33
磷 P	0.11	0.03	0.08	0.41	0.31	0.10	123.75	160.84	-37.09	6.17

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