Abstract
Purpose
Plant-soil feedbacks are important drivers of ecosystem dynamics and have been hypothesized to affect woody encroachment in savannas. Woody encroachment is expected to increases savanna soil fertility through deposition of organic matter, favoring further establishment of woody individuals. In this context, we tested if litter input promotes forest seedling growth in dystrophic savanna soils, and if this was accompanied by an increase in microbial activity.
Methods
In a glasshouse experiment, we planted woody seedlings of three forest species in savanna soils either mixed or not (control) with litter from closely related savanna or forest species (10 species). We evaluated the growth of the woody seedlings as well as the response of the soil microbiota activity and biomass to litter addition.
Results
Litter addition had either no effect or negative effects on seedling growth, and different seedling species responded differently to litter addition. However, we did find microbial activity to increase in response to litter addition, especially through the input of litter rich in phosphorus (P) and carbon (C).
Conclusions
Our results indicate that litter input does not favor woody seedlings growth in savanna soil. Instead, litter input showed a potential to hinder seedling growth, especially of fast-growing species. Furthermore, litter input consistently increased soil microbiota activity, mainly through the input of P and C, highlighting the importance of energy and P in the nutrient dynamics of Cerrado. Thus, our results did not support the hypothesis that litter deposition triggers a positive feedback with woody encroachment via increased seedling growth.
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Data availability
Part of the data is available as supplementary electronic material.
Code availability
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Acknowledgements
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. We are grateful for AL Mansur, R Pereira and L Quimbayo for the help in the fieldwork and in the preparation of the glasshouse experiment. We also thanks D Mescolotti and F Picollo for the help in the laboratory analysis. RSO acknowledges funding from CNPq (productivity grant) and NERC-FAPESP 19/07773-1 research grant.
Funding
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001.
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André D’Angioli, Vinicius Dantas and Rafael Oliveira contributed to the study conception and design. Experiment preparation and data collection were performed by André D’Angioli, with substantial support in methodological procedure by all authors. The data analysis, interpretation and manuscript writing were led by André D’Angioli, with substantial contribution of all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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D’Angioli, A.M., Dantas, V.L., Lambais, M. et al. No evidence of positive feedback between litter deposition and seedling growth rate in Neotropical savannas. Plant Soil 469, 305–320 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05163-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05163-w