Abstract
Soil C and N dynamics were studied in a sequence of old fields of increasing age to determine how these biogeochemical cycles change during secondary succession. In addition, three different late-successional forests were studied to represent possible "steady state" conditions. Surface soil samples collected from the fields and forests were analyzed for total C, H2O-soluble C, total N, potential net N mineralization, potential net nitrification, and microbial biomass. Above-and belowground plant biomass was estimated within each of the old field sites.
Temporal changes in soil organic C, total N and total plant biomass were best described by a gamma function [y =at b ectd +f] whereas a simple exponential model [y =a(l − e−bt) + c] provided the best fit to changes in H2O-soluble C, C:N ratio, microbial C, and microbial N. Potential N mineralization and nitrification linearly increased with field age; however, rates were variable among the fields. Microbial biomass was highly correlated to soil C and N pools and well correlated to the standing crop of plant biomass. In turn, plant biomass was highly correlated to pools and rates of N cycling.
Patterns of C and N cycling within the old field sites were different from those in a northern hardwood forest and a xeric oak forest; however, nutrient dynamics within an oak savanna were similar to those found in a 60-yr old field. Results suggest that patterns in C and N cycling within the old-field chronosequence were predictable and highly correlated to the accrual of plant and microbial biomass.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson TH & Domsch KH (1986) Carbon link between microbial biomass and soil organic matter In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Microbial Ecology. (pp 476–471). Megusar F & Gantar M (Eds). Slovence Society fo Microbiology, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
Bard Y (1974) Nonlinear Parameter Estimation. Academic Press, New York
Bormann FH & Likens GE (1979) Pattern and Process in a Forested Ecosystem. Springer-Verlag, NY, 253 pp
Botkin DB, Janak JK & Wallis JR (1972) Some ecological consequences of a computer model of forest growth. Journal of Ecology 60: 849–872
Burford JR & Bremner JM (1975) Relationships between the denitrification capacities of soil and total, water-soluble and readily decomposable soil organic matter. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 7: 389–394
Clark FE & Paul EA (1970) The microflora of grasslands. Advances in Agronomy 22: 375–435
Covington WW (1981) Changes in forest floor organic matter and nutrient content following clear cutting in northern hardwoods. Ecology 62: 41–48
Cushing EJ (1963) Late-Wisconsin pollen stratigraphy in east-central Minnesota. PhD thesis, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. 165 pp
Gay CW & Dwyer DD (1965) Effects of one year's nitrogen fertilization on native vegetation under clipping and burning. Journal of Range Management 18: 273–277
Golley FB (1965) Structure and function of an old field broomsedge community. Ecological Monographs 35: 113–137
Gorham E, Vitousek PM & Reiners WA (1979) The regulation of chemical budgets over the course of terrestrial ecosystem succession. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 10: 53–84
Grey TRG & Williams ST (1971) Microbial productivity in the soil. Symposia of the Society for General Microbiology 21: 255–286
Grigal DF, Chamberlain LM, Finney HR, Wroblewski DV & Gross ER (1974) Soils of the Cedar Creek Natural History Area. Miscellaneous Report 123, University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, St. Paul, MN, USA
Ingham ER & Horton KA (1987) Bacterial, fungal and protozoan responses to chloroform fumigation in stored soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 19: 545–550
Inouye RS, Huntley NJ, Tilman D, Tester J, Stillwell M & Zinnel K (1987) Old-field succession on a Minnesota sand plain. Ecology 68: 12–26
Insam H & Domsch KH (1988) Relationship between soil organic carbon and microbial biomass on chronosequences of reclamation sites. Microbial Ecology 15: 177–188
Insam H, Parkinson D & Domsch KH (1989) Influence of microclimate on soil microbial biomass. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 21: 211–221
Jenkinson DS & Powlson DS (1976) The effects of biocidal treatments on metabolism in soil V. A method for measuring soil biomass. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 8: 208-213
McGill WB, Hunt HW, Woodmansee RG & Reuss JO (1981) PHOENIX, a model of the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen in grassland soils. In: Clark FE & Rosswall T (Eds) Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycles (pp 621–626). Ecological Bulletins 33, Stockholm
McGill WB, Cannon KR, Robertson JA & Cook FD (1986) Dynamics of soil microbial biomass and water soluble organic C in Breton L after 50 years of cropping two rotations. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 66: 1–19
McKone MJ & Biesboer DD (1986) Nitrogen fixation in association with the root systems of goldenrods (Solidago L.). Soil Biology and Biochemistry 18: 543–545
Monk CD & Gabrielson Jr FC (1985) Effects of shade, litter and root competition on old field vegetation in North Carolina. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 93: 402–406
Odum EP (1960) Organic production and turnover in old field succession. Ecology 41: 34–49
Odum EP (1969) The strategy of ecosystem development. Science 164: 262–270
Ovington JD, Heitkamp D & Lawrence DB (1963) Plant biomass and productivity of prairie, savanna, oakwood, and maize field ecosystems in central Minnesota. Ecology 44: 52–63
Pastor J & Post WM (1986) Influence of climate, soil moisture, and succession on forest carbon and nitrogen cycles. Biogeochemistry 2: 2–27
Pastor J, Stillwell MA & Tilman D (1987) Nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in four Minnesota old fields. Oecologia 71: 481–485
Paul EA & Juma NG (1981) Mineralization and immobilization of soil nitrogen by microorganisms. In: Clark FE & Rosswall T (Eds) Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycles (pp 179–195). Ecological Bulletins 33, Stockholm
Peet RK (1981) Changes in biomass and production during secondary forest succession. In: West DC, Shugart HH & Botkin DB (Eds) Forest Succession: Concepts and Applcations (pp 324–337). Springer-Verlag, NY
Reiners WA (1971) Structure and energetics of three Minnesota forests. Ecological Monographs 42: 71–94
SAS Institute (1987) SAS/STAT Guide for Personal Computers, 6th edition, SAS Institute, Cary NC, 1028 pp
Schimel D, Stillwell MA & Woodmansee RG (1985) Biogeochemistry of C, N, and P in a soil catena of the shortgrass steppe. Ecology 66: 276–282
Snedecor GW & Cochran WG (1967) Statistical Methods. The Iowa State University Press, Ames IA
Technicon Instruments (1977a) Individual/simultaneous determination of nitrogen and/or phosphorus in BD acid digests. Technicon Industrial Systems, Terrytown, NY. Industrial Method Number 158-71W
Technicon Instruments (1977b) Nitrate and nitrite in water and seawater. Technicon Industrial Systems, Terrytown, NY. Industrial Method Number 158-71W
Technicon Instruments (1978) Ammonia in water and seawater. Technicon Industrial Systems, Terrytown, NY. Industrial Method Number 154-78W/B
Tilman D. (1984) Plant dominance along an experimental nutrient gradient. Ecology 65: 1445–1453
Tilman D (1986) Nitrogen-limited growth in plants from different successional stages. Ecology 67: 555–563
Tilman D (1987) Secondary successional and the pattern of plant dominance along experimental nitrogen gradients. Ecological Monographs 57: 189–214
van Veen JA Ladd JN & Amatok M (1985) Turnover of carbon and nitrogen through the microbial biomass in a sandy loam and a clay soil incubated with [14C(U)] Glucose and [15N (NH4S04 under different moisture regimes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 17: 747–756
Vitousek PM & Matson PA (1984) Mechanisms of nitrogen retention in forest ecosystems: a field experiment. Science 225: 51–52
Vitousek PM & Matson PA (1985) Disturbance, nitrogen availability, and nitrogen losses in an intensively managed loblolly pine plantation. Ecology 66: 1360–1376
Vitousek PM, Gosz JR, Greir CC, Melillo JM & Reiners WA (1982) A comparative analysis of potential nitrification and nitrate mobility in forest ecosystems. Ecological Monographs 52: 155–177
Voroney RP & Paul EA (1984) Determination of k c and k n in situ for calibration for the chloroform fumigation-incubation method. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 16: 9–14
Zak DR, Groffman PM, Pregitzer KS, Christensen S & Tiedje JM (1990) The vernal dam: plantmicrobe competition for nitrogen in northern hardwood forests. Ecology 71: 651–656
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zak, D.R., Grigal, D.F., Gleeson, S. et al. Carbon and nitrogen cycling during old-field succession: Constraints on plant and microbial biomass. Biogeochemistry 11, 111–129 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002062
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002062