Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Soil resource status affects the responses of nitrogen processes to changes in temperature and moisture

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biology and Fertility of Soils Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The mechanisms of the different responses of soil gross nitrogen (N) transformation to increasing temperature or moisture in different types of soils are still unclear. Here, we conducted two 15N tracing experiments to investigate the effects of increasing temperature (15 °C and 25 °C) or moisture (30%, 45%, and 60% water-filled pore space (WFPS)) on soil gross N transformation rates for two soils (organic (O) and mineral (A) horizon soils) in a temperate forest. As the temperature increased from 15 to 25 °C or moisture increased from 30 to 60% WFPS, total mineralization rates increased by 4.5-fold and 2.5-fold respectively, total NH4+ immobilization rates increased by 173.2-fold and 7.6-fold respectively, and autotrophic nitrification rates increased by 0.7-fold and 0.6-fold respectively in the O horizon. Under the same treatment, the changes in autotrophic nitrification rates, NH4+ immobilization rates, and mineralization rates were much smaller in the A horizon than in the O horizon. We propose that the difference between the two horizons in the responses to changing temperature and moisture was due to the different resource status. The O horizon could provide more substrates than the A horizon, resulting in a stronger response of N processes to changing temperature and moisture. Resource status also affected the competition for substrates between NH4+ immobilization and autotrophic nitrification. The N transformation rates were higher in the O horizon than in the A horizon, consistent with higher microbial biomass N, microbial respiration rate, and amoA gene abundance in the O horizon. Our results suggest that the activity switch of microbes and the competition for resources are important biotic factors regulating potential responses of soil N cycling processes to changing abiotic factors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnold J, Corre MD, Veldkamp E (2008) Cold storage and laboratory incubation of intact soil cores do not reflect in-situ nitrogen cycling rates of tropical forest soils. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2480–2483

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baggs EM (2011) Soil microbial sources of nitrous oxide: recent advances in knowledge, emerging challenges and future direction. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 3:321–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai E, Li W, Li S, Sun J, Peng B, Dai W, Jiang P, Han S (2014) Pulse increase of soil N2O emission in response to N addition in a temperate forest on Mt Changbai, Northeast China. PLoS One 9:e102765

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Benbi D, Richter J (2002) A critical review of some approaches to modelling nitrogen mineralization. Biol Fertil Soils 35:168–183

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blagodatskaya EV, Ermolaev AM, Myakshina TN (2004) Ecological strategies of soil microbial communities under plants of meadow ecosystems. Biol Bull 31:620–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blagodatskaya EV, Blagodatsky SA, Anderson TH, Kuzyakov Y (2009) Contrasting effects of glucose, living roots and maize straw on microbial growth kinetics and substrate availability in soil. Eur J Soil Sci 60:186–197

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Booth MS, Stark JM, Rastetter E (2005) Controls on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: a synthetic analysis of literature data. Ecol Monogr 75:139–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braker G, Schwarz J, Conrad R (2010) Influence of temperature on the composition and activity of denitrifying soil communities. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 73:134–148

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks P, Stark JM, McInteer B, Preston T (1989) Diffusion method to prepare soil extracts for automated nitrogen-15 analysis. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53:1707–1711

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Z, Ding W, Xu Y, Müller C, Rütting T, Yu H, Fan J, Zhang J, Zhu T (2015) Importance of heterotrophic nitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium in a cropland soil: evidences from a 15N tracing study to literature synthesis. Soil Biol Biochem 91:65–75

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y, Chen G, Robinson D, Yang Z, Guo J, Xie J, Fu S, Zhou L, Yang Y (2016) Large amounts of easily decomposable carbon stored in subtropical forest subsoil are associated with r-strategy-dominated soil microbes. Soil Biol Biochem 95:233–242

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng Y, Wang J, Wang SQ, Zhang JB, Cai ZC (2014) Effects of soil moisture on gross N transformations and N2O emission in acid subtropical forest soils. Biol Fertil Soils 50:1099–1108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng Y, Zhang JB, Müller C, Wang SQ (2015) 15N tracing study to understand the N supply associated with organic amendments in a vineyard soil. Biol Fertil Soils 51:983–993

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Demey A, Rütting T, Huygens D, Staelens J, Hermy M, Verheyen K, Boeckx P (2014) Hemiparasitic litter additions alter gross nitrogen turnover in temperate semi-natural grassland soils. Soil Biol Biochem 68:419–428

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Drenovsky RE, Vo D, Graham KJ, Scow KM (2004) Soil water content and organic carbon availability are major determinants of soil microbial community composition. Microb Ecol 48:424–430

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dungait JAJ, Hopkins DW, Gregory AS, Whitmore AP (2012) Soil organic matter turnover is governed by accessibility not recalcitrance. Glob Chang Biol 18:1781–1796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durán J, Morse JL, Rodríguez A, Campbell JL, Christenson LM, Driscoll CT, Fahey TJ, Fisk MC, Mitchell MJ, Templer PH, Groffman PM (2017) Differential sensitivity to climate change of C and N cycling processes across soil horizons in a northern hardwood forest. Soil Biol Biochem 107:77–84

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gleeson DB, Müller C, Banerjee S, Ma W, Siciliano SD, Murphy DV (2010) Response of ammonia oxidizing archaea and bacteria to changing water filled pore space. Soil Biol Biochem 42:1888–1891

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hart SC, Nason GE, Myrold DD, Perry DA (1994) Dynamics of gross nitrogen transformations in an old-growth forest: the carbon connection. Ecology 75:880–891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huygens D, Rütting T, Boeckx P, Van Cleemput O, Godoy R, Müller C (2007) Soil nitrogen conservation mechanisms in a pristine south Chilean Nothofagus forest ecosystem. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2448–2458

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Joergensen RG, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1990) Survival of the soil microbial biomass at elevated temperatures. Soil Biol Biochem 22:1129–1136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiese R, Hewett B, Butterbach-Bahl K (2007) Seasonal dynamic of gross nitrification and N2O emission at two tropical rainforest sites in Queensland, Australia. Plant Soil 309:105–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu R, Hayden HL, Suter H, Hu H, Lam SK, He J, Mele PM, Chen D (2016) The effect of temperature and moisture on the source of N2O and contributions from ammonia oxidizers in an agricultural soil. Biol Fertil Soils 53:141–152

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marzluf GA (1997) Genetic regulation of nitrogen metabolism in the fungi. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 61:17–32

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Miller KS, Geisseler D (2018) Temperature sensitivity of nitrogen mineralization in agricultural soils. Biol Fertil Soils 54:853–860

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Müller C, Rütting T, Kattge J, Laughlin RJ, Stevens RJ (2007) Estimation of parameters in complex 15N tracing models by Monte Carlo sampling. Soil Biol Biochem 39:715–726

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Müller C, Laughlin RJ, Christie P, Watson CJ (2011) Effects of repeated fertilizer and cattle slurry applications over 38 years on N dynamics in a temperate grassland soil. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1362–1371

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagano H, Sugihara S, Matsushima M, Okitsu S, Prikhodko VE, Manakhova E, Zdanovich GB, Manakhov DV, Ivanov IV, Funakawa S, Kawahigashi M, Inubushi K (2012) Carbon and nitrogen contents and greenhouse gas fluxes of the Eurasian steppe soils with different land-use histories located in the Arkaim museum reserve of South Ural, Russia. Soil Sci Plant Nutr 58:238–244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Panikov NS, Blagodatsky SA, Blagodatskaya JV, Glagolev MV (1992) Determination of microbial mineralization activity in soil by modified Wright and Hobbie method. Biol Fertil Soils 14:280–287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rice CW, Tiedje JM (1989) Regulation of nitrate assimilation by ammonium in soils and in isolated soil microorganisms. Soil Biol Biochem 21:597–602

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schöler A, Jacquiod S, Vestergaard G, Schulz S, Schloter M (2017) Analysis of soil microbial communities based on amplicon sequencing of marker genes. Biol Fertil Soils 53:485–489

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schütt M, Borken W, Spott O, Stange CF, Matzner E (2014) Temperature sensitivity of C and N mineralization in temperate forest soils at low temperatures. Soil Biol Biochem 69:320–327

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun J, Peng B, Li W, Qu G, Dai W, Dai G, Jiang P, Han S, Bai E (2016) Effects of nitrogen addition on potential soil nitrogen-cycling processes in a temperate forest ecosystem. Soil Sci 181:29–38

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Templer PH, Silver WL, Pett-Ridge J, DeAngelis KM, Firestone MK (2008) Plant and microbial controls on nitrogen retention and loss in a humid tropical forest. Ecology 89:3030–3040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tu C, Louws FJ, Creamer NG, Paul Mueller J, Brownie C, Fager K, Bell M, Hu S (2006) Responses of soil microbial biomass and N availability to transition strategies from conventional to organic farming systems. Agric Ecosyst Environ 113:206–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vestergaard G, Schulz S, Schöler A, Schloter M (2017) Making big data smart—how to use metagenomics to understand soil quality. Biol Fertil Soils 53:479–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallenstein MD, McMahon SK, Schimel JP (2009) Seasonal variation in enzyme activities and temperature sensitivities in Arctic tundra soils. Glob Chang Biol 15:1631–1639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Wang L, Feng X, Hu H, Cai Z, Müller C, Zhang J (2016a) Soil N transformations and its controlling factors in temperate grasslands in China: a study from 15N tracing experiment to literature synthesis. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 121:2949–2959

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Zhang J, Müller C, Cai Z (2016b) Temperature sensitivity of gross N transformation rates in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. J Soils Sediment 17:423–431

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Winkler JP, Cherry RS, Schlesinger WH (1996) The Q10 relationship of microbial respiration in a temperate forest soil. Soil Biol Biochem 28:1067–1072

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xia Z, Xu H, Chen G, Dong D, Bai E, Luo L (2013) Soil N2O production and the δ15N–N2O value: their relationship with nitrifying/denitrifying bacteria and archaea during a growing season of soybean in Northeast China. Eur J Soil Biol 58:73–80

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zaman M, Chang SX (2004) Substrate type, temperature, and moisture content affect gross and net N mineralization and nitrification rates in agroforestry systems. Biol Fertil Soils 39:269–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang JB, Zhu TB, Cai ZC, Qin SW, Müller C (2012) Effects of long-term repeated mineral and organic fertilizer applications on soil nitrogen transformations. Eur J Soil Sci 63:75–85

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang JB, Cai ZC, Zhu TB, Yang WY, Müller C (2013) Mechanisms for the retention of inorganic N in acidic forest soils of southern China. Sci Rep 3:2342

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang JB, Sun WJ, Zhong WH, Cai ZC (2014) The substrate is an important factor in controlling the significance of heterotrophic nitrification in acidic forest soils. Soil Biol Biochem 76:143–148

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang JB, Wang L, Zhao W, Hu HF, Feng XJ, Müller C, Cai ZC (2016) Soil gross nitrogen transformations along the Northeast China Transect (NECT) and their response to simulated rainfall events. Sci Rep 6:22830

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng J, Guo R, Li D, Zhang J, Han S (2017) Nitrogen addition, drought and mixture effects on litter decomposition and nitrogen immobilization in a temperate forest. Plant Soil 416:165–179

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31400427 and 31770531) and the National Program for Support of Top-notch Young Professionals (to Edith Bai).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, Liaoning, China

    Lifei Sun, Zongwei Xia, Changpeng Sang, Xu Wang, Bo Peng, Chao Wang & Edith Bai

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lifei Sun, Changpeng Sang, Xu Wang & Bo Peng

  3. School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Jinbo Zhang

  4. Department of Plant Ecology, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich Buff Ring 26, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Christoph Müller

  5. School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Christoph Müller

  6. School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, No. 5268 Renmin Road, Changchun, 130024, China

    Edith Bai

Authors
  1. Lifei Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zongwei Xia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Changpeng Sang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xu Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Bo Peng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Chao Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jinbo Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Christoph Müller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Edith Bai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edith Bai.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 319 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sun, L., Xia, Z., Sang, C. et al. Soil resource status affects the responses of nitrogen processes to changes in temperature and moisture. Biol Fertil Soils 55, 629–641 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-019-01379-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-019-01379-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation