Plant and Soil

, Volume 290, Issue 1–2, pp 269–282 | Cite as

Increase in pH stimulates mineralization of ‘native’ organic carbon and nitrogen in naturally salt-affected sandy soils

  • Xiao-gang Li
  • Zed Rengel
  • Emmanuel Mapfumo
  • Bhupinderpal-Singh
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Large amounts of terrestrial organic C and N reserves lie in salt-affected environments, and their dynamics are not well understood. This study was conducted to investigate how the contents and dynamics of ‘native’ organic C and N in sandy soils under different plant species found in a salt-affected ecosystem were related to salinity and pH. Increasing soil pH was associated with significant decreases in total soil organic C and C/N ratio; particulate (0.05–2 mm) organic C, N and C/N; and the C/N ratio in mineral-associated (<0.05 mm) fraction. In addition, mineral-associated organic C and N significantly increased with an increase in clay content of sandy soils. During 90-day incubation, total CO2-C production per unit of soil organic C was dependent on pH [CO2-C production (g kg−1 organic C) = 22.5 pH – 119, R 2 = 0.79]. Similarly, increased pH was associated with increased release of mineral N from soils during 10-day incubation. Soil microbial biomass C and N were also positively related to pH. Metabolic quotient increased with an increase in soil pH, suggesting that increasing alkalinity in the salt-affected soil favoured the survival of a bacterial-dominated microbial community with low assimilation efficiency of organic C. As a result, increased CO2-C and mineral N were produced in alkaline saline soils (pH up to 10.0). This pH-stimulated mineralization of organic C and N mainly occurred in particulate but not in mineral-associated organic matter fractions. Our findings imply that, in addition to decreased plant productivity and the litter input, pH-stimulated mineralization of organic matter would also be responsible for a decreased amount of organic matter in alkaline salt-affected sandy soils.

Keywords

Global C balance Microbial activity Microbial biomass Particulate organic matter pH Salinity 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Kosta Voltchanski and Rolf Polsen for their assistance with collection of soil samples. The Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) provided some historical and geological information on the study site. We especially thank Michael Smirk and Paul Damon for their assistances with the laboratory analyses.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  • Xiao-gang Li
    • 1
    • 2
  • Zed Rengel
    • 2
  • Emmanuel Mapfumo
    • 2
  • Bhupinderpal-Singh
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Resources and Environmental SciencesGansu Agricultural UniversityLanzhouChina
  2. 2.School of Earth and Geographical SciencesThe University of Western AustraliaCrawleyAustralia

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