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Converting acidic forests to managed plantations reduces soil nitrogen loss by inhibiting autotrophic nitrification while inducing nitrate immobilization in the tropics

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Abstract

Soil gross nitrogen (N) transformation rates are highly sensitive to land use change. However, understanding the effect of land use change on internal N cycling patterns and its underlying mechanisms in tropical soils remains elusive. Here, four typical land uses including forest (> 400 years), eucalyptus (15 years), rubber (35 years), and paddy field (40 years) plantations in tropical region of China were investigated. The technique of 15N tracing was used to quantify soil gross N transformation rates. We also measured soil biochemical properties as well as carbon (C) and N fractions to evaluate the controls on any changes in soil N cycling processes. We found that converting natural tropical forests to managed ecosystems shifts the soil N dynamics from nitrate-dominated N forms towards ammonium-dominated N forms, suggesting that managed ecosystems becoming conservative (i.e., lower ratio of autotrophic nitrification (ONH4) to ammonium immobilization (INH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and higher nitrate immobilization) than the natural tropical forest. The higher tendency of N loss (i.e., higher ONH4/INH4 and N2O emissions) of the natural tropical forest was mainly due to the higher concentrations of soil total N and hydrolysable ammonium N and microbial biomass, which stimulated ONH4. Lower microbial biomass, hydrolysable ammonium N, particulate organic C, and gross N mineralization, however, significantly decreased ONH4 in managed ecosystems. Our study also showed a pivotal role of soil C and N fractions in controlling soil heterotrophic nitrification, which enhanced significantly with decreasing amino sugar N, amino acid N, dissolved organic C, easily oxidizable organic C, and light fraction organic C. Our findings highlighted the pivotal role of soil C and N fractions in regulating soil N cycling under future land use changes.

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Data Availability

Data from this study are included in the article and supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author. 

Abbreviations

M:

Gross N mineralization

ONH4 :

Gross autotrophic nitrification

ONrec :

Gross heterotrophic nitrification

INH4 :

Gross immobilization of NH4+-N

INO3 :

Gross immobilization of NO3−-N

DNRA:

Dissimilatory NO3−-N reduction to NH4+-N

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Funding

Financial funded for this work was the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42067008), The High-level Talent Project of the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province (320RC493) and Open project of Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of arable Land Conservation (HAAS2022PT0103).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China

    Qilin Zhu, Ahmed S. Elrys, Lijun Liu, Yunxing Wan, Ruoyan Yang, Jinxia Mou, Yunzhong Chen, Yuqin Wang, Yanzheng Wu, Shuirong Tang, Lei Meng & Jinbo Zhang

  2. Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44511, Egypt

    Ahmed S. Elrys

  3. Liebig Centre for Agroecology and Climate Impact Research, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany

    Ahmed S. Elrys

  4. CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Juan Liu

  5. Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Karst Dynamics Laboratory, MLR and Guangxi, Guilin, 541004, China

    Tongbin Zhu

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

    Christoph Müller

  7. School of Biology and Environmental Science and Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland

    Christoph Müller

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Zhu, Q., Elrys, A.S., Liu, L. et al. Converting acidic forests to managed plantations reduces soil nitrogen loss by inhibiting autotrophic nitrification while inducing nitrate immobilization in the tropics. Biol Fertil Soils (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-023-01777-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-023-01777-7

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