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Increasing abundance of soil fungi is a driver for 15N enrichment in soil profiles along a chronosequence undergoing isostatic rebound in northern Sweden

Oecologia volume 160, pages 87–96 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Soil organic material (SOM) is usually enriched in 15N in deeper soil layers. This has been explained by discrimination against the heavier isotope during decomposition or by the accumulation of 15N-enriched microbial biomass versus plant biomass in older SOM. In particular, ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi have been suggested to accumulate in old SOM since this group is among the most 15N-enriched components of the microbial community. In the present study we investigated the microbial community in soil samples along a chronosequence (7,800 years) of sites undergoing isostatic rebound in northern Sweden. The composition of the microbial community was analyzed and related to the δ15N and δ13C isotope values of the SOM in soil profiles. A significant change in the composition of the microbial community was found during the first 2,000 years, and this was positively related to an increase in the δ15N values of the E and B horizons in the mineral soil. The proportion of fungal phospholipid fatty acids increased with time in the chronosequence and was positively related to the 15N enrichment of the SOM. The increase in δ13C in the SOM was much less than the increase in δ15N, and δ13C values in the mineral soil were only weakly related to soil age. The C:N ratio and the pH of the soil were important factors determining the composition of the microbial community. We suggest that the N being transported from the soil to aboveground tissue by EM fungi is a driver for 15N enrichment of soil profiles.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by a grant from the Carl Trygger Foundation and from the Swedish Research Council for the Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas).

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Microbial Ecology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Håkan Wallander

  2. Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Carl-Magnus Mörth

  3. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Climate Impacts Research Centre, Umeå University, 981 07, Abisko, Sweden

    Reiner Giesler

Authors
  1. Håkan Wallander
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  2. Carl-Magnus Mörth
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  3. Reiner Giesler
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Correspondence to Håkan Wallander.

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Communicated by Hormoz BassiriRad.

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Wallander, H., Mörth, CM. & Giesler, R. Increasing abundance of soil fungi is a driver for 15N enrichment in soil profiles along a chronosequence undergoing isostatic rebound in northern Sweden. Oecologia 160, 87–96 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1270-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1270-0

Keywords

  • Microbial community
  • PLFA
  • Chronosequence
  • Soil profile
  • Ectomycorrhizal fungi