Abstract
Recent research has dramatically advanced our understanding of soil organic matter chemistry and the role of N in some organic matter transformations, but the effects of N deposition on soil C dynamics remain difficult to anticipate. We examined soil organic matter chemistry and enzyme kinetics in three size fractions (>250 μm, 63–250 μm, and <63 μm) following 6 years of simulated atmospheric N deposition in two ecosystems with contrasting litter biochemistry (sugar maple, Acer saccharum—basswood, Tilia americana and black oak, Quercus velutina—white oak, Q. alba). Ambient and simulated (80-kg NO3 −–N ha−1 year−1) atmospheric N deposition were studied in three replicate stands in each ecosystem. We found striking, ecosystem-specific effects of N deposition on soil organic matter chemistry using pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. First, furfural, the dominant pyrolysis product of polysaccharides, was significantly decreased by simulated N deposition in the sugar maple–basswood ecosystem (15.9 vs. 5.0%) but was increased by N deposition in the black oak–white oak ecosystem (8.8 vs. 24.0%). Second, simulated atmospheric N deposition increased the ratio of total lignin derivatives to total polysaccharides in the >250 μm fraction of the sugar maple–basswood ecosystem from 0.9 to 3.3 but there were no changes in other size classes or in the black oak–white oak ecosystem. Third, simulated N deposition increased the ratio of lignin derivatives to N-bearing compounds in the 63–250 and >250 μm fractions in both ecosystems but not in the <63 μm fraction. Relationships between enzyme kinetics and organic matter chemistry were strongest in the particulate fractions (>63 μm) where there were multiple correlations between oxidative enzyme activities and concentrations of lignin derivatives and between glycanolytic enzyme activities and concentrations of carbohydrates. Within silt-clay fractions (<63 μm), these enzyme-substrate correlations were attenuated by interactions with particle surfaces. Our results demonstrate that variation in enzyme activity resulting from atmospheric N deposition is directly linked to changes in soil organic matter chemistry, particularly those that occur within coarse soil size fractions.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to D. Fernandez for providing technical help with the pyrolysis-GC/MS analysis and to several anonymous reviewers who provided very thoughtful and insightful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. Funding for this work was provided by a USDA NRI postdoctoral fellowship to A. S. Grandy, the A. W. Mellon foundations the Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy, Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER63591.
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Grandy, A.S., Sinsabaugh, R.L., Neff, J.C. et al. Nitrogen deposition effects on soil organic matter chemistry are linked to variation in enzymes, ecosystems and size fractions. Biogeochemistry 91, 37–49 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-008-9257-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-008-9257-9