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Genotype and slope position control on the availability of soil soluble organic nitrogen in tea plantations

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Abstract

Soluble organic nitrogen (SON) plays a vital role in ecosystem N cycling processes and is controlled by a number of biotic and abiotic factors. We compared soil SON availability, microbial biomass, protease and asparaginase activities and phospholipids fatty acid (PLFA) profiles at the 0–15 and 15–30 cm layers in 10 year old tea plantations of two genotypes—Oolong tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze cv. Huangjingui) (designated as ‘OT’) and Green tea (C. sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze cv. Fuyun 6) (designated as ‘GT’)—established at different slope positions. Concentrations of soil SON measured by the 2 M KCl extraction under the OT plantation were greater than under the GT plantation, while concentrations of soil SON were greater in the middle slope (MS) and lower slope (LS) positions than in the upper slope (US) position. Trends in soil microbial biomass C and N and protease and asparaginase activities between the two genotypes and across the slope positions were similar to the SON pools. The fungal-to-bacterial ratios were higher in the US position than in the MS and LS positions and higher under the GT plantation than under the OT plantation. Results from this study support that the genotype and the slope position are key factors controlling the availability of soil SON in tea plantations and also imply the importance of plant traits (e.g. litter quantity and chemistry) and soil texture in determining overall soil N availability and transformation processes and microbial community composition at the landscape level.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Tea Research Institute, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences for the access to the experimental site. We would also like to thank Mr. Ruxing Yang, Mr. Guangpu Du, Mr. Hui Zheng, Mr. Wenbin Jiang, Mr. Shiping Wen and Mr. Rongfeng You for their assistance in soil sampling and processing, Ms. Marijke Heenan and Dr. Lili Wei for their assistance in soil SON analysis, and Ms. Juan You, Ms. Han Ye and other members of Research Centre of Agro-biological Resources, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences for their assistance in soil phospholipids fatty acid. This project is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (project no. 40671086) and Australia Research Council (DP0667184).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resource and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    S. H. Xing & B. Q. Zhou

  2. Crop Institute, Fujian Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Fuzhou, 350003, China

    C. R. Chen

  3. Environmental Futures Centre, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Australia

    S. H. Xing, C. R. Chen & Z. H. Xu

  4. Institute of Soil and Fertilizer, Fujian Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Fuzhou, 350003, China

    H. Zhang & Z. M. Nang

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  1. S. H. Xing
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Correspondence to C. R. Chen.

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Xing, S.H., Chen, C.R., Zhang, H. et al. Genotype and slope position control on the availability of soil soluble organic nitrogen in tea plantations. Biogeochemistry 103, 245–261 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9460-3

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