Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Land-use change in a tropical mountain rainforest region of southern Ecuador affects soil microorganisms and nutrient cycling

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Over the past decades, the tropical mountain rainforest of southern Ecuador has been threatened by conversion to cattle pastures. Frequently, these pastures are invaded by bracken fern and abandoned when bracken becomes dominant. Changes in land-use (forest–pasture–abandoned pasture) can affect soil microorganisms and their physiological responses with respect to soil carbon and nutrient cycling. In situ investigations on litter decomposition and soil respiration as well as biogeochemical characterization of the soil were carried out to identify the driving factors behind. The conversion of forest to pasture induced a pronounced increase in CO2–C effluxes to 12.2 Mg ha−1 a−1 which did not decrease after abandonment. Soil microbial activity and biomass showed a different pattern with lowest values at forest and abandoned pasture sites. With 3445 mg kg−1 (0–5 cm) microbial biomass carbon (MBC by CFE-method), the active pasture had a more than three times higher value than forest and abandoned pasture, which was among the highest in tropical pasture soils. A shift in the microbial community structure (phospholipid fatty acid, PLFA) was also induced by the establishment of pasture land; the relative abundance of fungi and Gram-negative bacteria increased. PLFA fingerprints of the forest organic layer were more similar to pasture than to forest mineral soil. Chemical properties (pH value, exchangeable cations) were the main factors influencing the respective microbial structure. Bracken-invasion resulted in a decrease in the quantity and quality of above- and belowground biomass. The lower organic substance and nutrient availability induced a significant decline in microbial biomass and activity. After pasture abandonment, these differences in soil microbial function were not accompanied by pronounced shifts in the community structure and in soil pH as was shown for the conversion to pasture. A disconnection between microbial structure and function was identified. Similar soil CO2–C effluxes between active and abandoned pasture sites might be explained by an underestimation of the effluxes from the active pasture site. All measurements were carried out between grass tussocks where fine-root density was about 2.6 times lower than below tussocks. Thus, lower proportions of root respiration were expected than below tussocks. Overall, soil microorganisms responded differently to changes in land-use from forest to pasture and from pasture to abandoned pasture resulting in pronounced changes of carbon and nutrient cycling and hence of ecosystem functioning.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Aciego Pietri JC, Brookes PC (2008) Relationships between soil pH and microbial properties in a UK arable soil. Soil Biol Biochem 40:1856–1861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aciego Pietri JC, Brookes PC (2009) Substrate inputs and pH as factors controlling microbial biomass, activity and community structure in an arable soil. Soil Biol Biochem 41:1396–1405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adachi M, Bekku YS, Rashidah W, Okuda T, Koizumi H (2006) Differences in soil respiration between different tropical ecosystems. Appl Soil Ecol 34:258–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JM, Hetherington SL (1999) Temperature, nitrogen availability and mixture effects on the decomposition of heather Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull and bracken Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn litters. Funct Ecol 13:116–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baath E, Anderson T-H (2003) Comparison of soil fungal/bacterial ratios in a pH gradient using physiological and PLFA-based techniques. Soil Biol Biochem 35:955–963

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bach LH, Frostegard A, Ohlson M (2008) Variation in soil microbial communities across a boreal spruce forest landscape. Can J For Res 38:1504–1516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bahn M, Knapp M, Garajova Z, Pfahringer N, Cernusca A (2006) Root respiration in temperate mountain grasslands differing in land use. Glob Change Biol 12:995–1006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balesdent J, Mariotti A (1996) Measurement of soil organic matter turnover using 13C natural abundance. In: Boutton TW, Yamasaki S (eds) Mass spectrometry of soils. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 83–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Barraclough D (1995) 15N isotope dilution techniques to study soil nitrogen transformations and plant uptake. Fertilizer Res 42:185–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann K, Marschner P, Smernik RJ, Baldock JA (2009) Residue chemistry and microbial community structure during decomposition of eucalypt, wheat and vetch residues. Soil Biol Biochem 41:1966–1975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bendix J, Homeier J, Cueva Ortiz E, Emck P, Breckle SW, Richter M, Beck E (2006) Seasonality of weather and tree phenology in a tropical evergreen mountain rain forest. Int J Biometeorol 50:370–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bendix J, Silva B, Roos K, Göttlicher D, Rollenbeck R, Nauß T, Beck E (2010) Model parameterization to simulate and compare the PAR absorption potential of two competing plant species. Int J Biometeorol 54:283–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benoit RE, Starkey RL (1968) Enzyme inactivation as a factor in inhibition of decomposition of organic matter by tannins. Soil Sci 105:203–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berthrong ST, Schadt CW, Pineiro G, Jackson RB (2009) Afforestation alters the composition of functional genes in soil and biogeochemical processes in South American grasslands. Appl Environ Microbiol 75:6240–6248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Booth MS, Stark JM, Rastetter E (2005) Controls on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: a synthetic analysis of literature data. Ecol Monogr 75:139–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherif M, Loreau M (2007) Stoichiometric constraints on resource use, competitive interactions, and elemental cycling in microbial decomposers. Am Nat 169:709–724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cookson WR, Osman M, Marschner P, Abaye DA, Clark I, Murphy DV, Stockdale EA, Watson CA (2007) Controls on soil nitrogen cycling and microbial community composition across land use and incubation temperature. Soil Biol Biochem 39:744–756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Verchot LV, Henrique Cattanio J, Ackerman IL, Carvalho JEM (2000) Effects of soil water content on soil respiration in forests and cattle pastures of eastern Amazonia. Biogeochemistry 48:53–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2010) Global forest resources assessment 2010. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, p 340

  • Feigl BJ, Steudler PA, Cerri CC (1995) Effects of pasture introduction on soil CO2 emissions during the dry season in the state of Rondonia, Brazil. Biogeochemistry 31:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes SAP, Bernoux M, Cerri CC, Feigl BJ, Piccolo MC (2002) Seasonal variation of soil chemical properties and CO2 and CH4 fluxes in unfertilized and P-fertilized pastures in an Ultisol of the Brazilian Amazon. Geoderma 107:227–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fierer N, Jackson RB (2006) The diversity and biogeography of soil bacterial communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:626–631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fierer N, Schimel JP, Cates RG, Zou J (2001) Influence of balsam poplar tannin fractions on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in Alaskan taiga floodplain soils. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1827–1839

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fierer N, Grandy AS, Six J, Paul EA (2009) Searching for unifying principles in soil ecology. Soil Biol Biochem 41:2249–2256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flis SE, Glenn AR, Dilworth MJ (1993) The interaction between aluminium and root nodule bacteria. Soil Biol Biochem 25:403–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornara DA, Tilman D (2009) Ecological mechanisms associated with the positive diversity-productivity relationship in an N-limited grassland. Ecology 90:408–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill RA, Jackson RB (2000) Global patterns of root turnover for terrestrial ecosystems. New Phytol 147:13–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Göttlicher D, Obregón A, Homeier J, Rollenbeck R, Nauss T, Bendix J (2009) Land-cover classification in the Andes of southern Ecuador using Landsat ETM+ data as a basis for SVAT modelling. Int J Remote Sens 30:1867–1886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths RP, Filan T (2007) Effects of bracken fern invasions on harvested site soils in Pacific Northwest (USA) coniferous forests. Northwest Sci 81:191–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guckert JB, Hood MA, White DC (1986) Phospholipid ester-linked fatty acid profile changes during nutrient deprivation of Vibrio cholerae: increases in the trans/cis ratio and proportions of cyclopropyl fatty acids. Appl Environ Microbiol 52:794–801

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamer U, Unger M, Makeschin F (2007) Impact of air-drying and rewetting on PLFA profiles of soil microbial communities. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 170:259–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamer U, Makeschin F, An S, Zheng F (2009) Microbial activity and community structure in degraded soils on the Loess Plateau of China. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 172:118–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannam KD, Quideau SA, Kishchuk BE (2007) The microbial communities of aspen and spruce forest floors are resistant to changes in litter inputs and microclimate. Appl Soil Ecol 35:635–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartig K, Beck E (2003) The bracken fern (Pteridium arachnoideum (Kaulf.) Maxon) dilemma in the Andes of southern Ecuador. Ecotropica (Bonn) 9:3–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Hättenschwiler S, Vitousek PM (2000) The role of polyphenols in terrestrial ecosystem nutrient cycling. Trends Ecol Evol 15:238–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haygarth PM, Ritz K (2009) The future of soils and land use in the UK: Soil systems for the provision of land-based ecosystem services. Land Use Policy 26:S187–S197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Homeier J, Werner FA (2008) Spermatophyta. Ecotrop Monogr 4:15–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Illig J, Schatz H, Scheu S, Maraun M (2008) Decomposition and colonization by micro-arthropods of two litter types in a tropical montane rain forest in Southern Ecuador. J Trop Ecol 24:157–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iost S (2007) Soil respiration, microbial respiration and mineralisation in soils of montane rainforests of Southern Ecuador: influence of altitude. Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, p 186

  • Iost S, Makeschin F, Abiy M, Haubrich F (2008) Biotic soil activities. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Springer, Berlin, pp 217–228

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds) Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 996

  • Joergensen RG (2010) Organic matter and micro-organisms in tropical soils. In: Dion P (ed) Soil biology and agriculture in the tropics. Springer, Berlin, pp 17–44

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kalbitz K, Schmerwitz J, Schwesig D, Matzner E (2003) Biodegradation of soil-derived dissolved organic matter as related to its properties. Geoderma 113:273–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kingston HM, Jassie LB (1986) Microwave energy for acid decomposition at elevated temperatures and pressures using biological and botanical samples. Anal Chem 58:2534–2541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knicker H (2007) How does fire affect the nature and stability of soil organic nitrogen and carbon? A review. Biogeochemistry 85:91–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knops JMH, Bradley KL, Wedin DA (2002) Mechanisms of plant species impacts on ecosystem nitrogen cycling. Ecol Lett 5:454–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krashevska V, Bonkowski M, Maraun M, Ruess L, Kandeler E, Scheu S (2008) Microorganisms as driving factors for the community structure of testate amoebae along an altitudinal transect in tropical mountain rain forests. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2427–2433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lauber CL, Strickland MS, Bradford MA, Fierer N (2008) The influence of soil properties on the structure of bacterial and fungal communities across land-use types. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2407–2415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lüer B, Böhmer A (2000) Comparison between percolation and extraction with 1 M NH4Cl solution to determine the effective cation exchange capacity (CECeff) of soils. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 163:555–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald CA, Thomas N, Robinson L, Tate KR, Ross DJ, Dando J, Singh BK (2009) Physiological, biochemical and molecular responses of the soil microbial community after afforestation of pastures with Pinus radiata. Soil Biol Biochem 41:1642–1651

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makeschin F, Haubrich F, Abiy M, Burneo JI, Klinger T (2008) Pasture management and natural soil regeneration. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Springer, Berlin, pp 397–408

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Manzoni S, Trofymow JA, Jackson RB, Porporato A (2010) Stoichiometric controls on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus dynamics in decomposing litter. Ecol Monogr 80:89–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marrs RH, Watt AS (2006) Biological flora of the British Isles: Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn. J Ecol 94:1272–1321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marschner B, Kalbitz K (2003) Controls of bioavailability and biodegradability of dissolved organic matter in soils. Geoderma 113:211–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merilä P, Malmivaara-Lämsä M, Spetz P, Stark S, Vierikko K, Derome J, Fritze H (2010) Soil organic matter quality as a link between microbial community structure and vegetation composition along a successional gradient in a boreal forest. Appl Soil Ecol 46:259–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe DB, Meir P, Aragão LEOC, Malhi Y, da Costa ACL, Braga A, Gonçalves PHL, de Athaydes J, de Almeida SS, Williams M (2007) Factors controlling spatio-temporal variation in carbon dioxide efflux from surface litter, roots, and soil organic matter at four rain forest sites in the eastern Amazon. J Geophys Res G Biogeosci 112:G04001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulvaney RL, Khan SA, Stevens WB, Mulvaney CS (1997) Improved diffusion methods for determination of inorganic nitrogen in soil extracts and water. Biol Fertil Soils 24:413–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neill C, Piccolo MC, Cerri CC, Steudler PA, Melillo JM, Brito M (1997) Net nitrogen mineralization and net nitrification rates in soils following deforestation for pasture across the southwestern Brazilian Amazon Basin landscape. Oecologia 110:243–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neill C, Piccolo MC, Melillo JM, Steudler PA, Cerri CC (1999) Nitrogen dynamics in Amazon forest and pasture soils measured by 15N pool dilution. Soil Biol Biochem 31:567–572

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen UN, Ayres E, Wall DH, Bardgett RD (2011) Soil biodiversity and carbon cycling: a review and synthesis of studies examining diversity–function relationships. Eur J Soil Sci 62:105–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OriginLab (2008) OriginPro 8G SR2. Northampton

  • Paterson E (2003) Importance of rhizodeposition in the coupling of plant and microbial productivity. Eur J Soil Sci 54:741–750

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul EA (2007) Soil microbiology, ecology, and biochemistry. Academic, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Paustian K, Six J, Elliott ET, Hunt HW (2000) Management options for reducing CO2 emissions from agricultural soils. Biogeochemistry 48:147–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potthast K, Hamer U, Makeschin F (2010) Impact of litter quality on mineralization processes in managed and abandoned pasture soils in Southern Ecuador. Soil Biol Biochem 42:56–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preston CM, Nault JR, Trofymow JA, Smyth C (2009) Chemical changes during 6 years of decomposition of 11 litters in some Canadian forest sites. Part 1. Elemental composition, tannins, phenolics, and proximate fractions. Ecosystems 12:1053–1077

    Google Scholar 

  • Priha O, Smolander A (1995) Nitrification, denitrification and microbial biomass N in soil from 2 N-fertilized and limed Norway Spruce forests. Soil Biol Biochem 27:305–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratledge C, Wilkinson SG (1988) Fatty acids, related and derived lipids. In: Ratledge C, Wilkinson SG (eds) Microbial lipids. Academic Press Inc., San Diego, pp 23–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades CC, Coleman DC (1999) Nitrogen mineralization and nitrification following land conversion in montane Ecuador. Soil Biol Biochem 31:1347–1354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades CC, Eckert GE, Coleman DC (2000) Soil carbon differences among forest, agriculture, and secondary vegetation in lower montane Ecuador. Ecol Appl 10:497–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousk J, Brookes PC, Baath E (2009) Contrasting soil pH effects on fungal and bacterial growth suggest functional redundancy in carbon mineralization. Appl Environ Microbiol 75:1589–1596

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousk J, Brookes PC, Baath E (2010a) The microbial PLFA composition as affected by pH in an arable soil. Soil Biol Biochem 42:516–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousk J, Baath E, Brookes PC, Lauber CL, Lozupone C, Caporaso JG, Knight R, Fierer N (2010b) Soil bacterial and fungal communities across a pH gradient in an arable soil. ISME J 4:1340–1351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimel JP, Van Cleve K, Cates RG, Clausen TP, Reichardt PB (1996) Effects of balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) tannins and low molecular weight phenolics on microbial activity in taiga floodplain soil: implications for changes in N cycling during succession. Can J Bot 74:84–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimel J, Balser TC, Wallenstein M (2007) Microbial stress-response physiology and its implications for ecosystem function. Ecology 88:1386–1394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Six J, Frey SD, Thiet RK, Batten KM (2006) Bacterial and fungal contributions to carbon sequestration in agroecosystems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:555–569

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soethe N (2006) Structure and function of root systems at different altitudes of a south Ecuadorian montane forest. Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, p 146

  • Soethe N, Lehmann J, Engels C (2007) Carbon and nutrient stocks in roots of forests at different altitudes in the Ecuadorian Andes. J Trop Ecol 23:319–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • StatSoft I (2009) Statistica for Windows. Tulsa

  • Swift MJ, Heal OW, Anderson JM (1979) Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. In: Anderson DJ, Greig-Smith P, Pitzelka FA (eds) Studies in ecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p 372

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘t Mannetje L, Amezquita MC, Buurman P, Ibrahim MA (2008) Carbon sequestration in tropical grassland ecosystems. Wageningen Academic Publisher, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  • ter Braak CJF, Smilauer P (2002) CANOCO reference manual and CanoDraw for Windows user’s guide: software for canonical community ordination. Biometris, Wageningen

  • Theander O, Westerlund EA (1986) Studies on dietary fiber. 3. Improved procedures for analysis of dietary fiber. J Agric Food Chem 34:330–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thoms C, Gattinger A, Jacob M, Thomas FM, Gleixner G (2010) Direct and indirect effects of tree diversity drive soil microbial diversity in temperate deciduous forest. Soil Biol Biochem 42:1558–1565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tufekcioglu A, Raich JW, Isenhart TM, Schultz RC (1998) Fine root dynamics, coarse root biomass, root distribution, and soil respiration in a multispecies riparian buffer in Central Iowa, USA. Agrofor Syst 44:163–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ushio M, Wagai R, Balser TC, Kitayama K (2008) Variations in the soil microbial community composition of a tropical montane forest ecosystem: Does tree species matter? Soil Biol Biochem 40:2699–2702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verchot L (2010) Impacts of forest conversion to agriculture on microbial communities and microbial function. In: Dion P (ed) Soil biology and agriculture in the tropics. Springer, Berlin, pp 45–63

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Waldrop MP, Firestone MK (2006) Seasonal dynamics of microbial community composition and function in oak canopy and open grassland soils. Microb Ecol 52:470–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldrop MP, Balser TC, Firestone MK (2000) Linking microbial community composition to function in a tropical soil. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1837–1846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wardle DA (1998) Review: controls of temporal variability of the soil microbial biomass: a global-scale synthesis. Soil Biol Biochem 30:1627–1637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wessel WW, Tietema A (1992) Calculating gross N transformation rates of 15N pool dilution experiments with acid forest litter: analytical and numerical approaches. Soil Biol Biochem 24:931–942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcke W, Yasin S, Abramowski U, Valarezo C, Zech W (2002) Nutrient storage and turnover in organic layers under tropical montane rain forest in Ecuador. Eur J Soil Sci 53:15–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams GH, Foley A (1976) Seasonal variations in the carbohydrate content of bracken. Bot J Linn Soc 73:87–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolters V, Silver WL, Bignell DE, Coleman DC, Lavelle P, Putten WHVD, Ruiter PD, Rusek J, Wall DH, Wardle DA, Brussaard L, Dangerfield JM, Brown VK, Giller KE, Hooper DU, Sala O, Tiedje J, Veen JAV (2000) Effects of global changes on above-and belowground biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems: implications for ecosystem functioning. Bioscience 50:1089–1098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WRB IWG (2006) World reference base for soil resources 2006—a framework for international classification, correlation and communication. In: World soil resources reports. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, p 128

  • Zelles L (1995) Fatty acid patterns of microbial phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides. In: Schinner F, Öhlinger R, Kandeler E, Margesin R (eds) Methods in soil biology. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 80–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Zelles L (1999) Fatty acid patterns of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides in the characterisation of microbial communities in soil: a review. Biol Fertil Soils 29:111–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the German Foundation of Research (DFG) for the subproject B2.1 within the DFG research Unit 816 “Biodiversity and Sustainable Management of a Megadiverse Mountain Ecosystem in South Ecuador” (HA 4597/1-1). We thank the Ecuadorian co-workers for their field assistance, Willian Rodriguez for measuring soil respiration rates, Konstantin Greipl for field and laboratory assistance, and Mirco Nedos for curve fitting. We especially thank Manuela Unger for her skilful and productive laboratory work. Special thanks go to the editor and to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Soil Science and Site Ecology, Dresden University of Technology, Pienner Str. 19, 01737, Tharandt, Germany

    Karin Potthast, Ute Hamer & Franz Makeschin

Authors
  1. Karin Potthast
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ute Hamer
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Franz Makeschin
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ute Hamer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Potthast, K., Hamer, U. & Makeschin, F. Land-use change in a tropical mountain rainforest region of southern Ecuador affects soil microorganisms and nutrient cycling. Biogeochemistry 111, 151–167 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9626-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9626-7

Keywords