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Effect of mixing herbaceous litter with tree litters on decomposition and N release in boreal plantations

Plant and Soil volume 398, pages 229–241 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Background and Aims

Abandoned lands are increasingly used to establish fast-growing tree plantations, and are often rapidly colonized by a high density of herbaceous undergrowth. These weeds are generally removed since they compete with trees for resources, in particular soil nutrients. However, mixing herbaceous litter with the litter of planted trees could also stimulate the activity of decomposers and associated nutrient release due to an increase of litter quality (lower C:N ratio), plant diversity (more diverse litter traits) and water holding capacity. The objective was to determine the impact of herbaceous litter on the litter decomposition process of white spruce and hybrid poplar litters alone or in mixtures.

Methods

Litter mass loss rate, nutrient release and decomposer communities were monitored on single and mixed-species litters using litterbags during two years in three plantations types (hybrid poplar, white spruce and mixed plantations). Litters within mixtures were separated by species to identify species-specific responses of leaf mass loss.

Results

N release of all litter types increased with the presence of herbaceous litter. This finding could be linked to the greater abundance of decomposers and fungal biomass brought about by the herbaceous litter. Addition of herbaceous litter had no effect on spruce litter mass loss but had positive effects on poplar and mixed spruce/poplar litter mass loss. Abundance of fungi and mites was more affected by litter quality, whereas the abundance of collembola was more affected by the diversity of resources than by litter quality.

Conclusions

In these 10-year plantations with poplar, increased litter mass loss for poplar and mixed litters and N release associated to the presence of herbaceous litter showed that weeds may change soil C sequestration and N cycling.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Line Blackburn for field assistance, Caroline Lecareux and Germain Bougnou for chemical analysis, and Sophie Gachet for the herbaceous species identification. This study was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC-CRSNG) through a Collaborative and Research Development grant awarded to Annie DesRochers. We also thank the CRSNG-UQAT-UQAM Industrial Chair in Sustainable Forest Management, the Quebec Intensive Silviculture Network and the CEF for additional support.

Compliance with ethical standards

The source of funding was a Collaborative and Research Development grant supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC-CRSNG). There is no conflict of interest. The research did not involved human participants neither animals.

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Author notes

  1. M. Chomel

    Present address: Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie (IMBE) - Aix Marseille Université, UMR CNRS 7263, IRD, Avignon Université, 13331, Marseille Cedex 03, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Recherche sur les forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 341 rue principale Nord, Amos, Québec, J9T 2L8, Canada

    M. Chomel & A. DesRochers

  2. Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie (IMBE) - Aix Marseille Université, UMR CNRS 7263, IRD, Avignon Université, 13331, Marseille Cedex 03, France

    V. Baldy

  3. Institut de recherche en mines et en environnement, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 341 rue principale Nord, Amos, Québec, J9T 2L8, Canada

    M. Guittonny-Larchevêque

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  1. M. Chomel
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Correspondence to M. Chomel.

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Responsible Editor: Fernando T. Maestre.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary Table S1

Results of statistical analysis (lme) to test the effects of litter type, mixture effect and decomposition time and their interactions on litter mass loss in their respective plantations. (DOCX 13 kb)

Supplementary Table S2

Results of statistical analysis (lme) to test the effects of litter type, decomposition time and their interactions on ergosterol content, and mesofauna abundance (springtails, mites and predators). (DOCX 21 kb)

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Chomel, M., Guittonny-Larchevêque, M., DesRochers, A. et al. Effect of mixing herbaceous litter with tree litters on decomposition and N release in boreal plantations. Plant Soil 398, 229–241 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2648-5

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Keyword

  • Grasses
  • Mixed plantation
  • Hybrid poplar
  • White spruce
  • Decomposers
  • Mesofauna
  • Microorganism
  • Intensive silviculture