Abstract
Background and aims
Tree species can produce litter with large variation in nitrogen to phosphorus (N:P) ratios. Here we examined how litter N:P ratios affected decomposer community composition and nutrient release for two contrasting tree species in the Qinling Mountains, China.
Methods
Two-year-old Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata and Pinus tabulaeformis seedlings were fertilized using nutrient solutions with varying N:P ratios for four months. The obtained litters with contrasting N:P stoichiometry were left to decompose on nutrient-free quartz sand for 12 weeks with microbial inoculum. Then, the post-decomposition microbial community composition was determined using a phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis.
Results
The Q. aliena litter stoichiometry was more homeostatic than P. tabulaeformis litter. Litter N:P ratio was significantly related to litter nutrient loss and mass loss for P. tabulaeformis but not always for Q. aliena. The soil microbial community compositions showed larger fungal to bacterial (F:B) ratios with increasing litter N:P ratios for Q. aliena but not P. tabulaeformis.
Conclusion
Litter N:P ratio, as determined by species-specific homeostasis, showed an interspecific difference to affect the patterns of litter decomposition dynamics, as well as related soil microbial community composition. The less variation in the soil microbial community composition than plant litter stoichiometric characteristics during decomposition is likely an important mechanism that regulates the balance of biogeochemical cycles in the Qinling Mountains.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41971118, 41601098), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2412019FZ005), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0600203). We gratefully acknowledge the laboratory assistance of Prof. Sha Xue and Dr. Jiaoyang Zhang from the State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau. We also appreciate the assistance of Yushu Wei and Mingying Zhang for lab assistance. We are grateful to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments that significantly improved this manuscript.
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Song, H., Huang, J., Ge, L. et al. Interspecific difference in N:P stoichiometric homeostasis drives nutrient release and soil microbial community composition during decomposition. Plant Soil 452, 29–42 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04513-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04513-4