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Different decomposition metrics of root xylem and root tissues outside xylem: an 8-year-long root decomposition study in an alpine shrubland

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Abstract

Background and aims

Both root xylem (Rxy) and tissues outside the xylem (Rtox) are involved in root decomposition, a critical process for greenhouse gas emissions and soil organic matter formation. However, differences in decomposition and responses to global environmental change, e.g., nitrogen (N) deposition, between them remain unknown.

Methods

We conducted an 8-year-long decomposition experiment and quantified the remaining mass, total carbon (C), and C components of Rxy and Rtox of roots across four levels of N addition using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance.

Results

After 8 years of decomposition, roots lost a total of 61–64% (mean of 62%) of their initial mass across the four treatments. The average remaining mass of Rxy was 12.4% higher than that of Rtox. Contrary to previous studies, we did not observe significant effects of N addition on the decomposition of mass, total C, and C components of Rxy, Rtox, or whole roots. However, compared to Rtox, Rxy contributed 84% more labile C compounds (i.e., O-alkyl and O2-alkyl C) to the remaining root C, suggesting that Rxy is a mechanically protected and persistent source of labile C. Despite the greater C loss, Rtox still retained more recalcitrant C compounds (i.e., aromatic and alkyl C) than Rxy after 8 years of decomposition.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the role of mechanical protection in regulating root tissue decomposition and point to the necessity of considering decomposition rates of different root components and their respective responses to global environmental change.

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Change history

  • 07 April 2021

    The email address and corresponding author logo of the author "Dong Wang" was misplaced and are corrected accordingly.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31901193, 41807360, and 31570476), PhD early development program of China West Normal University (17E060), the program for Team Scientific Research and Innovation of China West Normal University (CXTD2018-13), and Key Platform and Scientific Research Project of Guangdong Provincial Education Department (2019KZDXM028). We thank Mr. Jin-Tao Li and Mr. Meng-Ke Wang for their assistance in the sample analyses.

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Author notes

  1. Dong Wang and Junjian Wang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong, 637000, China

    Dong Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Dong Wang & Qing Liu

  3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Junjian Wang

  4. College of Geographical Science, Fujian Normal University, 32 Shangsan Road, Fuzhou, 350007, Fujian, China

    Olusanya Abiodun Olatunji

Authors
  1. Dong Wang
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  2. Junjian Wang
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  3. Olusanya Abiodun Olatunji
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  4. Qing Liu
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Contributions

Wang D, Wang JJ and Liu Q conceived the study; Wang D, Olatunji OA and Wang JJ collected the data and performed data analysis. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dong Wang or Qing Liu.

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Responsible Editor: Michael Luke McCormack

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Wang, D., Wang, J., Olatunji, O.A. et al. Different decomposition metrics of root xylem and root tissues outside xylem: an 8-year-long root decomposition study in an alpine shrubland. Plant Soil 463, 415–425 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04920-1

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