Abstract
Aims
The response of soil microbial metabolic limitation in forest ecosystems to various factors remains poorly understood. The purpose of the study was to reveal the characteristics of microbial metabolic limitation in soil at the regional scale and the possible influencing factors.
Methods
The vector analysis of enzyme activities was used to study the relative soil microbial metabolic limitation characteristics of Quercus aquifolioides forest ecosystems along a mean annual precipitation gradient (MAP, 650 mm–1160 mm).
Results
The enzyme activities as well as their partial stoichiometric ratios had negative linear relationships with MAP. Soil microbial metabolism of the study area was limited mainly by carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) and partially by C and nitrogen (N). The C limitation showed a trend of first increasing slightly and then decreasing significantly along the MAP gradient, while N/P limitation did not show an obvious trend. Relative limitation of microbial metabolism was related closely to soil pH and nutrients, where C limitation was affected by soil pH, climatic factors, soil nutrient characteristics and topographic factor, and N/P limitation was affected by soil pH, topographic factor, diameter at breast height of the trees (DBH) and soil nutrient characteristics. In addition, the linear relationship between soil organic matter (SOM) and N limitation was significant, and it was inferred that the degree of N limitation might affect the stability of SOM and C stocks.
Conclusions
Microbial C limitation was regulated by MAP, and soil properties were important drivers of both C and N/P limitations.
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Data availability
The datasets analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The study was supported financially by the Fundamental Research Funds of Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAFYBB2018ZA003, CAFYBB2021ZA002-2) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFD2200405, 2016YFC0502104-02). We thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.
Funding
The study was supported financially by the Fundamental Research Funds of Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAFYBB2018ZA003, CAFYBB2021ZA002-2) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFD2200405, 2016YFC0502104-02).
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Zuomin Shi and Xiangwen Cao designed the study. Xiangwen Cao, Shun Liu, Jian Chen, Miaomiao Zhang, Miao Chen, Jiamei Wu, Gexi Xu, Feifan Li, and Hongshuang Xing performed the experiments. Xiangwen Cao and Zuomin Shi analyzed the data. Xiangwen Cao wrote the manuscript, and Zuomin Shi commented and revised the first draft. All authors contributed to this study.
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Cao, X., Shi, Z., Chen, J. et al. Carbon and nutrient limitations of soil microbial metabolism in Quercus aquifolioides forest ecosystems along a precipitation gradient on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant Soil 488, 291–304 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-05971-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-05971-2