Abstract
Aims
Increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition can alter plant growth and soil properties, thereby exerting many potential effects on soil microbial diversity and functionality. However, how phosphorus (P) addition regulates the responses of the plant-soil-microbe system to N deposition in dryland ecosystems remains unclear.
Methods
Two-year nutrient addition experiments, i.e., P addition rates ranging from 0 to 16 g P m−2 yr−1 combined with 5 g N m−2 yr−1, were performed to determine the effects on plant traits, soil properties, and bacterial communities in an alkaline desert steppe of Northwest China.
Results
Under 5 g N·m−2·yr−1, the low-dose of P addition rates (< 2 g m−2 yr−1) can help maintain higher aboveground biomass and diversity. A C3 herb (Artemisia scoparia) became progressively dominant with increasing P rates, accompanied by the loss of Fabaceae and Amaranthaceae species. Moreover, increased P rates had important implications for plant nutrient characteristics and soil properties under simulated N deposition. Notably, the α-diversity and structure of the soil bacterial community exhibited no significant response to nutrient addition, suggesting that the bacterial community was more resistant to nutrient addition than the plant community, which was relatively more sensitive. Furthermore, the bacterial community composition was jointly influenced by plant traits and soil properties.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that dryland prokaryotic microbes are more resistant to P addition under simulated N deposition than plant communities.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Funding for this work was provided by the Natural Science Foundation of Ningxia (2022AAC02012) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32160277 and 41961001).
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Fang, Z., Yu, H., Wang, B. et al. Response of plant-bacteria-soil system to phosphorus addition under simulated nitrogen deposition: evidence from a dryland ecosystem. Plant Soil 489, 593–611 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06043-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06043-1