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Post-agricultural succession affects the accumulation and enzymatic transformation of organic phosphorus in a karst area, southwest China

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Abstract

Background

Soil phosphorus (P) availability is crucial for the restoration of degraded ecosystems, but how soil organic P transforms during post-agricultural succession remains poorly understood in karst ecosystems.

Methods

A typical recovery gradient including manual (orchard) and natural (grassland and secondary forest) vegetation restoration after agricultural abandonment was established in a karst region of southwest China. Sequential fractionation, solution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and enzyme assays were performed to investigate the chemical nature and biochemical transformation of organic P during post-agricultural succession in a karst region of southwest China.

Results

We found significant redistributions of soil P fractions from inorganic P to organic P after agricultural abandonment. Specifically, orthophosphate decreased by 10.5% to 34.6%, while phosphomonoester and phosphodiester increased from 9.0% to 33.9% and 0.79% to 2.64%, respectively, during post-agricultural succession. The increased P limitation and organic P substrates induced higher phosphatase activities, with the highest acid phosphomonoesterase activity observed in secondary forest while the highest phosphodiesterase and alkaline phosphomonoesterase activities observed in grassland. Moreover, structural equation modelling demonstrated a clear increase in microbial production of alkaline phosphomonoesterase and the potential hydrolysis of phosphomonoesters under elevated P limitation.

Conclusions

In summary, our findings suggested that agricultural abandonment caused redistributions of soil inorganic P to organic P, with alkaline phosphomonoesterase-mediated phosphomonoester turnover playing a crucial role in soil P availability during post-agricultural succession in karst ecosystem.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors especially thank Jianjun Yang from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Jin Liu from China Agricultural University for their help with 31P NMR measurements and data processing.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Integrated Demonstration of Key Techniques for the Industrial Development of Featured Crops in Rocky Desertification Areas of Yunnan–Guangxi–Guizhou Provinces (SMH2019-2021), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (2022A1515011034) and the Basic Research Program of Guangzhou City, China (202102020390).

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Author notes

  1. Song Peng, Xizhi Kuang these authors contribute equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Song Peng, Xizhi Kuang, Kunzheng Cai & Jihui Tian

  2. Environmental and Plant Protection Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, 571101, China

    Hanting Cheng

  3. Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Kai Wei

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  1. Song Peng
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Correspondence to Hanting Cheng or Jihui Tian.

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Peng, S., Kuang, X., Cheng, H. et al. Post-agricultural succession affects the accumulation and enzymatic transformation of organic phosphorus in a karst area, southwest China. Plant Soil 498, 5–20 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06186-1

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