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Soil carbon accrual under harvest residue retention modulated by the copiotroph-oligotroph spectrum in bacterial community

  • Soils, Sec 3 • Remediation and Management of Contaminated or Degraded Lands • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Returning carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) into soils through harvest residue retention has great potential to mitigate land degradation in production forestry. However, the long-term effect of harvest residue retention on soil microbial communities with consequences for C and N sequestration needs further clarifications.

Materials and methods

We therefore revisited a 17-year field trial implementing three experimental contrasts, i.e., residue retention (forming into windrows), tree gaps, and reforested sites, in sloping hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) plantations, subtropical Australia. We determined total and labile C and N pools, diversity and composition of bacterial community, the abundance of N-cycling functional genes, and basic soil properties in the topsoil (0–20 cm).

Results

Windrowed residue retention significantly increased soil total C content by ~ 141% compared to those of the gap and/or reforested sites. Significant increases in microbial biomass N (MBN, ~ 242%) and its proportion to total N (~ 105%) coupling with lower microbial biomass C/N ratios (MBC/MBN) suggest enhanced microbial N immobilization under windrowed residue retention. Windrowed residue retention significantly decreased bacterial alpha diversity and altered bacterial community composition by favoring copiotrophic dominance, as determined primarily by MBC/MBN, water-extractable C, and MBN. Shifts in their putative function and the abundance of N-cycling functional genes further indicate that a copiotroph-dominated bacterial community under windrowed residue retention may confer a higher potential of soil C and N sequestration.

Conclusions

These results highlight the importance of managing microbial-mediated N cycling and bacterial life strategy in various post-harvest management paradigms.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely acknowledge the fundamental contribution of Dr. Tim Blumfield who has established and maintained the field trial within the Imbil State Forest.

Funding

The work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32001138 and 32001118).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Minhuang Wang

  2. Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia

    Zhihong Xu

  3. School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Zhiqun Huang

  4. Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 723 Xingke Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510650, China

    Yaling Zhang

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  1. Minhuang Wang
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Wang, M., Xu, Z., Huang, Z. et al. Soil carbon accrual under harvest residue retention modulated by the copiotroph-oligotroph spectrum in bacterial community. J Soils Sediments 22, 2459–2474 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03289-7

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