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Variations in net litter nutrient input associated with tree species influence on soil nutrient contents in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest

  • Article
  • Ecology
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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

The influence of tree species on soils has received much attention, but we know little about either the pattern and underlying mechanisms of net nutrient and carbon inputs under canopy for various tree species or the effects of net nutrient input on soil nutrient contents. To address these issues, we selected three tree species with distinct leaf sizes and arranged litter traps around the target individuals to test what affected net nutrient and carbon inputs under canopy of target individuals, and how net nutrient inputs influenced soil nutrient contents. The results showed that net litter manganese (Mn) and lignin inputs were significantly different among these tree species, as well as soil exchangeable potassium (K), available iron (Fe) and available Mn. The results also revealed that the species with the smallest sized leaves may stimulate more net Mn and lignin inputs than the species with the largest sized leaves. At the same time, net nutrient inputs correlated with soil available Fe, while the ratio of lignin to nitrogen of net litter correlated with total phosphorus contents. These results demonstrated that litter production may be the main factor deciding net nutrient and carbon inputs under different tree species’ canopy, which significantly differentiated soil iron’s availability.

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Acknowledgments

This experiment was conducted at the Ailaoshan Station for Subtropical Forest Ecosystem Studies. The authors appreciate the support of its director, Liu Yuhong, and its employees, including Yang Wenzheng and Yang Guoping. At the same time, Ms Fu Yun should be thanked for her help with the analysis of the samples. The authors also thank two anonymous reviewers for their input. Finally, the authors are particularly grateful to Tan Shaoqing, Qiao Lu’s husband, for his hard work when conducting field experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China

    Lu Qiao, Doug Allen Schaefer & Xiaoming Zou

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lu Qiao

  3. Department of Environmental Studies, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, 00936-8377, USA

    Xiaoming Zou

Authors
  1. Lu Qiao
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  2. Doug Allen Schaefer
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  3. Xiaoming Zou
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Correspondence to Xiaoming Zou.

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Qiao, L., Schaefer, D.A. & Zou, X. Variations in net litter nutrient input associated with tree species influence on soil nutrient contents in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 46–53 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-0019-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-0019-2

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