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Exogenous Organic C Inputs Profit Soil C Sequestration Under Different Long-Term N Addition Levels in a Boreal Forest

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Abstract

The exogenous fresh carbon (C) inputs affect soil organic C (SOC) decomposition, resulting in priming effect (PE). However, under different long-term nitrogen (N) addition levels, it is still unclear whether the input of extra organic C will affect the SOC decomposition and the magnitude of PE in the boreal zone. We conducted a long-term N addition field experiment in a boreal forest, by collecting the soil after N addition, and we conducted a 40-day culture experiment with 13C-glucose labeling. The results showed that the addition of glucose significantly promoted the mineralization of SOC and the magnitude of PE, while the addition of N inhibited both of them. However, regardless of the level of N addition, the addition of 13C-glucose would accelerate the mineralization of SOC, resulting in a positive PE. Microbial biomass C was the main regulating factor of PE. After N addition, the residual C in soil was significantly higher than the decomposition amount of SOC, resulting in the increase of net C content. Collectively, N additions inhibit the soil PE, but the inhibition weakens with the increase of C input, which is conducive to the SOC sequestration of boreal forests.

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Data Availability

Data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Professor Ligong Wang from Daxinganling Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, China, for his advice about field experiment design and suggestions on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42230703, 41575137, 41773075).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, 57 Jingxuan West Road, Qufu, 273165, China

    Guancheng Liu, Guoyong Yan, Qinggui Wang & Yajuan Xing

  2. Department of Agricultural Resource and Environment, Heilongjiang University, 74 Xuefu Road, Harbin, 150080, China

    Yue Feng, Zhiwei Yin, Qinggui Wang & Yajuan Xing

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  1. Guancheng Liu
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  2. Yue Feng
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  3. Zhiwei Yin
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  4. Guoyong Yan
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  5. Qinggui Wang
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Contributions

QW and YX designed the study, were awarded funding, supervised data, and edited manuscript. QW, GL, YF, YX, ZY, and GY contributed the whole manuscript preparation and design and wrote the main manuscript text. QW, GL, YF, YX, GY, and ZY prepared all figures; GL, YF, YX, GY, ZY, and QW prepared field experiments, prepared tables, and collected literatures. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Qinggui Wang or Yajuan Xing.

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Liu, G., Feng, Y., Yin, Z. et al. Exogenous Organic C Inputs Profit Soil C Sequestration Under Different Long-Term N Addition Levels in a Boreal Forest. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 23, 1740–1750 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-023-01135-4

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