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Asynchronous fluctuation of soil microbial biomass and plant litterfall in a tropical wet forest

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Abstract

Carbon availability often controls soil microbial growth and there is evidence that at regional scales soil microbial biomass is positively correlated with aboveground forest litter input. We examined the influence of plant litterfall on annual variation of soil microbial biomass in control and litter-excluded plots in a tropical wet forest of Puerto Rico. We also measured soil moisture, soil temperature, and plant litterfall in these treatment plots. Aboveground plant litter input had no effect on soil microbial biomass or on its pattern of fluctuation. Monthly changes in soil microbial biomass were not synchronized with aboveground litter inputs, but rather preceeded litterfall by one month. Soil microbial biomass did not correlate with soil temperature, moisture, or rainfall. Our results suggest that changes in soil microbial biomass are not directly regulated by soil temperature, moisture, or aboveground litter input at local scales within a tropical wet forest, and there were asynchronous fluctuation between soil microbial biomass and plant litterfall. Potential mechanisms for this asynchronous fluctuation include soil microbial biomass regulation by competition for soil nutrients between microorganisms and plants, and regulation by below-ground carbon inputs associated with the annual solar and drying-rewetting cycles in tropical wet forests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forest Resources and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China

    H.H. Ruan

  2. Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 23341, San Juan, PR, 00931-3341, USA

    H.H. Ruan, X.M. Zou & J.K. Zimmerman

  3. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Xuefu Road, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China

    X.M. Zou

  4. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6316, USA

    F.N. Scatena

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  1. H.H. Ruan
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  2. X.M. Zou
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  3. F.N. Scatena
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  4. J.K. Zimmerman
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Ruan, H., Zou, X., Scatena, F. et al. Asynchronous fluctuation of soil microbial biomass and plant litterfall in a tropical wet forest. Plant and Soil 260, 147–154 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PLSO.0000030177.20951.94

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