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Soil–Nitrogen Cycling in a Pine Forest Exposed to 5 Years of Elevated Carbon Dioxide

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Abstract

Empirical and modeling studies have shown that the magnitude and duration of the primary production response to elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) can be constrained by limiting supplies of soil nitrogen (N). We have studied the response of a southern US pine forest to elevated CO2 for 5 years (1997–2001). Net primary production has increased significantly under elevated CO2. We hypothesized that the increase in carbon (C) fluxes to the microbial community under elevated CO2 would increase the rate of N immobilization over mineralization. We tested this hypothesis by quantifying the pool sizes and fluxes of inorganic and organic N in the forest floor and top 30 cm of mineral soil during the first 5 years of CO2 fumigation. We observed no statistically significant change in the gross or net rate of inorganic N mineralization and immobilization in any soil horizon under elevated CO2. Similarly, elevated CO2 had no statistically significant effect on the concentration or flux of organic N, including amino acids. Microbial biomass N was not significantly different between CO2 treatments. Thus, we reject our hypothesis that elevated CO2 increases the rate of N immobilization. The quantity and chemistry of the litter inputs to the forest floor and mineral soil horizons can explain the limited range of microbially mediated soil–N cycling responses observed in this ecosystem. Nevertheless a comparative analysis of ecosystem development at this site and other loblolly pine forests suggests that rapid stand development and C sequestration under elevated CO2 may be possible only in the early stages of stand development, prior to the onset of acute N limitation.

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Acknowledgements

George Hendrey, John Nagy, and Keith Lewin were instrumental in the construction and maintenance of the FACE facilities. We thank Heather Hemric, Anthony Mace, and Jeffrey Pippen for their assistance in the field and Ariana Sutton, Damon Bradbury, and Meredith Zaccherio for their assistance in the lab. We also thank Don Zak and Bill Holmes for their technical assistance with the 15N pool dilution experiments. This study was supported by the US Department of Energy, with additional support from the National Science Foundation (DEB 98-15350). A.C.F. was also funded in part, by an appointment as an Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow; the program is sponsored by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

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  1. Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA

    Adrien C. Finzi

  2. Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA

    William H. Schlesinger

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  1. Adrien C. Finzi
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Correspondence to Adrien C. Finzi.

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Finzi, A., Schlesinger, W. Soil–Nitrogen Cycling in a Pine Forest Exposed to 5 Years of Elevated Carbon Dioxide . Ecosystems 6, 444–456 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-003-0205-1

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