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Changes in soil nitrogen cycling in a northern temperate forest ecosystem during succession

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) transformations in forest soils are fundamentally important to plant and microbial N nutrition and the N balance of forest ecosystems, but changes in the patterns and rates of N transformations during forest succession are poorly understood. In order to better understand how soil N cycling changes during ecosystem succession, we analyzed four years of soil N cycling measurements in a 90-year-old secondary forest undergoing dieback of early-successional, dominant canopy trees. We expected that tree mortality would decrease root biomass, leading to increased soil NH4 + availability, and that these changes would prompt fundamental shifts in the N cycle such as the initiation of significant nitrification and increased cycling of oxidized N compounds in gas phase and soil solution. As expected, indices of soil NH4 + and NO3 − availability increased with successional stage (defined as the proportion of dead trees), and were negatively correlated with the amount of fine root biomass. However, the standing amount of fine root biomass was not affected by tree mortality; increased soil NH4 + and NO3 − availability therefore more likely resulted from successional increases in N-mineralization than decreases in root N uptake. Nitrification (as indicated by NO efflux as a proxy) increased due to elevated substrate (NH4 +) availability, and the soil solution NO3 − concentration increased as a result. Soil N2O efflux was not affected by succession, nor was it related to other N cycling parameters. Collectively, these results indicate that recent successional advancement has accelerated soil N cycling and shifted the N economy of this ecosystem towards greater importance of NO3 −.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by awards from the National Science Foundation (DEB-0947329; DGE-0504552), the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) [Award No. DE-SC0006708], and the USDA-Forest Service, Northern Research Station. The International Soil Carbon Network also supported this work. The authors thank the following individuals for various assistance with fieldwork, sample preparation, and analysis: A. Bajcz, B. Bredell, L. Billings, C. Bogdan, A. Brenske, R. Chong, N. Dear, A. DeGabriele, A. Do, R. Gondalia, M. Grant, C. Higley, N. Lada, S. Liao, K. McClure, M. Miyano, J. Pollack, S. Shamaskin, S. Sheperd, F. Soper, A. Spankowski, K. Sparks, S. Webster, S. Yassine, and Z. Zeneberg. B. Barnes, and B. vande Kopple. Lastly, the authors thank the two anonymous referees who provided detailed comments that helped improve the manuscript during the peer review process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, MI, 49769, USA

    L. E. Nave, J. Le Moine, K. J. Nadelhoffer, J. M. Tallant & C. S. Vogel

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    L. E. Nave, J. Le Moine & K. J. Nadelhoffer

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

    J. P. Sparks

  4. Department of Earth and the Environment, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    B. S. Hardiman

  5. Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    B. D. Strahm

  6. Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    P. S. Curtis

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  1. L. E. Nave
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  2. J. P. Sparks
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  3. J. Le Moine
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Correspondence to L. E. Nave.

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Nave, L.E., Sparks, J.P., Le Moine, J. et al. Changes in soil nitrogen cycling in a northern temperate forest ecosystem during succession. Biogeochemistry 121, 471–488 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-0013-z

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