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Positive feedbacks between decomposition and soil nitrogen availability along fertility gradients

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Abstract

Background and aims

We determined the relationship between site N supply and decomposition rates with respect to controls exerted by environment, litter chemistry, and fungal colonization.

Methods

Two reciprocal transplant decomposition experiments were established, one in each of two long-term experiments in oak woodlands in Minnesota, USA: a fire frequency/vegetation gradient, along which soil N availability varies markedly, and a long-term N fertilization experiment. Both experiments used native Quercus ellipsoidalis E.J. Hill and Andropogon gerardii Vitman leaf litter and either root litter or wooden dowels.

Results

Leaf litter decay rates generally increased with soil N availability in both experiments while belowground litter decayed more slowly with increasing soil N. Litter chemistry differed among litter types, and these differences had significant effects on belowground (but not aboveground) decay rates and on aboveground litter N dynamics during decomposition. Fungal colonization of detritus was positively correlated with soil fertility and decay rates.

Conclusions

Higher soil fertility associated with low fire frequency was associated with greater leaf litter production, higher rates of fungal colonization of detritus, more rapid leaf litter decomposition rates, and greater N release in the root litter, all of which likely enhance soil fertility. During decomposition, both greater mass loss and litter N release provide mechanisms through which the plant and decomposer communities provide positive feedbacks to soil fertility as ultimately driven by decreasing fire frequency in N-limited soils and vice versa.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Chris Bolton and Bill Wroblewski for their help in sample collection and processing and to Cathleen McFadden at the University of Nebraska for litter chemistry analyses. Rebecca Montgomery, Deborah Allan, and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on previous versions of the manuscript. Funding was provided though the National Science Foundation-funded Cedar Creek Long Term Ecological Research program (DEB-0080382, DEB-0620652). The fungal molecular work was funded by a SUNY Brockport Scholarly Incentive Award to M. Norris.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 1530 Cleveland Ave. N., St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Mark D. Norris & Peter B. Reich

  2. Department of Plant Biology, 250 Biosciences Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Peter G. Avis

  3. Biology Department, Indiana University Northwest, 3400 Broadway, Gary, IN, 46408, USA

    Peter G. Avis

  4. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia

    Peter B. Reich

  5. Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Sarah E. Hobbie

  6. Department of Environmental Science & Biology, The College at Brockport State University of New York, 350 New Campus Dr., Brockport, NY, 14420, USA

    Mark D. Norris

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  1. Mark D. Norris
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  2. Peter G. Avis
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  4. Sarah E. Hobbie
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Correspondence to Mark D. Norris.

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Responsible Editor: Alfonso Escudero.

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Norris, M.D., Avis, P.G., Reich, P.B. et al. Positive feedbacks between decomposition and soil nitrogen availability along fertility gradients. Plant Soil 367, 347–361 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1449-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1449-3

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