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Lignin properties in topsoils of a beech/oak forest after 8 years of manipulated litter fall: relevance of altered input and oxidation of lignin

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Abstract

Background and aims

We studied the response of lignin oxidation in soils of a beech/oak forest to changes in litter fall. Additionally we considered possible factors in lignin oxidation, including altered (i) input of fresh organic matter and (ii) fungi-to-bacteria ratios.

Methods

The field-based experiment included (i) doubling and (ii) exclusion of litter fall and (iii) controls with ambient litter fall. Soil (0–20 cm depth) was sampled after 8 years. We analyzed (i) lignin using the CuO oxidation method, (ii) stocks of free and mineral-bound organic carbon (OC), (iii) the response of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition to addition of labile organic compounds in laboratory incubations, and (iv) ratios of fungal- vs. bacterial-derived amino sugars (F/B ratios).

Results

Litter exclusion increased stocks of free-light fraction OC, F/B ratios, the ability of the microbial community to use labile compounds for SOM decomposition, as well as acid-to-aldehyde ratios of vanillyl-type lignin phenols in A horizons. Litter addition had no such effects. We assume that litter exclusion caused enhanced transport of organic debris from lower forest floor horizons with rainwater into the A horizon. Enhanced input of organic debris might have increased (i) the availability of labile compounds and (ii) F/B ratios. Consequently, lignin oxidation increased.

Conclusions

Enhanced input of organic debris from forest floors can increase lignin oxidation in mineral topsoils of the studied forest. The expected gradual changes in litter fall due to climate change likely will cause no such effects.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the German Research Foundation for financial support, Uwe Hell, J.-H. Park, and Thorsten Scheel for their help in the field and Gudrun von Koch, Gerlinde Hardt and Ariënne Henstra for the help in the laboratory.

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Author notes

  1. Thimo Klotzbücher

    Present address: Soil Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Surface Science, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Thimo Klotzbücher & Karsten Kalbitz

  2. Soil Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Stefan Strohmeier

  3. Soil Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany

    Klaus Kaiser

  4. Department of Environmental Science, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA, USA

    Richard D. Bowden

  5. Botany and Plant Pathology Department, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Kate Lajtha

  6. Department of Soil Science/Soil Ecology, Institute of Geography, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Heike Ohm

Authors
  1. Thimo Klotzbücher
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  2. Stefan Strohmeier
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Correspondence to Thimo Klotzbücher.

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Responsible Editor: Tim Moore.

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Klotzbücher, T., Strohmeier, S., Kaiser, K. et al. Lignin properties in topsoils of a beech/oak forest after 8 years of manipulated litter fall: relevance of altered input and oxidation of lignin. Plant Soil 367, 579–589 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1489-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1489-8

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