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Experimental removal and addition of leaf litter inputs reduces nitrate production and loss in a lowland tropical forest

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Abstract

Environmental perturbations such as changes in land use, climate, and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations may alter organic matter inputs to surface soils. While the carbon (C) cycle response to such perturbations has received considerable attention, potential responses of the soil nitrogen (N) cycle to changing organic matter inputs have been less well characterized. Changing litter inputs to surface to soils may alter the soil N cycle directly, by controlling N substrate availability, or indirectly, via interactions with soil C biogeochemistry. We investigated soil N-cycling responses to a leaf litter manipulation in a lowland tropical forest using isotopic and molecular techniques. Both removing and doubling leaf litter inputs decreased the size of the soil nitrate pool, gross nitrification rates, and the relative abundance of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms. Gross nitrification rates were correlated with the relative abundance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea, and shifts in the N-cycling microbial community composition correlated with concurrent changes in edaphic properties, notably pH and C:N ratios. These results highlight the importance of understanding coupled biogeochemical cycles in global change scenarios and suggest that environmental perturbations that alter organic matter inputs in tropical forests could reduce inorganic N losses to surface waters and the atmosphere by limiting nitrate production.

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Acknowledgments

We thank W. Combronero-Castro for his invaluable assistance with fieldwork in Costa Rica. We thank M. Jimenez and the late H. Michaud of the Drake Bay Wilderness Camp for providing field access and logistical support, and we also thank F. Campos Rivera, the Organización para Estudios Tropicales (OET), and the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energia (MINAE) for assisting with research permits and logistics in Costa Rica. C. Seibold, C. Washenberger, and R. Kimmel at CU Boulder assisted with the laboratory analyses. W. Yang at UC Berkley provided invaluable assistance with data analysis. This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation to W.W., C.C., D.N., and A.T.

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  1. William R. Wieder

    Present address: National Center for Atmospheric Research, TSS, CGD/NCAR, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO, 80307, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    William R. Wieder, Philip G. Taylor, Diana R. Nemergut, Eve-Lyn Hinckley, Samantha R. Weintraub, Mysti Martin & Alan R. Townsend

  2. Department of Ecosystems and Conservation Science, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    Cory C. Cleveland

  3. National Ecological Observatory Network, Boulder, CO, 80301, USA

    Eve-Lyn Hinckley

  4. Department of Soil and Environmental Microbiology, INRA, UMR 1229, 21000, Dijon, France

    Laurent Philippot & David Bru

  5. Department of Soil and Environmental Microbiology, University of Burgundy, UMR 1229, 21000, Dijon, France

    Laurent Philippot & David Bru

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Wieder, W.R., Cleveland, C.C., Taylor, P.G. et al. Experimental removal and addition of leaf litter inputs reduces nitrate production and loss in a lowland tropical forest. Biogeochemistry 113, 629–642 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-012-9793-1

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