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Contrasting Effects of Substrate and Fertilizer Nitrogen on the Early Stages of Litter Decomposition

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Abstract

Commonly observed positive correlations between litter nitrogen (N) concentrations and decomposition rates suggest that N frequently limits decomposition in its early stages. However, numerous studies have found little, if any, effect of N fertilization on decomposition. I directly compared internal substrate N and externally supplied inorganic N effects on decomposition in sites varying in soil N availability. I decomposed eight substrates (with initial %N from 0–2.5) in control and N-fertilized plots at eight grassland and forest sites in central Minnesota. N fertilization increased decomposition at only two of eight sites, even though decomposition was positively related to litter N at all sites and to soil N availability across sites. The effect of externally supplied N on decomposition was independent of litter N concentration, but was greater at sites with low N availability. The inconsistent effects of substrate and externally supplied N may have arisen because decomposers use organic N preferentially as an N source; because inorganic N availability across sites or with fertilization induced changes in microbial community attributes (for example, lower C:N or greater efficiency) that reduced the response of decomposition to increased inorganic N supply; or because the positive correlation between litter N or site N availability with decomposition was spurious, caused by tight correlations between litter or site N and some other factor that truly limited decomposition. These inconsistent effects of substrate N and external N supply on decomposition suggest that the oft-observed relationship between litter N and decomposition may not indicate N limitation of decomposition.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Graduate School of Minnesota, a McKnight Land-Grant Professorship from the University of Minnesota, and the National Science Foundation, through the Cedar Creek LTER (DEB-0080302). I am grateful to Steve Bauer, Angie Moline, Tiffany Miley and Chinelo Njaka for field and laboratory assistance, and to Kyle Zimmer and Jim Hood for NIRS assistance. Peter Reich, Peter Vitousek, and an anonymous reviewer provided valuable comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 100 Ecology, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 55108, USA

    Sarah E. Hobbie

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Correspondence to Sarah E. Hobbie.

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Hobbie, S.E. Contrasting Effects of Substrate and Fertilizer Nitrogen on the Early Stages of Litter Decomposition. Ecosystems 8, 644–656 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-003-0110-7

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