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Effects of elevated CO2 and nitrogen addition on soil organic carbon fractions in a subtropical forest

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Abstract

Aims

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of elevated CO2 concentration and nitrogen addition on soil organic carbon fractions in subtropical forests where the ambient N deposition was high.

Methods

Seedlings of typical subtropical forest ecosystems were transplanted in ten open-top chambers and grown under CO2 and nitrogen treatments. The treatments included: 1) elevated CO2 (700 μmol mol-1); 2) N addition of 100 kg NH4NO3 ha-1 yr-1; 3) combined elevated CO2 and N addition; and 4) control. We measured soil total organic carbon (TOC), particulate organic carbon (POC), readily oxidizable organic carbon (ROC), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC).

Results

Results showed that elevated CO2 alone did not significantly affect soil TOC, POC and ROC after 4 years of treatment, but increased soil MBC and soil respiration compared to the control. N addition alone had no significant effect neither on soil TOC, POC and ROC, but decreased MBC and soil respiration over time. However, the elevated CO2 and N addition together significantly increased soil POC and ROC, and had no significant effect on soil MBC.

Conclusions

This study indicated that even in N-rich subtropical forest ecosystems, inputs of N are still needed in order to sustain soil C accumulation under elevated CO2.

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Abbreviations

C:

carbon

CK:

control

HC:

elevated CO2 and ambient N deposition

HCHN:

elevated CO2 and N addition

HN:

N addition and ambient CO2

MBC:

microbial biomass carbon (mg kg-1)

N:

nitrogen

POC:

particulate organic carbon (g kg-1)

ROC:

readily oxidizable organic carbon (g kg-1)

SM:

soil moisture (%)

SR:

soil respiration (kg CO2 m-2 yr-1)

TOC:

soil total organic carbon (g kg-1)

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Acknowledgments

This work was jointly funded by Strategic Priority Research Program-Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Relevant Issues״ of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA05050205), National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB421101), key projects in the national science & technology pillar program (2009BADC6B07), Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (8351065005000001) and Dinghushan Forest Ecosystem Research Station. We thank Prof. Dafeng Hui for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript and Ms. Chloe Davidson for English improvement.

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Correspondence to Deqiang Zhang.

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Chen, X., Liu, J., Deng, Q. et al. Effects of elevated CO2 and nitrogen addition on soil organic carbon fractions in a subtropical forest. Plant Soil 357, 25–34 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1145-3

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