N and P combined addition accelerates the release of litter C, N, and most metal nutrients in a N-rich subtropical forest

Liehua Tie; Shengzhao Wei; Josep Peñuelas; Jordi Sardans; Xing Liu; Shixing Zhou; Xiong Liu; Arun K Bose; Congde Huang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163491

N and P combined addition accelerates the release of litter C, N, and most metal nutrients in a N-rich subtropical forest

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jul 10:881:163491. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163491. Epub 2023 Apr 15.

Authors

Liehua Tie¹, Shengzhao Wei², Josep Peñuelas³, Jordi Sardans⁴, Xing Liu², Shixing Zhou⁵, Xiong Liu⁶, Arun K Bose⁷, Congde Huang⁸

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Forest Resources and Environment of Guizhou, Key Laboratory of Forest Cultivation in Plateau Mountain of Guizhou Province, College of Forestry, Guizhou University, 550025 Guiyang, China; National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Sichuan Province Key Laboratory of Ecological Forestry Engineering on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611130 Chengdu, China; CSIC, Unitat d'Ecologia Global CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Edifici C, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Electronic address: lhtie@gzu.edu.cn.
² National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Sichuan Province Key Laboratory of Ecological Forestry Engineering on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611130 Chengdu, China.
³ CSIC, Unitat d'Ecologia Global CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Edifici C, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Electronic address: josep.penuelas@uab.cat.
⁴ CSIC, Unitat d'Ecologia Global CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Edifici C, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Nonlinear Analysis and Applied Mathematics (NAAM)-Research Group, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80257, Jeddah 21589. Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: j.sardans@creaf.uab.cat.
⁵ National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Sichuan Province Key Laboratory of Ecological Forestry Engineering on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611130 Chengdu, China. Electronic address: szhou@sicau.edu.cn.
⁶ National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Sichuan Province Key Laboratory of Ecological Forestry Engineering on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611130 Chengdu, China. Electronic address: liuxiong@stu.sicau.edu.cn.
⁷ Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, 9208 Khulna, Bangladesh. Electronic address: arun.bose@wsl.ch.
⁸ National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Sichuan Province Key Laboratory of Ecological Forestry Engineering on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611130 Chengdu, China. Electronic address: lyyxq100@aliyun.com.

PMID: 37068669
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163491

Abstract

Imbalanced nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) depositions are profoundly shifting terrestrial ecosystem biogeochemical processes. However, how P addition and its interaction with N addition influence the release of litter carbon (C), N, P, and especially metal nutrients in subtropical forests remains unclear. Herein, a two-year field litterbag experiment was conducted in a natural subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest of southwestern China using a factorial design with three levels of N addition (0, 10, and 20 g N m^-2 y^-1) and P addition (0, 5, 15 g P m^-2 y^-1). During two years of decomposition, N- and P-only addition treatments decreased the accumulated mass loss and release rates of litter C, N, P, K, Na, and Mn (p < 0.05); N and P coaddition treatments increased the accumulated mass loss and release rates of litter C, N, K, Na, Mn, and Cu (p < 0.05) and decreased the accumulated release rates of litter P and Mg (p < 0.05); the C/P and N/P ratios of the residual litter increased under the N-only addition treatments (p < 0.05) and decreased under the P-only addition and N and P coaddition treatments (p < 0.05). Overall, the results suggest that combined N and P supply can increase biological activities and thus accelerate the release of litter C, N, and most metal nutrients, as expected within the framework of ecological stoichiometry and growth rate hypothesis. Our study also highlights that the effect of N addition on litter C and nutrients release depends on P availability.

Keywords: Biogeochemistry; Litter nutrient release; Nitrogen and phosphorus imbalance; Phosphorus addition; Soil fauna; Stoichiometry.

MeSH terms

Carbon
China
Ecosystem*
Forests
Metals
Nitrogen
Nutrients
Plant Leaves
Soil*

Substances

Soil
Nitrogen
Metals
Carbon