Drought changes litter quantity and quality, and soil microbial activities to affect soil nutrients in moso bamboo forest

Xiaogai Ge; Cunguo Wang; Lingling Wang; Benzhi Zhou; Yonghui Cao; Wenfa Xiao; Mai-He Li

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156351

Drought changes litter quantity and quality, and soil microbial activities to affect soil nutrients in moso bamboo forest

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Sep 10;838(Pt 3):156351. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156351. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

Authors

Xiaogai Ge¹, Cunguo Wang², Lingling Wang³, Benzhi Zhou⁴, Yonghui Cao¹, Wenfa Xiao⁵, Mai-He Li⁶

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311400, China; Qianjiangyuan Forest Ecosystem Research Station, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311400, China.
² Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China.
³ Forestry and Water Conservancy Bureau of Fuyang District in Hangzhou, Hangzhou 311400, China.
⁴ Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311400, China; Qianjiangyuan Forest Ecosystem Research Station, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311400, China. Electronic address: bzzhou@caf.ac.cn.
⁵ National Forestry Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment, Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Nature Conservation, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China. Electronic address: xiaowenf@caf.ac.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China; Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape research WSL, Zuercherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Erguna Forest-Steppe Ecotone Research Station, CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.

PMID: 35660584
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156351

Abstract

Drought would significantly influence the forest soils through changing the litterfall production and decomposition process. However, comprehensive in situ studies on drought effects in subtropical forests, especially in bamboo forests, have rarely been conducted. Here, we conducted a throughfall exclusion experiment with a rainfall reduction of ~80% in moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) forests to investigate effects of drought on litter quantity, quality, soil microbial and enzyme activities, and soil nutrients across two years in subtropical China. We observed that throughfall exclusion (TE) treatment significantly decreased soil moisture by 63% compared to ambient control treatment (CK). Drought significantly decreased the annual litterfall in the second treatment year, and the leaf litter decomposition rate (-30% relative to CK) over 2 years of decomposition. TE treatment significantly decreased net release rate of litter carbon (C) and the amount of litter nitrogen (N) immobilization during a 360-day decomposition period, leading an increased litter C: N ratio in TE compared to CK. There was a distinct difference in soil microbial community composition between TE and CK treatments, showing higher bacteria biomass in TE but no difference in fungal biomass between TE and CK. Structural equation modelling revealed that drought decreased the contribution of litter quantity to soil nutrients but increased that of litter quality and soil microbial community to soil nutrients. Our results suggest that increasing drought events in subtropical China will directly reduce litterfall quantity and quality on the one hand, and alter the soil enzyme activities and microbial composition on the other hand, all of which will consequently decrease litter decomposition rate, soil nutrient availability, growth rate and productivity, leading to changes in the functioning and services of subtropical bamboo forests.

Keywords: Drought; Drought adaptation; Litter decomposition rate; Litter quantity and quality; Litterfall; Soil microbial community.

MeSH terms

Droughts*
Forests
Nutrients
Plant Leaves
Poaceae
Soil Microbiology
Soil* / chemistry

Substances

Soil