Native broadleaf tree species stimulate topsoil nutrient transformation by changing microbial community composition and physiological function, but not biomass in subtropical plantations with low P status

•Transforming conifer into broadleaf forest promotes soil nutrient recovery.•Broadleaf tree species do not improve total soil microbial biomass.•Broadleaf tree species stimulate soil nutrient cycle via alter microbial composition.•We show that these may occur in P-poor subtropical plantations.•Then,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forest ecology and management 2020-12, Vol.477, p.118491, Article 118491
Main Authors: You, Yeming, Xu, Haocheng, Wu, Xipin, Zhou, Xiaoguo, Tan, Xumai, Li, Meng, Wen, Yuanguang, Zhu, Hongguang, Cai, Daoxiong, Huang, Xueman
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Enzyme activity
Forest conversion
Microbial community
Nutrient cycle
Phosphorus
Subtropics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•Transforming conifer into broadleaf forest promotes soil nutrient recovery.•Broadleaf tree species do not improve total soil microbial biomass.•Broadleaf tree species stimulate soil nutrient cycle via alter microbial composition.•We show that these may occur in P-poor subtropical plantations.•Then, we hope the content of this study will meet the requirement of “Forest Ecology and Management”. Microbial communities and their associated enzyme activities affect carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) metabolism in soils. We used phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) analysis and extracellular enzyme activity assays to evaluate the effects on topsoil microbial community and nutrient transformation of converting Chinese fir (CF) plantations to native broadleaf (Castanopsis hystrix [CH] and Mytilaria laosensis [ML]) plantations in this study. We found that CH and ML plantations had significantly higher soil organic C (SOC), total N (TN), NH4+-N, soil C/N ratios (C/Nsoil), soil C/P ratios (C/Psoil) and soil N/P ratios (N/Psoil) but significantly lower total P (TP) compared to CF plantations. A distinct shift in soil microbial community composition, but not microbial biomass was evident 23 years after stand conversion. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that soil microbial community composition was substantially influenced by litterfall mass (LF), TP, N/Psoil, SOC, fine root biomass (FR), C/Nsoil, TN, litter C/N ratios (C/Nlitter), and C/Psoil; of these, LF appeared to be the primary driver of differences in soil microbial community composition (p 
ISSN:0378-1127
1872-7042
DOI:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118491