Patterns of Soil super(15)N and Total N and Their Relationships with Environmental Factors on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The patterns of soil nitrogen (N) isotope composition at large spatial and temporal scales and their relationships to environmental factors illustrate N cycle and sources of N, and are integrative indicators of the terrestrial N cycle and its response to global change. The objectives of this study w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pedosphere 2014-04, Vol.24 (2), p.232-242
Main Authors: ZHOU, Lei, SONG, Ming-Hua, WANG, Shao-Qiang, FAN, Jiang-Wen, LIU, Ji-Yuan, ZHONG, Hua-Ping, YU, Gui-Rui, GAO, Lu-Peng, HU, Zhong-Min, CHEN, Bin, WU, Wei-Xing, SONG, Ting
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The patterns of soil nitrogen (N) isotope composition at large spatial and temporal scales and their relationships to environmental factors illustrate N cycle and sources of N, and are integrative indicators of the terrestrial N cycle and its response to global change. The objectives of this study were: i) to investigate the patterns of soil N content and natural abundance of [sup 15]N ([delta][sup 15]N) values in different ecosystem types and soil profiles on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau; ii) to examine the effects of climatic factors and soil characteristics on the patterns of soil N content and soil [delta][sup 15]N values; and iii) to test the relationship between soil [delta][sup 15]N values and soil C/N ratios across ecosystems and soil profiles. Our results indicated that soil N and [sup 15]N values (0-40 cm) in meadows were much higher than in desert steppe.
ISSN:1002-0160