Nitrogen Addition Significantly Affects Forest Litter Decomposition under High Levels of Ambient Nitrogen Deposition

Li-hua Tu, Hong-ling Hu, Gang Chen, Yong Peng, Yin-long Xiao, Ting-xing Hu, Jian Zhang, Xian-wei Li, Li Liu and Yi Tang

PLOS ONE, 2014, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-9

Abstract: Background: Forest litter decomposition is a major component of the global carbon (C) budget, and is greatly affected by the atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition observed globally. However, the effects of N addition on forest litter decomposition, in ecosystems receiving increasingly higher levels of ambient N deposition, are poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings: We conducted a two-year field experiment in five forests along the western edge of the Sichuan Basin in China, where atmospheric N deposition was up to 82–114 kg N ha–1 in the study sites. Four levels of N treatments were applied: (1) control (no N added), (2) low-N (50 kg N ha–1 year–1), (3) medium-N (150 kg N ha–1 year–1), and (4) high-N (300 kg N ha–1 year–1), N additions ranging from 40% to 370% of ambient N deposition. The decomposition processes of ten types of forest litters were then studied. Nitrogen additions significantly decreased the decomposition rates of six types of forest litters. N additions decreased forest litter decomposition, and the mass of residual litter was closely correlated to residual lignin during the decomposition process over the study period. The inhibitory effect of N addition on litter decomposition can be primarily explained by the inhibition of lignin decomposition by exogenous inorganic N. The overall decomposition rate of ten investigated substrates exhibited a significant negative linear relationship with initial tissue C/N and lignin/N, and significant positive relationships with initial tissue K and N concentrations; these relationships exhibited linear and logarithmic curves, respectively. Conclusions/Significance: This study suggests that the expected progressive increases in N deposition may have a potential important impact on forest litter decomposition in the study area in the presence of high levels of ambient N deposition.

Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0088752

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088752

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