Decreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest terrestrial organic carbon pool. Plant litter is an important source of SOC, but the knowledge gap between SOC fractions and plant litter input remains inconsistent. Here, a litter input control experiment was conducted at three subalpine forest types (conife...

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Autores principales:	Zihao Chen, Ya Shen, Bo Tan, Han Li, Chengming You, Zhenfeng Xu, Xinyu Wei, Xiangyin Ni, Yulian Yang, Li Zhang
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	litter input soil organic carbon active SOC pool recalcitrant SOC pool microbial biomass carbon subalpine forest Plant ecology QK900-989
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/5c80098bb1984f529d87e95561dc5db5
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:5c80098bb1984f529d87e95561dc5db52021-11-25T17:37:44ZDecreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests10.3390/f121114791999-4907https://doaj.org/article/5c80098bb1984f529d87e95561dc5db52021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/11/1479https://doaj.org/toc/1999-4907Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest terrestrial organic carbon pool. Plant litter is an important source of SOC, but the knowledge gap between SOC fractions and plant litter input remains inconsistent. Here, a litter input control experiment was conducted at three subalpine forest types (coniferous forest, mixed forest, and broadleaved forest). We assessed the variations of total organic C, active organic C (easily oxidizable C, labile organic C), recalcitrant organic C, and microbial biomass C under litter input or removal. The results showed that soil total organic C decreased greatly under litter input. It was mainly caused by the change of easily oxidizable C and labile C, while the influence of recalcitrant C was small. At the same time, this effect varied among different forest types. Among them, the effect of litter input on SOC was weak and slow in the coniferous forest with low-quality litter input, while a quick effect was observed in the mixed and broadleaved forests with high-quality litter input. Microbial biomass C declined under litter input in most cases, and its variation was strongly controlled by soil temperature and freeze-thaw events. Overall, our results provide new evidence that forest type would strongly control SOC dynamics, in concert with litter quality shifts, with potential consequences for long-term C sequestration. We highlighted that litter input could reduce microbial biomass carbon which might limit the native SOC decomposition, but the loss of active C ultimately changed the SOC in the subalpine forests. It suggested that the interaction of multiple mechanisms should be considered in the study of SOC in this region.Zihao ChenYa ShenBo TanHan LiChengming YouZhenfeng XuXinyu WeiXiangyin NiYulian YangLi ZhangMDPI AGarticlelitter inputsoil organic carbonactive SOC poolrecalcitrant SOC poolmicrobial biomass carbonsubalpine forestPlant ecologyQK900-989ENForests, Vol 12, Iss 1479, p 1479 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	litter input soil organic carbon active SOC pool recalcitrant SOC pool microbial biomass carbon subalpine forest Plant ecology QK900-989
spellingShingle	litter input soil organic carbon active SOC pool recalcitrant SOC pool microbial biomass carbon subalpine forest Plant ecology QK900-989 Zihao Chen Ya Shen Bo Tan Han Li Chengming You Zhenfeng Xu Xinyu Wei Xiangyin Ni Yulian Yang Li Zhang Decreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests
description	Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest terrestrial organic carbon pool. Plant litter is an important source of SOC, but the knowledge gap between SOC fractions and plant litter input remains inconsistent. Here, a litter input control experiment was conducted at three subalpine forest types (coniferous forest, mixed forest, and broadleaved forest). We assessed the variations of total organic C, active organic C (easily oxidizable C, labile organic C), recalcitrant organic C, and microbial biomass C under litter input or removal. The results showed that soil total organic C decreased greatly under litter input. It was mainly caused by the change of easily oxidizable C and labile C, while the influence of recalcitrant C was small. At the same time, this effect varied among different forest types. Among them, the effect of litter input on SOC was weak and slow in the coniferous forest with low-quality litter input, while a quick effect was observed in the mixed and broadleaved forests with high-quality litter input. Microbial biomass C declined under litter input in most cases, and its variation was strongly controlled by soil temperature and freeze-thaw events. Overall, our results provide new evidence that forest type would strongly control SOC dynamics, in concert with litter quality shifts, with potential consequences for long-term C sequestration. We highlighted that litter input could reduce microbial biomass carbon which might limit the native SOC decomposition, but the loss of active C ultimately changed the SOC in the subalpine forests. It suggested that the interaction of multiple mechanisms should be considered in the study of SOC in this region.
format	article
author	Zihao Chen Ya Shen Bo Tan Han Li Chengming You Zhenfeng Xu Xinyu Wei Xiangyin Ni Yulian Yang Li Zhang
author_facet	Zihao Chen Ya Shen Bo Tan Han Li Chengming You Zhenfeng Xu Xinyu Wei Xiangyin Ni Yulian Yang Li Zhang
author_sort	Zihao Chen
title	Decreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests
title_short	Decreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests
title_full	Decreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests
title_fullStr	Decreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests
title_full_unstemmed	Decreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests
title_sort	decreased soil organic carbon under litter input in three subalpine forests
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/5c80098bb1984f529d87e95561dc5db5
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_version_	1718412166113001472

Decreased Soil Organic Carbon under Litter Input in Three Subalpine Forests

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