Microbial mechanisms regulate soil organic carbon mineralization under carbon with varying levels of nitrogen addition in the above-treeline ecosystem.

Climate change is leading to the upward migration of treelines in mountainous regions, resulting in changes to the carbon and nitrogen inputs in soils. The impact of these alterations on the microbial mineralization of the existing soil organic carbon (SOC) pool remains uncertain, making it challenging to anticipate their effects on the carbon balance. To enhance our prediction and understanding of native SOC mineralization in Himalayan regions resulting from treeline shifts, a study was conducted to quantify soil priming effects (PEs) at high elevations above the treeline ecosystem. In laboratory incubation, soils were treated with a combination of 13C-glucose and varying nitrogen rates, along with carbon-only treatments and control groups without any amendments. The addition of carbon with varying nitrogen addition rates exhibited diverse PEs on native SOC. A highly positive PE was observed under low nitrogen input due to a high carbon/nitrogen imbalance and increased L-leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) activity, coupled with low nitrogen availability and carbon use efficiency (CUE). In contrast, a positive PE declined following high nitrogen input due to a low carbon/nitrogen imbalance and LAP activity, coupled with high nitrogen availability and CUE. These findings support the concept that multiple mechanisms (i.e., microbial nitrogen mining and microbial metabolic efficiency) exist that regulate SOC mineralization under the addition of carbon with varying nitrogen rates. Thus, an increase in nitrogen availability fulfils microbial nitrogen demand, reduces the microbial carbon/nitrogen imbalance, decreases enzyme activity that requires nitrogen and enhances microbial metabolic efficiency. Consequently, this mechanism reduces the positive PE, thereby serving as a potential tool for stabilizing native SOC in above-treeline ecosystems.

An improved microelectrode method reveals significant emission of nitrous oxide from the rhizosphere of a long-term fertilized soil in the North China Plain.

Microsensors are able to accurately quantify nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in microenvironments at high spatio-temporal resolution; yet, limited studies have been conducted on agricultural soils due to the inability to obtain electrical signal under conditions of low soil moisture. This study improved the calibration of a microelectrode for measuring N2O emissions from agricultural soil. The microelectrode was applied to evaluate the effect of long-term fertilization with mineral fertilizer (NPK), complemented with pig manure (MNPK), straw (SNPK), or without fertilizer (CK), all with and without urea addition, on N2O emissions from the soil, with explicit separation of the rhizosphere and the bulk soil compartments. The use of soil solution instead of pure water for calibration of the microelectrode doubled the signal and significantly improved the sensor sensitivity. The optimal electrolytic concentration of the soil solution, expressed as water: soil ratio, was found at the maximum vertex of the quadratic equation fitted on the slope values of the calibration equations for different soil solutions. The application of the calibrated microelectrode revealed significantly higher N2O emission from the rhizosphere compared to the bulk soil, accounting for 60% of the total emission. For the bulk soil, MNPK significantly increased N2O emissions compared to SNPK and NPK, whereas the differences between these treatments for the rhizosphere soil were insignificant. The statistical modeling revealed significant relation of the N2O emission with soil inorganic nitrogen contents and an additive effect of treatment (MNPK and SNPK), urea addition and rhizosphere soil. This study provides novel insights into the use of microelectrodes for measuring N2O emissions from the soil microenvironment and also points on the rhizosphere compartment and the management practices of agroecosystems able to reduce the N2O emission from agriculture.