Soil biochemical responses to nitrogen addition in a secondary evergreen broad-leaved forest ecosystem.

ABSTRACT

In order to investigate the effects of N deposition on soil biochemistry in secondary forests, one N addition experiment was conducted in a secondary evergreen broad-leaved forest in the western edge of Sichuan Basin, with the highest level of background N deposition (about 95 kg N ha-1 yr-1) in China. Three N treatment levels (+0, +50, +150 kg N ha-1 yr-1) were monthly added to soil surface in this forest beginning in April 2013. Soil biochemistry and root biomass of the 0-10 cm soil horizon were measured from May 2014 to April 2015. Soil respiration was measured for two years (September 2013 to August 2015). It was showed that N additions were correlated to significantly lower soil pH, microbial biomass C (MBC) concentration, MBC/microbial biomass N (MBN) ratio, root biomass, and soil respiration rate, and significantly higher concentrations of ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-). These results indicate that N additions had a significant effect on the size of soil microbial community. In addition, soil C storage may potentially increase due to the dropped soil C release under N addition.