Open Access
ARTICLE
How Physical Disturbance and Nitrogen Addition Affect the Soil Carbon Decomposition?
Muhammad Junaid Nazir1,2, Xiuwei Zhang1,*, Daolin Du2, Feihai Yu1
1
Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology/Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and
Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 318000, China
2
College of the Environment & Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
* Corresponding Author: Xiuwei Zhang. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: The Effect of Soil Quality Degradation on the Plant Growth, Quality and Food Safety in Subtropical Agroforestry Ecosystems)
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2022, 91(9), 2087-2097. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2022.021412
Received 13 January 2022; Accepted 04 March 2022; Issue published 13 May 2022
Abstract
The decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a critical role in regulating atmospheric CO
2 concentrations and climate dynamics. However, the mechanisms and factors controlling SOC decomposition are still not
fully understood. Here, we conducted a 60 days incubation experiment to test the effects of physical disturbance
and nitrogen (N) addition on SOC decomposition. N addition increased the concentration of NO
3- by 51% in the
soil, but had little effect on the concentration of NH
4+. N addition inhibited SOC decomposition, but such an
effect differed between disturbed and undisturbed soils. In disturbed and undisturbed soils, application of N
decreased SOC decomposition by 37% and 15%, respectively. One possible explanation is that extra N input suppressed microbial N mining and/or increased the stability of soil organic matter by promoting the formation of
soil aggregates and incorporating part of the inorganic N into organic matter, and consequently decreased microbial mineralization of soil organic matter. Physical disturbance intensified the inhibition of N on SOC decomposition, likely because physical disturbance allowed the added N to be better exposed to soil microbes and
consequently increased the availability of added N. We conclude that physical disturbance and N play important
roles in modulating the stability of SOC.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Nazir, M. J., Zhang, X., Du, D., Yu, F. (2022). How Physical Disturbance and Nitrogen Addition Affect the Soil Carbon Decomposition?.
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, 91(9), 2087–2097.