Plant and Microbial Carbon Are Important Drivers of Free‐Living Nitrogen Fixation in Tropical Forest Soils: A New Discovery of Carbon‐Driven Nitrogen Input

Autor: Meichen Xu, Linjie Fan, Andi Li, Qiyan Liu, Guangcan Yu, Senhao Wang, Baixin Zhang, Qing Ye, Jiangming Mo, Mianhai Zheng
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 51, Iss 20, Pp n/a-n/a (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1944-8007
0094-8276
DOI: 10.1029/2024GL111238
Popis: Abstract Nitrogen (N) availability limits plant growth and soil carbon (C) sequestration in N‐limited ecosystems, however, plant and soil C feedback on the free‐living nitrogen fixation (FLNF) process is poorly understood. Moreover, whether this feedback is influenced by initial N availability in leguminous and non‐leguminous forest soils has not been clarified. Here, we found that the addition of plant‐ and microbial‐derived C significantly enhanced soil nitrogenase activity (13∼28%) and that microbial‐derived C had a more positive impact. These positive effects were attributed to the direct C‐energy supply (0.49∼0.84) rather than variations in soil microbial activity (−0.01∼0.21) and substrate resources (−0.45∼0.27). Long‐term N addition did not inhibit FLNF. C addition promoted FLNF in soils of the two forests, but the response rate was higher in the leguminous forest soils. Our study reveals that increased soil C availability can drive FLNF in tropical forests, enhancing our understanding of the soil C‐N coupling mechanism.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals