Life Sciences Commons^™

Stimulation Of Ammonia Oxidizer And Denitrifier Abundances By Nitrogen Loading: Poor Predictability For Increased Soil N2o Emission, Yong Zhang, Feng Zhang, Diego Abalos, Yiqi Luo, Dafeng Hui, Bruce A. Hungate, Pablo García-Palacios, Yakov Kuzyakov, Jørgen Eivind Olesen, Uffe Jørgensen, Ji Chen

Biology Faculty Research

Unprecedented nitrogen (N) inputs into terrestrial ecosystems have profoundly altered soil N cycling. Ammonia oxidizers and denitrifiers are the main producers of nitrous oxide (N₂O), but it remains unclear how ammonia oxidizer and denitrifier abundances will respond to N loading and whether their responses can predict N-induced changes in soil N₂O emission. By synthesizing 101 field studies worldwide, we showed that N loading significantly increased ammonia oxidizer abundance by 107% and denitrifier abundance by 45%. The increases in both ammonia oxidizer and denitrifier abundances were primarily explained by N loading form, and more specifically, organic N …

Relationships Between Vegetation And Soil Seed Banks Along A Center-To-Edge Gradient On A Tropical Coral Island, Yao Huang, Hai Ren, Jun Wang, Nan Liu, Shuguang Jian, Hongyue Cai, Dafeng Hui, Qinfeng Guo

Biology Faculty Research

Few studies have focused on the relationships between vegetation and soil seed banks on small islands. To better understand the pattern and regeneration potential of seed banks on tropical coral islands, we measured environmental factors and the species composition, and species richness of soil seed banks and vegetation along a gradient from the center to the edges on East Island in the South China Sea. The results showed that the similarity between the species composition of vegetation and seed banks increased from the center to the edge. In the center, species richness in both vegetation and seed banks was positively …

Responses Of Soil Carbon Sequestration To Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices: A Meta-Analysis, Xiongxiong Bai, Yawen Huang, Wei Ren, Mark Coyne, Pierre-Andre Jacinthe, Bo Tao, Dafeng Hui, Jian Yang, Chris Matocha

Biology Faculty Research

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) management practices (e.g., conservation tillage, cover crops, and biochar applications) have been widely adopted to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring crop productivity. However, current measurements regarding the influences of CSA management practices on SOC sequestration diverge widely, making it difficult to derive conclusions about individual and combined CSA management effects and bringing large uncertainties in quantifying the potential of the agricultural sector to mitigate climate change. We conducted a meta-analysis of 3,049 paired measurements from 417 peer-reviewed articles to examine the effects of three common CSA management practices …

Soil Microbial Community Composition And Respiration Along An Experimental Precipitation Gradient In A Semiarid Steppe, Cancan Zhao, Yuan Miao, Chengde Yu, Lili Zhu, Feng Wang, Lin Jiang, Dafeng Hui, Shiqiang Wan

Biology Faculty Research

As a primary limiting factor in arid and semiarid regions, precipitation strongly influences soil microbial properties. However, the patterns and mechanisms of soil microbial responses to precipitation have not been well documented. In this study, changes in soil microorganisms along an experimental precipitation gradient with seven levels of precipitation manipulation (i.e., ambient precipitation as a control and ±20%, ±40% and ±60% of ambient precipitation) were explored in a semiarid temperate steppe in northern China. Soil microbial biomass carbon and respiration as well as the ratio of fungal to bacterial biomass varied along the experimental precipitation gradient and peaked under the …

Responses Of Soil Respiration And Its Temperature/Moisture Sensitivity To Precipitation In Three Subtropical Forests In Southern China, H. Jiang, Qi Deng, Guoyi Zhou, Dafeng Hui, Deqiang Zhang, S. Liu, Guowei Chu, J. Li

Biology Faculty Research

Both long-term observation data and model simulations suggest an increasing chance of serious drought in the dry season and extreme flood in the wet season in southern China, yet little is known about how changes in precipitation pattern will affect soil respiration in the region. We conducted a field experiment to study the responses of soil respiration to precipitation manipulations – precipitation exclusion to mimic drought, double precipitation to simulate flood, and ambient precipitation as control (abbr. EP, DP and AP, respectively) – in three subtropical forests in southern China. The three forest sites include Masson pine forest (PF), coniferous …

Effects Of Precipitation Increase On Soil Respiration: A Three-Year Field Experiment In Subtropical Forests In China, Qi Deng, Dafeng Hui, Deqiang Zhang, Guoyi Zhou, Juxiu Liu, Shizhong Liu, Guowei Chu, Jiong Li

Biology Faculty Research

Background

The aim of this study was to determine response patterns and mechanisms of soil respiration to precipitation increases in subtropical regions.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Field plots in three typical forests [i.e. pine forest (PF), broadleaf forest (BF), and pine and broadleaf mixed forest (MF)] in subtropical China were exposed under either Double Precipitation (DP) treatment or Ambient Precipitation (AP). Soil respiration, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil microbial biomass and fine root biomass were measured over three years. We tested whether precipitation treatments influenced the relationship of soil respiration rate (R) with soil temperature (T) and soil …