Abstract
Forest mycorrhizal type is getting more attention as a potentially significant factor controlling carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) forests are frequently reported to have lower N availability and higher soil C storage than arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) forests. However, it is still unclear whether such characteristics stem from the low organic matter quality inherent in the ECM forest or other biotic and abiotic factors, such as competition for N between ECM fungi and free-living microbes. We conducted soil and litter reciprocal transplant experiments between AM-symbiotic black locust and ECM-symbiotic oak forests to separate the effects of organic matter quality and forest type (i.e., factors including ECM fungal presence and soil physicochemical properties) on decomposition rates and N availability. We hypothesized that the forest type, rather than organic matter quality, is a more determinant factor for available N content but not organic matter decomposition rate. Forest type had a more substantial effect not only on nitrate content but also on decomposition rate than organic matter quality. Since the litter decomposition rate was higher when placed in the oak forest, the higher soil C accumulation in the oak than in the black locust forests may be caused by greater C input rather than the slower decomposition in the oak than black locust forest. In addition, nitrate content was determined by forest type, suggesting the suppression of nitrate content by ECM fungal presence. This study suggests that the forest type with different mycorrhizal associations can affect biogeochemical cycling independent of organic matter quality.
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Acknowledgements
We greatly thank to members of the Institute of Soil and Water Conservation of Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), the Arid Land Research Center (ALRC) of Tottori University, and the Field Science, Education and Research Center (FSERC) of Kyoto University, for cooperation and logistics in both of field survey and laboratory analysis. This study was financially supported in part by JSPS-KAKENHI (Grant No.15H05113, 20KK0134, 20J00656), Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow (Grant No. 17J07686), JSPS-NSFC Bilateral Joint Research Projects (No. 41411140035, 41171419), and Fund of Joint Research Program of Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University.
Funding
This study was funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (20J00656, 17J07686, 20KK0134, 15H05113, 41171419); National Natural Science Foundation of China (41411140035).
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Tatsumi, C., Taniguchi, T., Hyodo, F. et al. Mycorrhizal type affects forest nitrogen availability, independent of organic matter quality. Biogeochemistry 165, 327–340 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-023-01087-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-023-01087-y