Effects of Nitrogen Deposition on Soil Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrogen in Moso Bamboo Plantations Strongly Depend on Management Practices

• Main Authors: Zhaofeng Lei, Huanfa Sun, Quan Li, Junbo Zhang, Xinzhang Song
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-11-01
• Series: Forests
• Subjects: soil organic carbon; dissolved organic matter; nitrogen addition; Phyllostachys edulis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/8/11/452

Soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) play significant roles in forest carbon, nitrogen and nutrient cycling. The objective of the present study was to estimate the effect of management practices and nitrogen (N) deposition on soil DOC and DON in Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis (Carrière) J. Houz) plantations. This experiment, conducted for over 36 months, investigated the effects of four N addition levels (30, 60 and 90 kg N ha−1 year−1, and the N-free control) and two management practices (conventional management (CM) and intensive management (IM)) on DOC and DON. The results showed that DOC and DON concentrations were the highest in summer. Both intensive management and N deposition independently decreased DOC and DON in spring (p < 0.05) but not in winter. However, when combined with IM, N deposition increased DOC and DON in spring and winter (p < 0.05). Our results demonstrated that N deposition significantly increased the loss of soil DOC and DON in Moso plantations, and this reduction was strongly affected by IM practices and varied seasonally. Therefore, management practices and seasonal variation should be considered when using ecological models to estimate the effects of N deposition on soil DOC and DON in plantation ecosystems.