Electronic versions

  • Lili Jiang
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
  • Shiping Wang
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
  • Zhe Pang
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
  • Changshun Wang
    Hulunbuir College
  • Fandong Meng
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
  • Zhichun Lan
    Nanchang University
  • Xiaoqi Zhou
    East China Normal University
  • Yaoming Li
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
  • Zhenhua Zhang
    Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Caiyun Luo
    Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Davey L. Jones
  • Yichao Rui
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
  • Yanfen Wang
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
Background and aimsDissolved organic nitrogen (DON) has been increasingly recognized as a crucial component of the terrestrial nitrogen (N) cycle that regulates the ecosystem feedback to climate change. Yet, little information is available about the factors that control soil DON in the alpine ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau, a region that is extremely sensitive to climate change.Methods Here, we examined the relationship between DON and climate, plant, and soil attributes along a precipitation gradient in five alpine ecosystems (alpine wetland, alpine meadow, alpine shrub, alpine steppe, and alpine desert) across 20 sites that were up to 4000 km apart on the Tibetan Plateau.ResultsResults showed that soil DON concentration varied significantly across these alpine ecosystems, and had a positive relationship with mean annual precipitation. Belowground biomass, soil moisture, micro biomass carbon (MBC), and soil total phosphorus (TP) explained 84% of the variation in DON concentrations. The percentage of DON in soil total dissolved N (TDN) varied with vegetation type, with the lowest percentage observed in the alpine meadow (52%) and the highest in the alpine desert (77%), indicating the slow turnover of DON into inorganic N in systems with low litter input and microbial activity.Conclusions Precipitation and plant biomass input determine the concentration and turnover of soil DON on the Tibetan Plateau. A warmer and wetter climate that has been predicted for the Tibetan grasslands may lead to a larger and more active DON pool.

Keywords

  • Soil inorganic N, DOC, DON, Biomass, Alpine grassland
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)65-78
JournalPlant and Soil
Volume459
Issue number1-2
Early online date7 Jul 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2021
View graph of relations