Article
Agronomy
Xiaonan Wang, Chengjie Wang, Chengyang Zhou, Shining Zuo, Yixin Ji, Qiezhuo Lamao, Ding Huang
Summary: This study investigated the effects of grazing on soil gross nitrification and denitrification rates in the desert grassland of northern China. Grazing significantly influenced soil moisture and nitrate content. Both gross nitrification and denitrification rates exhibited seasonal variations. The underlying mechanisms affecting soil nitrification and denitrification differed between treatment groups.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yuting Lan, Bo Fan, Xiaowei Guo, Mengke Si, Bencuo Li, Dawen Qian, Li Lin
Summary: This study investigated the impact of different grazing management strategies on vegetation and soil properties in an alpine meadow. The results showed that no grazing treatment led to an increase in aboveground biomass, vegetation cover, and litter biomass, while belowground biomass decreased significantly. The response of different plant functional groups to grazing management strategies varied. Soil properties, such as available phosphorus and ammonia nitrogen, were significantly different among the different grazing management strategies, while soil carbon to nitrogen ratios were similar. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the response of alpine meadows to grazing management strategies and can guide the design of management strategies for degraded alpine meadows.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jianqiang Yang, Huajie Diao, Guoliang Li, Rui Wang, Huili Jia, Changhui Wang
Summary: Anthropogenic disturbance, such as nitrogen fertilization and mowing, is constantly changing the function and structure of grassland ecosystems, and will continue to affect their sustainability. However, the effects of different nitrogen addition levels and frequencies, as well as mowing, on nitrogen cycling processes are still unclear.
Article
Ecology
Sina Kukowski, Reiner Ruser, Hans-Peter Piepho, Sebastian Gayler, Thilo Streck
Summary: Excessive nitrogen input poses a major threat to species-rich grasslands. It is necessary to quantify and monitor the rates of mineral nitrogen production and consumption in seminatural grasslands in southwest Germany, and investigate differences between calcareous and decalcified soils.
Article
Soil Science
Deying Wang, David R. Chadwick, Paul W. Hill, Tida Ge, Davey L. Jones
Summary: Cysteine (Cys) and methionine (Met) are important sources of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulphur (S) for plant nutrition and microbial growth in terrestrial S cycling. Microbial competition for C, N, and S in these amino acids is expected in soils with low plant productivity. This study found that soil microbes rapidly assimilate Cys and Met, primarily through biological processes. The turnover of organic N and S, and subsequent availability for plant uptake, is likely controlled by soil fertility. The importance of Cys and Met for soil microbes and plant nutrition may have been underestimated due to their fast turnover in grassland soils.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Qiao-Dong Chi, Jing Wang, Yu-Qing Liu, Jun Zhao, Yi Cheng, Zu-Cong Cai, Xiao-Juan Feng, Jin-Bo Zhang
Summary: The study found that climate, soil properties, and gross nitrogen dynamics have different interactive effects on biomass production in natural grasslands, and climate influences biomass production by directly and indirectly regulating soil gross nitrogen mineralization.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Josephine Lesage, Grey Hayes, Karen Holl
Summary: Livestock grazing is commonly used to maximize vegetation diversity in grassland ecosystems. This study found that grazed prairies continued to have lower vegetation height and greater native annual forb richness compared to ungrazed prairies. However, severe drought and increasing aridity may be driving declines in native annual forb richness in grazed prairies.
Article
Agronomy
Pauline Sophie Rummel, Reinhard Well, Birgit Pfeiffer, Klaus Dittert, Sebastian Flossmann, Johanna Pausch
Summary: The growth of plants affects soil moisture, mineral nitrogen, and organic carbon availability, influencing denitrification; root-derived carbon may stimulate denitrification in small plants, while nitrogen and water uptake become the main controlling factors with increasing plant and root growth.
Article
Soil Science
Lei Song, Jinsong Wang, Junxiao Pan, Yingjie Yan, Shuli Niu
Summary: This study measured the gross N mineralization rate (GNMR) and related properties in an alpine meadow under chronic nitrogen (N) addition at different soil depths. The results showed that GNMR was negatively correlated with N addition rate and soil available NO3- content, and positively correlated with soil pH and carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N). Acidification, increased N availability, and C limitation all decreased soil N mineralization, with acidification dominating in the topsoil and C limitation dominating in the subsoil. These findings improve our understanding of soil N mineralization with chronic N enrichment at different depths.
Article
Ecology
Ang Li, Shi Chen
Summary: This study analyzed population data of native sheep in the last nomadic county in Inner Mongolia from 1961 to 2005, revealing changes in internal feedbacks and external disturbances between the extensive and intensive management periods. The findings highlighted the importance of different regulatory mechanisms in maintaining a sustainable rangeland ecosystem during different management periods.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Yan Zhao, Yuqiang Tian, Qiong Gao, Xiaobing Li, Yong Zhang, Yong Ding, Shengnan Ouyang, Andrey Yurtaev, Yakov Kuzyakov
Summary: Grazing intensity has a significant impact on the allocation and stability of newly assimilated carbon in soil. Moderate grazing increases the belowground allocation of photosynthates and reduces CO2 efflux from soil, promoting soil carbon sequestration.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Kathiravan Meeran, Johannes Ingrisch, David Reinthaler, Alberto Canarini, Lena Mueller, Erich M. Poetsch, Andreas Richter, Wolfgang Wanek, Michael Bahn
Summary: The study revealed that in a future warmer climate with elevated CO2 levels, drought effects on the fate of recent C will be amplified, and the coupling of photosynthesis and soil respiration will be sustained. Additionally, the interactive effects of multiple global change factors should be considered in predicting the future dynamics of terrestrial C cycling.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Soil Science
Jiaojiao Dong, Jirui Gong, Zihe Zhang, Liangyuan Song, Siqi Zhang, Weiyuan Zhang, Yingying Liu, Xuede Dong, Yuxia Hu
Summary: Leymus chinensis increased belowground C-13 allocation after low defoliation, but allocated less belowground C-13 in response to medium and high defoliation, and these changes were related to photosynthetic C fixation. There was no trade-off in C allocation between root exudates and roots, because their direct sources of C differed. The uptake rate of (15) N was the greatest in the low defoliation treatment, and the medium defoliation treatment increased specific root length and specific root area.
BIOLOGY AND FERTILITY OF SOILS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Maede Faghihinia, Yi Zou, Yongfei Bai, Alireza Pourbakhtiar, Rob Marrs, Philip L. Staddon
Summary: This study investigated the effects of livestock grazing intensity on carbon assimilation, partitioning, and the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in northern China grassland. The results showed that increasing grazing intensity led to a significant increase in carbon assimilation per unit shoot biomass, but a marginal decrease in carbon allocation to roots. Soil-respired CO2 was independent of grazing intensity. The density of mycorrhizal hyphae decreased with increasing grazing intensity and was significantly correlated with new carbon input to roots 2 days after labeling. This study highlights the impact of grazing intensity on carbon distribution and emphasizes the role of mycorrhizas in fast carbon transfer from plants to soil.
RANGELAND ECOLOGY & MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Ruishen Li, Shengwei Zhang, Fengming Li, Xi Lin, Shuai Wang, Lin Yang, Xingyu Zhao, Minmin Liu
Summary: In semi-arid grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China, grazing management affects the connections between aerodynamic and energy balance during spring. Grazed grasslands have higher temperature gradient differential, albedo, and aerodynamic roughness, while net radiation and temperature have lower correlations with grazing-prohibited grasslands.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jiao Su, Haiyang Zhang, Xingguo Han, Ruofei Lv, Li Liu, Yong Jiang, Hui Li, Yakov Kuzyakov, Cunzheng Wei
Summary: Soils store more carbon than the atmosphere and the turnover of carbon in soils is influenced by the priming effect. This study found that the vulnerability of stable carbon to priming decreases with increasing soil stability. This highlights the importance of understanding the dynamics of carbon in soils for a better understanding of global carbon cycles.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Correction
Soil Science
Pedro Paulo C. Teixeira, Svenja Trautmann, Franz Buegger, Vincent J. M. N. L. Felde, Johanna Pausch, Carsten W. Mueller, Ingrid Koegel-Knabner
BIOLOGY AND FERTILITY OF SOILS
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Pedro Paulo C. Teixeira, Svenja Trautmann, Franz Buegger, Vincent J. M. N. L. Felde, Johanna Pausch, Carsten W. Mueller, Ingrid Koegel-Knabner
Summary: This study examined the impact of root hair elongation on the stability of rhizosheath aggregates and found that other soil properties play a more decisive role in the formation of rhizosheath than root hair elongation. Additionally, using multiple pulse labeling of (CO2)-C-13 in the rhizosheath allowed for better differentiation of plant C allocation differences between genotypes.
BIOLOGY AND FERTILITY OF SOILS
(2023)
Review
Soil Science
Anna Yudina, Yakov Kuzyakov
Summary: Soil is a complex system that plays a crucial role in supporting plant and microbial growth, carbon sequestration, water fluxes, and providing habitat for microorganisms. Its structure, specifically the interlocking of pores and solids in aggregates, determines its functions and overall health.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jinyang Wang, Philippe Ciais, Pete Smith, Xiaoyuan Yan, Yakov Kuzyakov, Shuwei Liu, Tingting Li, Jianwen Zou
Summary: The increase in atmospheric methane concentrations since 2007 is a global concern, potentially caused by emissions from rice cultivation. Estimating methane emissions from rice fields and their abatement potential is crucial to assess the contribution of improved rice management. However, the contribution of rice field emissions to the renewed methane increase and global abatement potential remains unclear.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mei He, Qinlu Li, Leiyi Chen, Shuqi Qin, Yakov Kuzyakov, Yang Liu, Dianye Zhang, Xuehui Feng, Dan Kou, Tonghua Wu, Yuanhe Yang
Summary: Climate warming leads to widespread permafrost thaw, which releases carbon dioxide and triggers a positive permafrost carbon-climate feedback. The understanding of permafrost CO2 release through the priming effect is limited. By combining permafrost sampling and laboratory incubation on the Tibetan Plateau, this study detected a positive priming effect upon permafrost thaw and estimated the potential CO2 emission induced by the priming effect.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Junxi Hu, Meilin Du, Jun Chen, Liehua Tie, Shixing Zhou, Kate M. Buckeridge, J. Hans C. Cornelissen, Congde Huang, Yakov Kuzyakov
Summary: Microbial necromass is an important component of soil organic matter, and global change factors have significant impacts on its formation and decomposition, although these impacts are poorly understood.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Weitao Li, Qi Lu, Sulaiman Almwarai Alharbi, Andrey V. Soromotin, Yakov Kuzyakov, Yanbao Lei
Summary: Global warming is causing glacial retreat and leading to the emergence of open areas that undergo succession. The interactions between soil microbial communities and plants play a role in vegetation succession, but the specific microbial groups involved are unclear. A study in the Gongga Mountain glacial retreat chronosequence investigated whether plant-soil-microbial interactions explain plant primary succession. The researchers found that the performance of most plant species was influenced by soil biota from different stages of succession, with microbial turnover playing a role in accelerating primary succession in the glacial retreat area.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiulan Zhang, Liang Chen, Ying Wang, Peiting Jiang, Yanting Hu, Shuai Ouyang, Huili Wu, Pifeng Lei, Yakov Kuzyakov, Wenhua Xiang
Summary: Thinning is a widely-used management practice to reduce tree competition and improve wood production and quality in forest plantations. This study conducted a meta-analysis on 533 paired observations to evaluate the responses of soil properties and microbial communities to thinning. The results showed that thinning consistently altered soil properties, shifted microbial community compositions, and stimulated microbial activities.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jie Shen, Ziyan Liang, Yakov Kuzyakov, Weitao Li, Yuting He, Changquan Wang, Yang Xiao, Ke Chen, Geng Sun, Yanbao Lei
Summary: Ecosystem succession and pedogenesis change the composition and turnover of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and its interactions with soil microbiome. In this study, the molecular diversity of water-extractable DOM and its links to microbial communities were characterized along a deglaciation chronosequence in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that low molecular weight compounds decreased, while mid- and high-molecular-weight compounds increased with succession age and soil depth. Microbial community succession shifted towards the dominance of oligotrophic Acidobacteria and saprophytic Mortierellomycota, reflecting the increase of stable DOM components.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Hongliang Li, Haitao Zhu, Hongbo Li, Yuqiang Zhang, Sixin Xu, Shumei Cai, Alharbi Almwarai Sulaiman, Yakov Kuzyakov, Zed Rengel, Deshan Zhang
Summary: Microorganisms play a key role in the mobilization of phosphorus (P) and influence root traits and exudation related to nutrient acquisition in crops. This study evaluated the interactions between roots and microbes in low-P and high-P soil with or without straw addition. The findings highlight the temporal dynamics of root-microbe interactions in influencing crop P acquisition in low-P, straw-amended soil.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Xintan Zhang, Jie Wang, Xiangyan Feng, Haishui Yang, Yanling Li, Kuzyakov Yakov, Shiping Liu, Feng-Min Li
Summary: No-tillage with straw mulch is effective for soil sustainability, but its specific effects on soil organic carbon stocks and crop yield are uncertain. This study found that no tillage had minimal effects on soil organic carbon stocks but decreased crop yield compared to plow tillage with straw return. No-tillage with straw mulch resulted in improved soil aggregate stability and organic carbon content in the 0-5 cm layer, but decreased organic carbon content in the deeper layers due to reduced carbon input from roots and straw. While organic carbon stocks in micro-aggregates and mineral-associated organic matter did not vary between tillage practices, plow tillage with straw return had higher organic carbon stocks in the 0-50 cm layer compared to no-tillage with straw mulch. Additionally, the yields of rice and wheat were lower under no-tillage with straw mulch compared to plow tillage without straw return and plow tillage with straw return, attributed to high soil bulk densities and decreased nutrient availability. The yield losses in rice were greater under no-tillage with straw mulch and increased over time due to decreased nitrogen and phosphorus contents in the soil. In conclusion, plow tillage is more effective for carbon sequestration and yield improvement in rice-wheat farming compared to no-tillage with straw mulch.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Z. Liu, L. Nie, M. Zhang, S. Zhang, H. Yang, L. Guo, J. Xia, T. Ning, N. Jiao, Y. Kuzyakov
Summary: By studying the effects of different methods and treatments on soil organic carbon content, labile carbon fractions, and crop yields, it was found that subsoiling combined with 1 m high maize stubble return is an effective conservation tillage to increase the SOC content and crop yield.
JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Yaoyao Tong, Jina Ding, Mouliang Xiao, Muhammad Shahbaz, Zhenke Zhu, Ming Chen, Yakov Kuzyakov, Yangwu Deng, Jianping Chen, Tida Ge
Summary: Microplastics create new ecological niches for microorganisms, with higher accumulation levels in terrestrial ecosystems compared to marine ecosystems. The study found that the addition of microplastics affected the spatial distribution of soil hydrolases, nutrient availability, and rice growth. Microplastics increased above-ground biomass but decreased below-ground biomass. They also reduced the content of NH4+ in soil and increased the activity of N- and P-hydrolases. Nutrient uptake by rice plants and enzyme activities were enhanced with the presence of microplastics in soil, indicating their impact on soil ecology and nutrient dynamics.
SOIL ECOLOGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Yujie Shi, Elsa Religieux, Yakov Kuzyakov, Junfeng Wang, Junxi Hu, Xavier Le Roux
Summary: Ecosystem functions, such as soil nitrogen cycling, are being altered by climate change. The responses of soil (de)nitrification to climate change vary across global grasslands. In this study, the researchers analyzed 49 studies and found that the responses of (de)nitrification are mainly influenced by annual precipitation and temperature, rather than the duration and magnitude of experimental treatment. Water availability plays a major role in dry regions, while nitrogen availability is a key determinant in wet regions.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)