Recuperation of nitrogen cycling in Amazonian forests following agricultural abandonment

Phosphorus (P) is generally considered the most common limiting nutrient for productivity of mature tropical lowland forests growing on highly weathered soils. It is often assumed that P limitation also applies to young tropical forests, but nitrogen (N) losses during land-use change may alter the stoichiometric balance of nutrient cycling processes. In the Amazon basin, about 16% of the original forest area has been cleared, and about 30-50% of cleared land is estimated now to be in some stage of secondary forest succession following agricultural abandonment. Here we use forest age chronosequences to demonstrate that young successional forests growing after agricultural abandonment on highly weathered lowland tropical soils exhibit conservative N-cycling properties much like those of N-limited forests on younger soils in temperate latitudes. As secondary succession progresses, N-cycling properties recover and the dominance of a conservative P cycle typical of mature lowland tropical forests re-emerges. These successional shifts in N:P cycling ratios with forest age provide a mechanistic explanation for initially lower and then gradually increasing soil emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N(2)O). The patterns of N and P cycling during secondary forest succession, demonstrated here over decadal timescales, are similar to N- and P-cycling patterns during primary succession as soils age over thousands and millions of years, thus revealing that N availability in terrestrial ecosystems is ephemeral and can be disrupted by either natural or anthropogenic disturbances at several timescales.     

长江中上游土壤资源保护与林业可持续发展

长江中上游地区土壤资源保护是一个关系到全局的重大问题,也是我国长江流域治理的关键,更是关系到当地人民生存和社会发展的根本性问题。从生态系统演替和土壤养分生物地球化学循环的角度出发,讨论了中上游地区林业生产及社会可持续发展的问题。     

Increased forest ecosystem carbon and nitrogen storage from nitrogen rich bedrock

Nitrogen (N) limits the productivity of many ecosystems worldwide, thereby restricting the ability of terrestrial ecosystems to offset the effects of rising atmospheric CO(2) emissions naturally. Understanding input pathways of bioavailable N is therefore paramount for predicting carbon (C) storage on land, particularly in temperate and boreal forests. Paradigms of nutrient cycling and limitation posit that new N enters terrestrial ecosystems solely from the atmosphere. Here we show that bedrock comprises a hitherto overlooked source of ecologically available N to forests. We report that the N content of soils and forest foliage on N-rich metasedimentary rocks (350-950?mg?N?kg(-1)) is elevated by more than 50% compared with similar temperate forest sites underlain by N-poor igneous parent material (30-70?mg?N?kg(-1)). Natural abundance N isotopes attribute this difference to rock-derived N: (15)N/(14)N values for rock, soils and plants are indistinguishable in sites underlain by N-rich lithology, in marked contrast to sites on N-poor substrates. Furthermore, forests associated with N-rich parent material contain on average 42% more carbon in above-ground tree biomass and 60% more carbon in the upper 30?cm of the soil than similar sites underlain by N-poor rocks. Our results raise the possibility that bedrock N input may represent an important and overlooked component of ecosystem N and C cycling elsewhere.     

Old-growth forests as global carbon sinks

Old-growth forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at rates that vary with climate and nitrogen deposition. The sequestered carbon dioxide is stored in live woody tissues and slowly decomposing organic matter in litter and soil. Old-growth forests therefore serve as a global carbon dioxide sink, but they are not protected by international treaties, because it is generally thought that ageing forests cease to accumulate carbon. Here we report a search of literature and databases for forest carbon-flux estimates. We find that in forests between 15 and 800 years of age, net ecosystem productivity (the net carbon balance of the forest including soils) is usually positive. Our results demonstrate that old-growth forests can continue to accumulate carbon, contrary to the long-standing view that they are carbon neutral. Over 30 per cent of the global forest area is unmanaged primary forest, and this area contains the remaining old-growth forests. Half of the primary forests (6 x 10(8) hectares) are located in the boreal and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. On the basis of our analysis, these forests alone sequester about 1.3 +/- 0.5 gigatonnes of carbon per year. Thus, our findings suggest that 15 per cent of the global forest area, which is currently not considered when offsetting increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, provides at least 10 per cent of the global net ecosystem productivity. Old-growth forests accumulate carbon for centuries and contain large quantities of it. We expect, however, that much of this carbon, even soil carbon, will move back to the atmosphere if these forests are disturbed.     

氮磷添加对温带和亚热带森林土壤碳氮矿化的影响

选取黑龙江五营温带森林和福建武夷山亚热带森林两个站点, 通过120天室内培养实验, 探讨氮磷(NH₄NO₃和NaH₂PO₄)添加对两种森林表层土壤(0~20 cm)碳氮矿化的影响。结果表明, 氮添加通过降低土壤微生物的生物量及其碳氮比来降低亚热带森林的土壤碳矿化, 但对温带森林的土壤碳矿化没有显著影响; 磷添加对两种森林的土壤碳矿化均没有显著影响。磷添加显著地增加温带森林的土壤净氮矿化, 氮添加显著地降低温带森林的土壤净氮矿化, 氮添加和磷添加均对亚热带森林的土壤净氮矿化没有显著影响。总体而言, 可能由于养分可利用性和土壤性质的区别, 温带森林和亚热带森林土壤碳氮矿化对氮磷添加的响应存在区别。     

Stream denitrification across biomes and its response to anthropogenic nitrate loading

Anthropogenic addition of bioavailable nitrogen to the biosphere is increasing and terrestrial ecosystems are becoming increasingly nitrogen-saturated, causing more bioavailable nitrogen to enter groundwater and surface waters. Large-scale nitrogen budgets show that an average of about 20-25 per cent of the nitrogen added to the biosphere is exported from rivers to the ocean or inland basins, indicating that substantial sinks for nitrogen must exist in the landscape. Streams and rivers may themselves be important sinks for bioavailable nitrogen owing to their hydrological connections with terrestrial systems, high rates of biological activity, and streambed sediment environments that favour microbial denitrification. Here we present data from nitrogen stable isotope tracer experiments across 72 streams and 8 regions representing several biomes. We show that total biotic uptake and denitrification of nitrate increase with stream nitrate concentration, but that the efficiency of biotic uptake and denitrification declines as concentration increases, reducing the proportion of in-stream nitrate that is removed from transport. Our data suggest that the total uptake of nitrate is related to ecosystem photosynthesis and that denitrification is related to ecosystem respiration. In addition, we use a stream network model to demonstrate that excess nitrate in streams elicits a disproportionate increase in the fraction of nitrate that is exported to receiving waters and reduces the relative role of small versus large streams as nitrate sinks.     

气候变化对森林的影响与多尺度适应性管理研究进展

森林作为陆地生态系统的主体和全球气候系统的重要组成部分,对调节全球碳平衡和减缓气候变化具有不可替代的作用。目前的研究表明,气候变化已经对全球各类森林产生了不同程度的影响,而且全球气候变暖的加剧将对森林产生毁灭性的影响。森林管理是一项缓解气候变化影响的关键因子,为应对全球气候变化,森林经营管理必须做出相应的调整以适应和减轻气候变化的消极影响。本文系统总结了全球气候变化对森林及树木分布、生理生态和物候、森林生产力、碳循环、生物多样性、森林水文、森林灾害等产生的现实和潜在的影响,并针对气候变化下的可能影响,从基因、物种、森林生态系统、流域和生物圈多个尺度阐述了适应性管理的对策,以提高各生命系统适应气候变化的能力,实现森林的可持续经营和生物圈的可持续发展。     

中国温带疏林的地理分布、生态地位及成因

 中国分布的疏林类型众多,除了在热带分布的疏林(或稀树干草原)外,还有温带阔叶疏林和温带山地针叶疏林两种生态系统,具体包括榆树(Ulmus pumila)疏林、天山云杉(Picea schrekiana)疏林、侧柏(Platycladus orientalis)疏林、杜松(Juniperus rigida)疏林、樟子松(Pinus sylvestnis var. mongolica)疏林、西藏落叶松(Larix tibetica)疏林、亚东冷杉(Abies densa)疏林、巨柏(Cupressus gigantea)疏林、大果圆柏(Sabina tibetica)疏林、滇藏方枝柏(Sabina wallichiana)疏林、方枝柏(Sabina saltuaria)疏林、大果红杉(Larix potaninii var. macrocarpa)疏林、西藏柏木(Cupressus torulosa)疏林、密枝圆柏(Sabina convallium)疏林、长叶松(Pinus roxburghii)疏林、云南松(Pinus yunnanensis)疏林、川西云杉(Picea likiangensis var. balfouriana)疏林、黄榆(Ulmus macrocarpa)疏林、臭椿(Ailanthus altissima)疏林等生态系统类型,疏林生态系统(或疏林植被)应该是介于森林和草原(或灌丛)之间的一种过渡的植被类型,是一种地带性植被类型.疏林的分布是系列生态因子综合作用的结果,但其决定因子是水分.在中国大陆,沿纬度梯度从低到高的地带性植被应为雨林、季雨林、常绿阔叶林、落叶阔叶林、疏林、灌丛或草原,从东到西沿经度梯度依次为(阔叶和针叶)森林、(阔叶和针叶)疏林、草原、荒漠.在高原地区,沿海拔梯度的分布从低到高主要是森林、疏林、灌丛、草原或草甸.与森林、灌丛和草原相比,疏林的分布面积相对较小.中国疏林的分布区域大体位于农牧交错带地区,即从森林到草原过渡的地区.对疏林成因的理解,有利于区域生态恢复措施的选择.     

寒温带4种森林类型土壤团聚体有机碳氮特征

[目的]大兴安岭是我国唯一的寒温带地区,森林资源丰富,但大兴安岭地区土层较薄,且存在永冻层,对于该地区土壤结构、养分循环存在巨大影响.探讨该地区土壤团聚体的结构组成和有机碳、氮的含量与分布规律,了解不同粒径团聚体对土壤有机碳、氮的固存与保护作用,为深入研究我国寒温带地区土壤结构与碳氮循环提供依据.[方法]在黑龙江大兴安...     

Endangered plants persist under phosphorus limitation

Nitrogen enrichment is widely thought to be responsible for the loss of plant species from temperate terrestrial ecosystems. This view is based on field surveys and controlled experiments showing that species richness correlates negatively with high productivity and nitrogen enrichment. However, as the type of nutrient limitation has never been examined on a large geographical scale the causality of these relationships is uncertain. We investigated species richness in herbaceous terrestrial ecosystems, sampled along a transect through temperate Eurasia that represented a gradient of declining levels of atmospheric nitrogen deposition--from approximately 50 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) in western Europe to natural background values of less than 5 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) in Siberia. Here we show that many more endangered plant species persist under phosphorus-limited than under nitrogen-limited conditions, and we conclude that enhanced phosphorus is more likely to be the cause of species loss than nitrogen enrichment. Our results highlight the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms of phosphorus enrichment, and for a stronger focus on conservation management to reduce phosphorus availability.     

Biodiversity improves water quality through niche partitioning

Excessive nutrient loading of water bodies is a leading cause of water pollution worldwide, and controlling nutrient levels in watersheds is a primary objective of most environmental policy. Over the past two decades, much research has shown that ecosystems with more species are more efficient at removing nutrients from soil and water than are ecosystems with fewer species. This has led some to suggest that conservation of biodiversity might be a useful tool for managing nutrient uptake and storage, but this suggestion has been controversial, in part because the specific biological mechanisms by which species diversity influences nutrient uptake have not been identified. Here I use a model system of stream biofilms to show that niche partitioning among species of algae can increase the uptake and storage of nitrate, a nutrient pollutant of global concern. I manipulated the number of species of algae growing in the biofilms of 150 stream mesocosms that had been set up to mimic the variety of flow habitats and disturbance regimes that are typical of natural streams. Nitrogen uptake rates, as measured by using (15)N-labelled nitrate, increased linearly with species richness and were driven by niche differences among species. As different forms of algae came to dominate each unique habitat in a stream, the more diverse communities achieved a higher biomass and greater (15)N uptake. When these niche opportunities were experimentally removed by making all of the habitats in a stream uniform, diversity did not influence nitrogen uptake, and biofilms collapsed to a single dominant species. These results provide direct evidence that communities with more species take greater advantage of the niche opportunities in an environment, and this allows diverse systems to capture a greater proportion of biologically available resources such as nitrogen. One implication is that biodiversity may help to buffer natural ecosystems against the ecological impacts of nutrient pollution.     

Winter forest soil respiration controlled by climate and microbial community composition

Most terrestrial carbon sequestration at mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere occurs in seasonal, montane forest ecosystems. Winter respiratory carbon dioxide losses from these ecosystems are high, and over half of the carbon assimilated by photosynthesis in the summer can be lost the following winter. The amount of winter carbon dioxide loss is potentially susceptible to changes in the depth of the snowpack; a shallower snowpack has less insulation potential, causing colder soil temperatures and potentially lower soil respiration rates. Recent climate analyses have shown widespread declines in the winter snowpack of mountain ecosystems in the western USA and Europe that are coupled to positive temperature anomalies. Here we study the effect of changes in snow cover on soil carbon cycling within the context of natural climate variation. We use a six-year record of net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange in a subalpine forest to show that years with a reduced winter snowpack are accompanied by significantly lower rates of soil respiration. Furthermore, we show that the cause of the high sensitivity of soil respiration rate to changes in snow depth is a unique soil microbial community that exhibits exponential growth and high rates of substrate utilization at the cold temperatures that exist beneath the snow. Our observations suggest that a warmer climate may change soil carbon sequestration rates in forest ecosystems owing to changes in the depth of the insulating snow cover.     

The human footprint in the carbon cycle of temperate and boreal forests

Temperate and boreal forests in the Northern Hemisphere cover an area of about 2 x 10(7) square kilometres and act as a substantial carbon sink (0.6-0.7 petagrams of carbon per year). Although forest expansion following agricultural abandonment is certainly responsible for an important fraction of this carbon sink activity, the additional effects on the carbon balance of established forests of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing temperatures, changes in management practices and nitrogen deposition are difficult to disentangle, despite an extensive network of measurement stations. The relevance of this measurement effort has also been questioned, because spot measurements fail to take into account the role of disturbances, either natural (fire, pests, windstorms) or anthropogenic (forest harvesting). Here we show that the temporal dynamics following stand-replacing disturbances do indeed account for a very large fraction of the overall variability in forest carbon sequestration. After the confounding effects of disturbance have been factored out, however, forest net carbon sequestration is found to be overwhelmingly driven by nitrogen deposition, largely the result of anthropogenic activities. The effect is always positive over the range of nitrogen deposition covered by currently available data sets, casting doubts on the risk of widespread ecosystem nitrogen saturation under natural conditions. The results demonstrate that mankind is ultimately controlling the carbon balance of temperate and boreal forests, either directly (through forest management) or indirectly (through nitrogen deposition).     

大气氮沉降对森林土壤微生物影响的研究进展

大气氮沉降是影响森林生态系统的新生态因子之一,过量氮沉降将改变参与森林生态系统物质转化和养分循环的土壤微生物.作者综述了国内外模拟氮沉降对森林土壤微生物生物量、群落结构和多样性、微生物活性和酶活性、底物利用能力以及功能基因的影响研究现状.结果表明：(1)整体来看,氮沉降对森林土壤微生物生物量产生负面影响的报道较多;(2)氮沉降改变了森林土壤微生物群落的构成和丰富性;(3)氮沉降短期内促进森林土壤呼吸速率,长期氮输入会抑制土壤呼吸速率;(4)氮沉降改变了参与凋落物分解相关土壤酶的活性;(5)氮沉降降低了土壤微生物代谢复杂有机质的代谢能力;(6)氮沉降增加和降低了某些微生物功能基因的丰度.此外,作者还探讨了氮沉降对森林土壤微生物研究存在的问题和未来研究的重点.     

外来入侵物种造成的间接经济损失估算模型

外来入侵物种已对我国生态系统功能造成严重破坏.由于没有市场交易和市场价格,采用机会成本、影子价格或影子工程费用估算外来入侵物种对生态系统服务功能造成的经济损失.在分析森林、农田、草原、湿地、草坪等生态系统服务功能价值评估的基础上,根据外来入侵物种对各类生态系统服务功能造成的损害程度,分别建立了外来入侵物种对森林、农田、草原、湿地、草坪等生态系统的间接经济损失评估模型;并在参数估计的基础上,计算了2000年外来入侵物种造成的间接经济损失.     

A unifying framework for dinitrogen fixation in the terrestrial biosphere

Dinitrogen (N(2)) fixation is widely recognized as an important process in controlling ecosystem responses to global environmental change, both today and in the past; however, significant discrepancies exist between theory and observations of patterns of N(2) fixation across major sectors of the land biosphere. A question remains as to why symbiotic N(2)-fixing plants are more abundant in vast areas of the tropics than in many of the mature forests that seem to be nitrogen-limited in the temperate and boreal zones. Here we present a unifying framework for terrestrial N(2) fixation that can explain the geographic occurrence of N(2) fixers across diverse biomes and at the global scale. By examining trade-offs inherent in plant carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus capture, we find a clear advantage to symbiotic N(2) fixers in phosphorus-limited tropical savannas and lowland tropical forests. The ability of N(2) fixers to invest nitrogen into phosphorus acquisition seems vital to sustained N(2) fixation in phosphorus-limited tropical ecosystems. In contrast, modern-day temperatures seem to constrain N(2) fixation rates and N(2)-fixing species from mature forests in the high latitudes. We propose that an analysis that couples biogeochemical cycling and biophysical mechanisms is sufficient to explain the principal geographical patterns of symbiotic N(2) fixation on land, thus providing a basis for predicting the response of nutrient-limited ecosystems to climate change and increasing atmospheric CO(2).     

Nitrogen cycle: what governs nitrogen loss from forest soils?

Nitrogen is lost as dissolved organic compounds in stream waters from unpolluted South American forests, but it is lost mainly as inorganic nitrate in streams flowing from North American forests that suffer nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere. From this it has been inferred that the standard thinking about how nature deals with nitrogen in soils and waters needs to be re-evaluated and that the conventional wisdom of how nitrogen is absorbed and released by plants must be wrong. We disagree, however, on the grounds that there are other, more likely interpretations of the new results.     

“碳中和”背景下碳输入方式对森林土壤活性氮库及氮循环的影响

森林生态系统具有碳源和碳汇双重功能,调控森林中碳输入方式对于实现我国“碳中和”目标具有重要意义。作为森林土壤有机碳(SOC)的主要来源,不同碳(C)输入方式(如地上凋落物、地下植物根系等)对森林生态系统土壤氮(N)循环的影响一直是相关学者的研究重点。笔者综述了目前国内外不同C输入方式对土壤活性N库、土壤N矿化、硝化过程及氧化亚氮(N₂O)排放的影响研究现状,分析了森林土壤活性N库及N转化过程对不同C输入变化的响应,发现:① 地上C排除可以降低土壤有效态氮(主要包括$NH_{4}^{+}$-N和$NO_{3}^{-}$-N)的含量,但地下C排除却增加了土壤$NH_{4}^{+}$-N含量。C输入方式的改变对土壤微生物生物量氮(MBN)含量影响具有不确定性,这可能与生态系统类型、树种组成、时间尺度等因素相关。此外,地下C排除对土壤可溶性氮(DON)含量的影响较地上C排除的大,地下根系可能是影响土壤DON含量的主要贡献者。② 地上C输入对土壤N矿化及硝化速率的影响在短期内较大,而长期影响较小。其主要是通过间接改变土壤微生物活性从而影响了土壤N矿化及硝化过程,地下C排除增加了土壤N矿化速率,且随着时间尺度的增加表现更加明显。③ 地上C输入通过改变硝化和反硝化微生物的可利用C源而间接影响了N₂O的排放,且受到树种影响显著,而地下C输入对N₂O的影响因根系质量等的差异而发生改变。综上可知,森林土壤活性N库及N循环过程对不同C输入具有不同的响应机制,且受生态系统类型、物种、时间等因素影响较大。目前关于两种乃至多物种不同C的输入对森林土壤N影响的研究较少,且定性研究较为普遍;对优化森林生态系统地上地下C输入动态模型和精准预算不足,尚未建立完整的碳减排生态补偿机制。今后的研究亟须定量了解不同森林生态系统不同的C输入及其两者或者多物种之间的交互影响对土壤N的影响机制,且需更多地考虑在时间尺度上的长期变化过程;需要提升核算与预测森林地上地下碳中和能力,加快森林碳中和技术研发,为提前实现“碳中和”战略目标提供科技支撑。     

乔木林丧失的时空变化及驱动力分析

【目的】乔木林是森林生态系统的主体,对调节气候、保持水土等生态功能起着决定性作用。本研究的主要目的是了解乔木林丧失时空变化趋势,并探索乔木林丧失驱动因子。【方法】以我国30省市自治区为研究对象,基于Sen+Mann-Kendall显著性检验法和标准差椭圆法(SDE),从时间和空间两个维度分析2005—2018年乔木林丧失的动态变化;借助探索性回归分析法筛选乔木林(树高>5 m)丧失的主要驱动因子,在此基础上,利用地理加权回归(GWR)模型探讨乔木林丧失驱动因子作用的时空分异格局。【结果】①2005—2018年全国乔木林丧失面积呈现上升趋势,丧失量年均增加412.451 km²;②2005—2018年乔木林丧失重心迁移路径不规则变化且丧失严重区域向南部集聚;③乔木林丧失率与人均GDP主要呈负相关关系;与城镇居民人均可支配收入正相关区域明显扩大但影响降低;与城镇化率主要表现为正相关关系且影响程度有所下降;与道路密度则主要表现为负相关关系,其对乔木林丧失的负面影响并不明显。【结论】在我国森林资源整体持续向好的背景下,乔木林的丧失存在明显的区域差异特征,东北林区及三北防护林工程实施区域的乔木丧失量较小并呈现显著减弱趋势,而东南林区,如湖南、江西、广东、广西等省区的乔木林丧失量较大且仍然呈现较显著增加的趋势。     

Extended leaf phenology and the autumn niche in deciduous forest invasions

The phenology of growth in temperate deciduous forests, including the timing of leaf emergence and senescence, has strong control over ecosystem properties such as productivity and nutrient cycling, and has an important role in the carbon economy of understory plants. Extended leaf phenology, whereby understory species assimilate carbon in early spring before canopy closure or in late autumn after canopy fall, has been identified as a key feature of many forest species invasions, but it remains unclear whether there are systematic differences in the growth phenology of native and invasive forest species or whether invaders are more responsive to warming trends that have lengthened the duration of spring or autumn growth. Here, in a 3-year monitoring study of 43 native and 30 non-native shrub and liana species common to deciduous forests in the eastern United States, I show that extended autumn leaf phenology is a common attribute of eastern US forest invasions, where non-native species are extending the autumn growing season by an average of 4?weeks compared with natives. In contrast, there was no consistent evidence that non-natives as a group show earlier spring growth phenology, and non-natives were not better able to track interannual variation in spring temperatures. Seasonal leaf production and photosynthetic data suggest that most non-native species capture a significant proportion of their annual carbon assimilate after canopy leaf fall, a behaviour that was virtually absent in natives and consistent across five phylogenetic groups. Pronounced differences in how native and non-native understory species use pre- and post-canopy environments suggest eastern US invaders are driving a seasonal redistribution of forest productivity that may rival climate change in its impact on forest processes.