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Title: Phosphorus rather than nitrogen enhances CO2 emissions in tropical forest soils: Evidence from a laboratory incubation study

Journal Article · · European Journal of Soil Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12885 · OSTI ID:1560501

Ecosystem functional responses such as soil CO2 emissions are constrained by microclimate, available carbon (C) substrates and their effects upon microbial activity. In tropical forests, phosphorus (P) is often considered as a limiting factor for plant growth, but it is still not clear whether P constrains microbial CO2 emissions from soils. In this study, we incubated seven tropical forest soils from Brazil and Puerto Rico with different nutrient addition treatments (no addition - Control, C, nitrogen (N) or P addition only; and combined C, N, and P addition (CNP)). Cumulative soil CO2 emissions were fit with a Gompertz model to estimate potential maximum cumulative soil CO2 emission (Cm) and the rate of change of soil C decomposition (k). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was conducted to quantify microbial biomass as bacteria and fungi. Results showed that P addition alone or in combination with C and N enhanced Cm, whereas N addition usually reduced Cm, and neither N nor P affected microbial biomass. Additions of CNP enhanced k, increased microbial abundances and altered fungal to bacterial ratios towards higher fungal abundance. Additions of CNP, however, tended to reduce Cm for most soils when compared to C additions alone, suggesting that microbial growth associated with nutrient additions may have occurred at the expense of C decomposition. Altogether, this study demonstrates that soil CO2 emission is more limited by P than N in tropical forest soils and those effects were stronger in soils low in P.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1560501
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1581042
Journal Information:
European Journal of Soil Science, Journal Name: European Journal of Soil Science Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 70; ISSN 1351-0754
Publisher:
Wiley - British Society of Soil ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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