Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus net mineralization in organic horizons of temperate forests: stoichiometry and relations to organic matter quality

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The rates of mineralization processes influence C sequestration and soil fertility, but despite their importance for ecosystem functioning, C, N and P net mineralization rates are seldom investigated together. Hence, we studied the relationships between net mineralization rates and organic matter stoichiometry in an 8-week incubation experiment with Oi, Oe and Oa horizon material of six beech, one spruce and one pine site. We determined C, N and P net mineralization rates, organic C quality and C:N:P stoichiometry. Net N mineralization only occurred below molar organic matter C:N ratios of 40 (Oi) or 28 (Oa) and N:P ratios of 42 (Oi) or 60 (Oa), and increased with decreasing C:N and N:P ratios. Net P mineralization only occurred below C:P ratios of 1400 (Oi) and N:P ratios of 40 (Oi), and increased with decreasing C:P and N:P ratios. Net N and P mineralization were strongly positively correlated with each other (r = 0.64, p < 0.001), whereas correlations of both net N and net P mineralization with C mineralization were weak. The average C:N:P stoichiometry of net mineralization was 620:4:1 (beech, Oi), 15,350:5:1 (coniferous, Oi), 1520:8:1 (Oe) and 2160:36:1 (Oa). On average, ratios of C:N net mineralization were higher, and ratios of N:P net mineralization lower than organic matter C:N and N:P ratios. This difference contributed to the decrease of C:N ratios and increase of N:P ratios from the Oi to the Oa horizons. In conclusion, the study shows that C, N and P net mineralization rates were closely correlated with the organic matter stoichiometry and that these correlations were modified by the degree of decomposition of the organic matter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aerts R (1997) Climate, leaf litter chemistry and leaf litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems—a triangular relationship. Oikos 79:439–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albers D, Migge S, Schaefer M, Scheu S (2004) Decomposition of beech leaves (Fagus sylvatica) and spruce needles (Picea abies) in pure and mixed stands of beech and spruce. Soil Biol Biochem 36:155–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JPE, Domsch KH (1978) A physiological method for the quantitative measurement of microbial biomass in soils. Soil Biol Biochem 10:215–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bärlocher F, Graça MAS (2007) Total phenolics. In: Graça MAS, Bärlocher F, Gessner MO (eds) Methods to study litter decomposition: a practical guide. Springer, Berlin, pp 97–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg B, Ekbohm G (1991) Litter mass-loss rates and decomposition patterns in some needle and leaf litter types. Long-term decomposition in a Scots pine forest. VII. Can J Bot 69:1449–1456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg B, Matzner E (1997) Effect of N deposition on decomposition of plant litter and soil organic matter in forest systems. Environ Rev 5:1–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg B, McClaugherty C (2014) Plant Litter. Springer, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Berg B, Staaf H (1981) Leaching, accumulation and release of nitrogen in decomposing forest litter. Ecol Bull 33:163–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair JM (1988) Nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus dynamics in decomposing deciduous leaf litter in the southern Appalachians. Soil Biol Biochem 20:693–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosatta E, Staaf H (1982) The control of nitrogen turn-over in forest litter. Oikos 39:143–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradford MA, Berg B, Maynard DS et al (2016) Understanding the dominant controls on litter decomposition. J Ecol 104:229–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brandstätter C, Keiblinger K, Wanek W, Zechmeister-Boltenstern S (2013) A closeup study of early beech litter decomposition: potential drivers and microbial interactions on a changing substrate. Plant Soil 371:139–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrillo Y, Ball BA, Molina M (2016) Stoichiometric linkages between plant litter, trophic interactions and nitrogen mineralization across the litter-soil interface. Soil Biol Biochem 92:102–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheshire MV, Chapman SJ (1996) Influence of the N and P status of plant material and of added N and P on the mineralization of C from 14C-labelled ryegrass in soil. Biol Fertil Soils 21:166–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cleveland CC, Liptzin D (2007) C:N: P stoichiometry in soil: is there a “Redfield ratio” for the microbial biomass? Biogeochemistry 85:235–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortez J, Demard JM, Bottner P, Jocteur Monrozier L (1996) Decomposition of mediterranean leaf litters: a microcosm experiment investigating relationships between decomposition rates and litter quality. Soil Biol Biochem 28:443–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortina J, Romanyà J, Vallejo VR (1995) Nitrogen and phosphorus leaching from the forest floor of a mature Pinus radiata stand. Geoderma 66:321–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craine JM, Morrow C, Fierer N (2007) Microbial nitrogen limitation increases decomposition. Ecology 88:2105–2113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donald RG, Anderson DW, Stewart JWB (1993) Potential role of dissolved organic carbon in phosphorus transport in forested soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 57:1611–1618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmonds RL (1980) Litter decomposition and nutrient release in Douglas-fir, red alder, western hemlock, and Pacific silver fir ecosystems in western Washington. Can J For Res 10:327–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gödde M, David MB, Christ MJ et al (1996) Carbon mobilization from the forest floor under red spruce in the northeastern U.S.A. Soil Biol Biochem 28:1181–1189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosz JR, Likens GE, Bormann FH (1973) Nutrient release from decomposing leaf and branch litter in the Hubbard Brook Forest, New Hampshire. Ecol Monogr 43:173–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hättenschwiler S, Jørgensen HB (2010) Carbon quality rather than stoichiometry controls litter decomposition in a tropical rain forest. J Ecol 98:754–763

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heal OW, Anderson JM, Swift MJ (1997) Plant litter quality and decomposition: an historical overview. In: Cadisch G, Giller KE (eds) Driven by nature—plant litter quality and decomposition. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 3–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Heuck C, Weig A, Spohn M (2015) Soil microbial biomass C:N: P stoichiometry and microbial use of organic phosphorus. Soil Biol Biochem 85:119–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser C, Franklin O, Dieckmann U, Richter A (2014) Microbial community dynamics alleviate stoichiometric constraints during litter decay. Ecol Lett 17:680–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalbitz K, Schwesig D, Schmerwitz J et al (2003) Changes in properties of soil-derived dissolved organic matter induced by biodegradation. Soil Biol Biochem 35:1129–1142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kögel-Knabner I (1995) Composition of soil organic matter. In: Alef K, Nannipieri P (eds) Methods in applied soil microbiology and biochemistry. Academic Press, London, pp 66–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Koller M, Stahel WA (2011) Sharpening wald-type inference in robust regression for small samples. Comput Stat Data Anal 55:2504–2515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu D, Keiblinger KM, Leitner S et al (2016) Is there a convergence of deciduous leaf litter stoichiometry, biochemistry and microbial population during decay? Geoderma 272:93–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mafongoya PL, Barak P, Reed JD (2000) Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization of tree leaves and manure. Biol Fertil Soils 30:298–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzoni S, Jackson RB, Trofymow JA, Porporato A (2008) The global stoichiometry of litter nitrogen mineralization. Science 321:684–686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzoni S, Trofymow JA, Jackson RB, Porporato A (2010) Stoichiometric controls on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus dynamics in decomposing litter. Ecol Monogr 80:89–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marklein AR, Winbourne JB, Enders SK et al (2016) Mineralization ratios of nitrogen and phosphorus from decomposing litter in temperate versus tropical forests. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 25:335–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClaugherty C, Berg B (1987) Cellulose, lignin and nitrogen concentrations as rate regulating factors in late stages of forest litter decomposition. Pedobiologia (Jena) 30:101–112

    Google Scholar 

  • McGill WB, Cole C (1981) Comparative aspects of cycling of organic C, N, S and P through soil organic matter. Geoderma 26:267–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGroddy ME, Daufresne T, Hedin LO (2004) Scaling of C:N: P stoichiometry in forests worldwide: implications of terrestrial Redfield-type ratios. Ecology 85:2390–2401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKnight DM, Harnish R, Wershaw RL et al (1997) Chemical characteristics of particulate, colloidal, and dissolved organic material in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park. Biogeochemistry 36:99–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michel K, Matzner E (2002) Nitrogen content of forest floor Oa layers affects carbon pathways and nitrogen mineralization. Soil Biol Biochem 34:1807–1813

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore TR, Trofymow JA, Prescott CE et al (2011) Nature and nurture in the dynamics of C, N and P during litter decomposition in Canadian forests. Plant Soil 339:163–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moorhead DL, Sinsabaugh RL (2006) A theoretical model of litter decay and microbial interaction. Ecol Monogr 76:151–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mooshammer M, Wanek W, Schnecker J et al (2012) Stoichiometric controls of nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in decomposing beech leaf litter. Ecology 93:770–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mooshammer M, Wanek W, Zechmeister-Boltenstern S, Richter A (2014) Stoichiometric imbalances between terrestrial decomposer communities and their resources: mechanisms and implications of microbial adaptations to their resources. Front Microbiol 5:22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy J, Riley JP (1962) A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Anal Chim Acta 27:31–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohtonen R (1994) Accumulation of organic matter along a pollution gradient: application of Odum’s theory of ecosystem energetics. Microb Ecol 27:43–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parfitt RL, Ross DJ, Salt GJ (1998) Nitrogen and phosphorus mineralisation in Pinus radiata harvest residue samples from a coastal sand. N Z J For Sci 28:347–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Parton W, Silver WL, Burke IC et al (2007) Global-scale similarities in nitrogen release patterns during long-term decomposition. Science 315:361–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pohlert T (2014) The pairwise multiple comparison of mean ranks package (PMCMR). R package. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=PMCMR

  • R Core Team (2015) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Found. Stat. Comput, Vienna

  • Rousseeuw P, Croux C, Todorov V, Ruckstuhl A, Salibian-Barrera M, Verbeke T, Koller M, Maechler M (2015) robustbase: Basic Robust Statistics. R package version 0.92-5. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=robustbase

  • Russell JB, Cook GM (1995) Energetics of bacterial growth: balance of anabolic and catabolic reactions. Microbiol Rev 59:48–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Saggar S, Parfitt RL, Salt G, Skinner MF (1998) Carbon and phosphorus transformations during decomposition of pine forest floor with different phosphorus status. Biol Fertil Soils 27:197–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimel JP, Weintraub MN (2003) The implications of exoenzyme activity on microbial carbon and nitrogen limitation in soil: a theoretical model. Soil Biol Biochem 35:549–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott NA, Binkley D (1997) Foliage litter quality and annual net N mineralization—comparison across North American forest sites. Oecologia 111:151–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinsabaugh RL, Manzoni S, Moorhead DL, Richter A (2013) Carbon use efficiency of microbial communities: stoichiometry, methodology and modelling. Ecol Lett 16:930–939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spohn M (2015) Microbial respiration per unit microbial biomass depends on litter layer carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. Biogeosciences 12:817–823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spohn M (2016) Element cycling as driven by stoichiometric homeostasis of soil microorganisms. Basic Appl Ecol 17:471–478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spohn M, Chodak M (2015) Microbial respiration per unit biomass increases with carbon-to-nutrient ratios in forest soils. Soil Biol Biochem 81:128–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spohn M, Kuzyakov Y (2013) Phosphorus mineralization can be driven by microbial need for carbon. Soil Biol Biochem 61:69–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swift MJ, Heal OW, Anderson JM (1979) Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor BR, Parkinson D, Parsons WFJ (1989) Nitrogen and lignin content as predictors of litter decay rates: a microcosm test. Ecology 70:97–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tipping E, Somerville CJ, Luster J (2016) The C:N:P: S stoichiometry of soil organic matter. Biogeochemistry 130:117–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu X, Thornton PE, Post WM (2013) A global analysis of soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in terrestrial ecosystems. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 22:737–749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yohai VJ (1987) High breakdown-point and high efficiency robust estimates for regression. Ann Stat 15:642–656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zechmeister-Boltenstern S, Keiblinger KM, Mooshammer M et al (2015) The application of ecological stoichiometry to plant-microbial-soil organic matter transformations. Ecol Monogr 85:133–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeileis A (2004) Econometric computing with HC and HAC covariance matrix estimators. J Stat Softw 11:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang DQ, Hui DF, Luo YQ, Zhou GY (2008) Rates of litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: global patterns and controlling factors. J Plant Ecol 1:85–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zsolnay A, Baigar E, Jimenez M et al (1999) Differentiating with fluorescence spectroscopy the sources of dissolved organic matter in soils subjected to drying. Chemosphere 38:45–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Uwe Hell and Karin Söllner for their help with field sampling, sample preparation and laboratory work. We also thank the BayCEER Laboratory for Analytical Chemistry for their chemical analyses. This study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the project SP 1389/4-1 of the priority program “Ecosystem nutrition: Forest strategies for limited phosphorus resources” (SPP 1685).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Biogeochemistry, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University Bayreuth, Dr.-Hans-Frisch-Str. 1-3, 95448, Bayreuth, Germany

    Christine Heuck & Marie Spohn

Authors
  1. Christine Heuck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marie Spohn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marie Spohn.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Jack Brookshire.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 14 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Heuck, C., Spohn, M. Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus net mineralization in organic horizons of temperate forests: stoichiometry and relations to organic matter quality. Biogeochemistry 131, 229–242 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0276-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0276-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation