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At least 1,549 records · Page 86
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Differences in soil organic matter between EcM- and AM-dominated forests depend on tree and fungal identity

As global change shifts the species composition of forests, we need to understand which species characteristics affect soil organic matter (SOM) cycling to predict future soil carbon (C) storage. Recently, whether a tree species forms a symbiosis with arbuscular (AM) versus ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungi has been suggested as a strong predictor of soil C storage, but there is wide variability within EcM systems. In this study, we investigated how mycorrhizal associations and the species composition of canopy trees and mycorrhizal fungi related to the proportion of soil C and nitrogen (N) in mineral associations and soil C:N across four sites representing distinct climates and tree communities in the eastern US broadleaf forest biome. In two of our sites, we found the expected relationship of declining mineral-associated C and N and increasing soil C:N ratios as the basal area of EcM-associating trees increased. However, across all sites these soil properties strongly correlated with canopy tree and fungal species composition. Sites where the expected pattern with EcM basal area was observed were (1) dominated by trees with lower quality litter in the Pinaceae and Fagaceae families and (2) dominated by EcM fungi with medium-distance exploration type hyphae, melanized tissues, and the potential to produce peroxidases. Here, this observational study demonstrates that differences in SOM between AM and EcM systems are dependent on the taxa of trees and EcM fungi involved. Important information is lost when the rich mycorrhizal symbiosis is reduced to two categories.

mineral-associated organic matter↗
DOE OSTI2018

Predicting photovoltaic soiling losses using environmental parameters: An update

This study presents an investigation on the correlations between soiling losses and environmental parameters at 41 locations in the United States, with the aim of analyzing the possibility of predicting soiling losses at a site even when soiling data are not available. The results of this work, which considers the largest pool of soiling data points systematically investigated so far, confirm that a single-variable regression based on particulate matter concentration returns the best correlations with soiling, with adjusted coefficients of determination up to 70%, corresponding to RMSE as low as 0.9%. Among the various particulate matter datasets investigated, a gridded Environment Protection Agency dataset is for the first time found to return correlations similar to those obtained by interpolating particulate matter monitoring station data. We discuss in detail the different interpolation techniques used to process the particulate matter concentrations because they can greatly impact the correlations. Specifically, the correlation coefficients between soiling and particulate matter range between 70% and less than 20%, depending on the interpolation methods and monitoring distance. Spatial interpolation methods based on inverse distance weighting are found to return better correlations than a nearest neighbor or a simple average approach, especially when large distances are considered. Similarly, the effects of different rain thresholds used to calculate the length of the dry periods are examined. An enhanced two-variable regression is found to achieve higher-quality correlations, with adjusted R2 of 90% (RMSE = 0.55%), also suggesting that high and low soiling locations might be differentiated depending on fixed particulate matter or rainfall thresholds.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Soil solid phases effects on the proteomic analysis of Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34

Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 is a completely sequenced soil-borne beta-proteobacterium with known genome and proteome. Comparative 2-D electrophoresis and protein mass spectrometry were used to compare the proteome of C. metallidurans CH34 from liquid culture and after incubation for 1, 3, and 12 days in microcosms containing quartz sand, kaolinite, montmorillonite, or an artificial soil. Results showed that proteome from liquid culture was similar to CH34 proteins extracted from sand and kaolinite, whereas the proteins extracted from artificial soil differed significantly and no proteins were detected from C. metallidurans CH34 incubated in the montmorillonite microcosms. Protein recovery decreased on prolonging incubation time in all microcosms. Mass spectrometry identification showed that the trend of lower recovery upon incubation time was independent on the putative function of protein. These results suggest that the soil solid phase influences the protein recovery and soil proteomic analysis and that distinction between protein recovery and protein expression in soil will be a challenging for soil proteomic researchers.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Radiocarbon-Based Partitioning of Soil Respiration in an Old-Growth Coniferous Forest

Temperate forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle, and are thought to currently be a sink for atmospheric CO 2 . However, we lack understanding of the drivers of forest carbon accumulation and loss, hampering our ability to predict carbon cycle responses to global change. In this study, we used CO 2 flux and radiocarbon ( 14 C) measurements to investigate the role of seasonal drivers on soil respiration. Radiocarbon measurements of CO 2 evolved during incubation of fine roots and root-free soils at the beginning and end of the growing season (April and August) showed that these two soil respiration sources (fine roots vis-à-vis soils) have different mean residence times that stayed constant between seasons. Radiocarbon measurements show that root respiration was made up of carbon fixed 3–5 years prior to sampling, and that heterotrophic respiration was made up of carbon fixed 7–10 years prior. The difference in radiocarbon signature between the two sources allowed us to partition autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration sources for soil respiration measurements in the field. We observed a small but significant increase in Δ 14 C of soil respiration between April and August, suggesting an increase in heterotrophic respiration sources over the growing season. Using a two end-member mixing model, we estimate that 55 ± 22% of soil respiration originated from autotrophic (root) sources in April, but their contribution dropped to 38 ± 21% in August. Overall, these findings suggest that the contribution of root respiration increases at a time of high productivity and/or as a result of relatively low microbial respiration in the early spring in this old-growth coniferous forest.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Are oxygen limitations under recognized regulators of organic carbon turnover in upland soils?

Understanding the processes controlling organic matter (OM) stocks in upland soils, and the ability to management them, is crucial for maintaining soil fertility and carbon (C) storage as well as projecting change with time. OM inputs are balanced by the mineralization (oxidation) rate, with the difference determining whether the system is aggrading, degrading or at equilibrium with reference to its C storage. In upland soils, it is well recognized that the rate and extent of OM mineralization is affected by climatic factors (particularly temperature and rainfall) in combination with OM chemistry, mineral–organic associations, and physical protection. Here we examine evidence for the existence of persistent anaerobic microsites in upland soils and their effect on microbially mediated OM mineralization rates. Further, we corroborate long-standing assumptions that residence times of OM tend to be greater in soil domains with limited oxygen supply (aggregates or peds). Moreover, the particularly long residence times of reduced organic compounds (e.g., aliphatics) are consistent with thermodynamic constraints on their oxidation under anaerobic conditions. Incorporating (i) pore length and connectivity governing oxygen diffusion rates (and thus oxygen supply) with (ii) ‘hot spots’ of microbial OM decomposition (and thus oxygen consumption), and (iii) kinetic and thermodynamic constraints on OM metabolism under anaerobic conditions will thus improve conceptual and numerical models of C cycling in upland soils. We conclude that constraints on microbial metabolism induced by oxygen limitations act as a largely unrecognized and greatly underestimated control on overall rates of C oxidation in upland soils.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of experimental and seasonal drying on soil microbial biomass and nutrient cycling in four lowland tropical forests

Changes in precipitation represent a major effect of climate change on tropical forests, which contain some of the earth’s largest terrestrial carbon (C) stocks. Such changes are expected to influence microbes, nutrients, and the fate of C in tropical forest soils. To explore this, we assessed soil microbial biomass, potential extracellular enzyme activities, and nutrient availability in a partial throughfall exclusion experiment in four seasonal lowland tropical humid forests in Panama with wide variation in precipitation and soil fertility. We hypothesized that throughfall exclusion would reduce microbial biomass and activity and accentuate dry season soil nutrient accumulation, with larger effects in wetter, less droughtresistant forests. We observed a baseline seasonal pattern of decreased microbial biomass and increased extractable dissolved organic C (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), nitrate (NO 3 – ), and resinextractable phosphorus (P) in the dry season, with the strongest patterns for nitrogen (N). However, potential enzyme activities showed no consistent seasonality. In line with seasonal drying, throughfall exclusion decreased soil microbial biomass in the wet season and increased TDN and NO 3 – , especially in the dry season. In contrast to seasonal drying, throughfall exclusion decreased DOC and did not affect resinextractable P, but slightly decreased potential phosphatase activities. Potential enzyme activities varied among sites and sampling times, but did not explain much variation in microbial biomass or substrate availability. We conclude that reduced rainfall in tropical forests might accentuate some dry season patterns, like reductions in microbial biomass and accumulation of extractable nutrients. However, our data also suggest new patterns, like reduced inputs of DOC to soils with drying, which could have cascading effects on soil ecological function and C storage.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Litter removal impacts on soil biodiversity and eucalypt plantation development in the seasonal tropics

The little layer of tree plantations provides primary nutrients for uptake, buffers changes in soil moisture, and provides habitat and substrate to soil epigeic fauna. However, this layer in eucalypt plantations is often removed to reduce fuel load during the fire season in the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado). Therefore, it is necessary to quantify the effects of changes in litter dynamics on the function of these plantations, on key nutrient cycling processes and on epigeic fauna diversity and abundance. In two adjacent stands (one juvenile and one mature), the consequences of two years of litter removal were quantified as monthly litterfall, leaf and fine wood litter decomposition, epigeic fauna abundance and diversity, soil biogeochemical variables, and tree diameter and basal area increments. Monthly litterfall rates in juvenile and mature stands did not change with litter removal over the study period. Annual litterfall ranged from 4.1 to 4.9 Mg ha -1 a -1 in litter removal plots and from 3.9 to 4.8 Mg ha -1 a -1 in control plots. Fine wood litter decomposition was slower in litter removal plots compared to controls, while leaf decomposition rates were similar in both. Two years of litter removal in the juvenile stand did not affect topsoil biogeochemical parameters but decreased available phosphorus at 20–40 cm depth relative to controls. In the mature stand, total cation exchange capacity (0–20 cm) was higher in controls (6.4 cmol c dm -3 ) relative to litter removal plots (6.3 cmol c dm -3 ), while soil moisture (0–40 cm depth) was lower in litter removal (25.45 m 3 m -3 ) compared to control plots (26 m 3 m -3 ) in the dry season. A non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination revealed an increased homogeneity in epigeic fauna where litter was removed. Litterfall, decomposition, diameter increment, four soil physical parameters and fourteen chemical parameters at 0–20 and 20–40 cm depth explained the differences in soil epigeic fauna composition between litter removal and control plots. Diameter increment decreased with litter removal only in the juvenile stand, which had reached its growth peak. The results indicate that removing excess litter to decrease fuel volume can alter soil biodiversity and edaphic conditions that negatively affect nutrient cycling and tree growth.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Functional activity and functional gene diversity of a Cu-contaminated soil remediated by aided phytostabilization using compost, dolomitic limestone and a mixed tree stand

Trace elements (TEs) availability, biochemical activity and functional gene diversity was studied in a Cu-contaminated soil, revegetated for six years with a mixed stand of willow, black poplar, and false indigo-bush, and amended or not with compost plus dolomitic limestone (OMDL). The OMDL amendment significantly reduced Cu and As availability and soil toxicity, and increased the biochemical activity and microbial functional diversity assessed with the GEOCHIP technique, as compared to the unamended soil (Unt). The OMDL soil showed significantly higher abundance of 25 functional genes involved in decomposition organic compounds, and 11, 3 and 11 functional genes involved in the N, P and S biogeochemical cycles. Functional gene abundance was positively correlated with nutrient contents but negatively correlated with Cu availability and soil toxicity. The abundance of microbial functional genes encoding for resistance to various TEs also increased, possibly due to the microbial proliferation and lower Cu exposure in the presence of high total soil Cu concentration. Genes encoding for antibiotic resistance due to the co-occurrence of TEs and antibiotic resistant genes on genetic mobile elements. Finally, overall, phytomanagement confirmed its potential to restore the biological fertility and diversity of a severely Cu-contaminated soil, but the increase of TEs and antibiotic resistant gene abundances deserve attention in future studies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optimization of the number and locations of the calibration stations needed to monitor soil moisture using distributed temperature sensing systems: A proof-of-concept study

The single-probe heat-pulse (SPHP) technique combined with the Fiber-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) technology can offer novel high-resolution measurements of soil moisture (θ) over spatial scales ranging from several centimeters to several kilometers. However, the key limitation of this method is in obtaining the calibration relationship between θ and soil thermal conductivity (λ) across a specific field. In a previous study, a new methodology using a Gaussian processes model was presented to account for the spatial variability in the λ-θ relationship. The model aggregated θ measurements from soil moisture sensors scattered over the SPHP transect with the corresponding DTS λ measurements at their locations. In this study, a novel methodology is tested to optimize the number and locations of soil moisture sensors required to account for the spatial variability of the λ - θ relationship to achieve higher accuracy from the SPHP technique. The proposed methodology utilizes hierarchical clustering to analyze the information contained in the spatial structure of the SPHP measurements as the soil dries from a nearly-saturated condition. The proposed methodology was tested using data from a field in Oklahoma. Monte-Carlo simulation was performed to validate the performance of the proposed methodology. The predictions obtained from the proposed methodology resulted in θ measurements accuracy comparable to those obtained from the 10% best Monte-Carlo iterations of randomly assigned soil moisture locations. Further, this study demonstrates that the proposed methodology is more efficient than the traditional practice of randomly spreading calibration soil moisture sensors along the SPHP transect.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Impacts of photovoltaic solar energy on soil carbon: A global systematic review and framework

Globally, solar energy is anticipated to be the primary source of electricity as early as 2050, and the greatest additions in capacity are currently in the form of large, ground-mounted photovoltaic solar energy facilities (GPVs). Growing interest lies in understanding and anticipating opportunities to increase soil carbon sequestration across the footprint and perimeter of both conventional and multi-use GPVs (e.g., ecovoltaics, agrivoltaics, and rangevolatics), especially as operators increasingly deputize as land managers. To date, studies on the relationship between soils and PV solar energy are limited to unique, localized sites. This study employed a systematic review to (i) identify a global corpus of 18 studies on interactions between GPVs and soils, (ii) collect and characterize 113 soil and soil-related experimental variables interacting with GPVs from this corpus, and (iii) synthesize trends among these experimental variables. Next, this study combined data from the systematic review with an iterative, knowledge co-production approach to produce a conceptual model for the study of soil and GPV interactions that applies to multiple installation types, scales, and contexts where GPVs are deployed, and identified research opportunities, threats, and priorities. This study's baseline understanding, conceptual model, and co-produced knowledge confer unique insight into the feasibility of combining soil carbon sequestration with the climate change mitigation potential of PV solar energy.

agrivoltaics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Long-term dynamics of soil, tree stem and ecosystem methane fluxes in a riparian forest

The carbon (C) budgets of riparian forests are sensitive to climatic variability. Therefore, riparian forests are hot spots of C cycling in landscapes. Only a limited number of studies on continuous measurements of methane (CH 4 ) fluxes from riparian forests is available. Here, in this work, we report continuous high-frequency soil and ecosystem (eddy-covariance; EC) measurements of CH 4 fluxes with a quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer for a 2.5-year period and measurements of CH 4 fluxes from tree stems using manual chambers for a 1.5 year period from a temperate riparian Alnus incana forest. The results demonstrate that the riparian forest is a minor net annual sink of CH 4 consuming 0.24 kg CH 4 -C ha –1 y –1 . Soil water content is the most important determinant of soil, stem, and EC fluxes, followed by soil temperature. There were significant differences in CH 4 fluxes between the wet and dry periods. During the wet period, 83% of CH 4 was emitted from the tree stems while the ecosystem-level emission was equal to the sum of soil and stem emissions. During the dry period, CH 4 was substantially consumed in the soil whereas stem emissions were very low. A significant difference between the EC fluxes and the sum of soil and stem fluxes during the dry period is most likely caused by emission from the canopy whereas at the ecosystem level the forest was a clear CH 4 sink. Our results together with past measurements of CH 4 fluxes in other riparian forests suggest that temperate riparian forests can be long-term CH 4 sinks.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Resolving dynamic mineral-organic interactions in the rhizosphere by combining in-situ microsensors with plant-soil reactive transport modeling

Associations between minerals and organic matter represent one of the most important carbon storage mechanisms in soils. Plant roots are major sources of soil carbon, and resolving the dynamics and dominance of microbial consumption versus mineral sorption of root-derived carbon is critical to understanding soil carbon storage. Here we integrate in-situ rhizosphere microsensor and plant physiological measurements with a 3-D plant-soil reactive transport model to explore the fate of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the rhizosphere, particularly its microbial consumption and interaction with Fe oxide minerals. Over several days, a microdialysis probe sampling pore water at the root-soil interface of growing Vicia faba roots in live soil, revealed clear diel patterns of DOC concentration. Daytime DOC spikes coincided with peaks in leaf-level photosynthesis rates and were accompanied by declining redox potential and dissolved oxygen as well as increasing pH in the rhizosphere. Incorporating microsensor data into our modeling framework showed that the measured rapid loss of DOC after each mid-day spike could not be explained by consumption via aerobic respiration, nor via anaerobic respiration dominated by Fe oxide reduction. Rather, in the model, a large fraction of rhizosphere DOC was rapidly immobilized each day by adsorption to Fe oxides. Further, modeled microbial Fe reduction (fueled by DOC) did not mobilize significant organic carbon from Fe oxides during the day. Instead, the model predicted equilibrium desorption of organic carbon from Fe oxides at night. This new mechanistic modeling framework, which couples aboveground plant physiological measurements with non-destructive high-resolution monitoring of rhizosphere processes, has great potential for exploring the dynamics and balance of the various microbial reactions and mineral interactions controlling carbon transformations and storage in soils.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Modeling Transient Soil Moisture Limitations on Microbial Carbon Respiration

Soil microorganisms are known to survive periods of aridity and to recover rapidly after wetting events, with the ability to transition between a dormant state in dry conditions and an active state in wet conditions. While this dynamic behavior has been previously incorporated into soil carbon respiration modeling frameworks, a direct comparison between this active-dormant transition mechanism and a more simplified first-order model has yet to be made. Here, we demonstrate the necessary extent of model complexity needed to reproduce transient carbon respiration rates obtained from a set of soil incubation experiments implemented over a range of soil depths and time intervals. Two approaches are tested, one uses simplified first-order kinetics, whereas the other employs a transition between active and dormant biomass. The performance of each model is evaluated using an Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) based on the accuracy with which they reproduce an experimental dataset consisting of two sets of time series soil incubations collected across a range of time and depth resolutions. Based on the AIC evaluation and model-data comparison, we conclude that a dormancy-enabled model featuring two distinct microbial strategists performs best for the majority of the soil profile (above 108 cm) for both high and low depth resolution and sampling frequency, despite the added parameters required. In contrast, the first-order model achieves better AIC scores when simulating our deepest soils (112–165 cm), where moisture fluctuations are expected to be less prevalent. These findings guide how and where we choose to apply more cost intensive models.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Harnessing the Power of Machine Learning and Omics to Identify Environmental Regulation on Microbial Functional Composition for Soil C, N, and P Cycling

Microbial enzyme-mediated soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition regulates many key ecosystem functions, such as elemental cycling, soil carbon sequestration, and soil fertility. However, representing microbial processes in Earth system models (ESMs) remains challenging due to a limited understanding of the spatial patterns of diverse microbial functions responsible for soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling as well as the underlying mechanisms regulating their relative abundances across various environments. We collected published metagenomics data across the continental US (CONUS) to identify hundreds of microbial genes involved in soil C, N, and P cycling and grouped them into eight enzyme functional classes (EFCs). Each EFC represented a group of gene-encoded potential enzymes that decompose similar soil compounds. By integrating the abundances of omics-informed EFCs with the corresponding environmental information, we trained a machine learning (ML) model to identify key edaphic, climate, and vegetation factors regulating the abundances of each EFC. Quantitative analysis of effects of these factors revealed that the spatial distribution of eight EFCs for soil C, N, and P cycling across CONUS reflected potential resource optimization strategies of microbial communities under nutrient limitation, preferential organic-mineral associations, and climatological stresses. This insight, together with the interpreted ML tool and the CONUS-level benchmark for EFCs abundances, paves the way for parameterizing environmental-regulated microbial functional dynamics in biogeochemical models.

machine learning↗
DOE OSTI2019

Plant roots stimulate the decomposition of complex, but not simple, soil carbon

Roots release carbon into soil and can alleviate energy limitation of microbial organic matter decomposition. We know little about the effects of roots on microbial decomposition of different organic matter substrates, despite the importance for soil carbon stocks and turnover. Through implementing root-microbe interactions, the Carbon, Organisms, Rhizosphere, and Protection in the Soil Environment (CORPSE) model was previously shown to represent dynamics of total soil carbon in temperate forest field experiments. However, the model permits alternative hypotheses concerning microbial-substrate affinity. We investigated how root inputs affect decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) with variable decomposability. We simulated SOC stocks in CORPSE and compared microbial degradation of two substrates types with varying root-microbe interactions under two alternative hypotheses that varied in microbial-substrate affinity. We compared our modeled hypotheses to a forest field experiment where we quantified decomposition of isotopically-labeled starch and leaf tissues in soils with manipulated root access to microbes. Here, we tested the hypothesis that decomposition of leaves would be more sensitive to root inputs than decomposition of starch, corresponding to the alternative model hypothesis. In the field study, leaf decomposition increased with root density while starch decomposition was unchanged by root density. Microbial biomass and enzyme activity consistently increased with root inputs in CORPSE and the field study. Our field experiment supported the CORPSE simulations with high microbial-substrate affinity. Roots stimulated microbial growth and enzyme production, which increased degradation of more complex substrates such as leaf tissues. Substrates that were easily decomposed, such as starch, may already be degrading at a maximum rate in the absence of rhizosphere influence because their decomposition rate was unchanged by root inputs. We found that the degree to which roots stimulate microbial decomposition depends on the substrate being decomposed, and that root-microbe interactions influenced SOC stocks in both our model and field experiment. Environmental changes that alter root-microbe interactions could, therefore, alter soil C stocks and biogeochemical cycling, and models of these interactions should incorporate differential influence of rhizosphere inputs on different substrates.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Watershed-scale liming reveals the short- and long- term effects of pH on the forest soil microbiome and carbon cycling

Soil microbial community composition routinely correlates with pH, reflecting both direct pH effects on microbial physiology and long-term biogeochemical feedbacks. For this work, we used two watershed-scale liming experiments to identify short- (2 years) and long-term (25 years) changes in the structure and function of bacterial and fungal communities in organic horizons (O e and O a ) of acid forest soils. Liming increased soil pH, extractable calcium, and soil carbon stocks, reduced biomass-specific respiration, and caused major changes in the soil microbiome in the short and long term. More taxa responded to liming in the short term (70%) than in the long term (30%), with most showing consistent directional responses at both sites. The ratio of change in relative abundance between limed and reference sites was twofold higher at the long than the short-term site, indicating that the effects of liming grew over time. Liming impacts were most pronounced in fungi, as steep declines of dominant ectomycorrhizal fungi ( Cenococcum and Russula ) occurred at both sites. Liming favoured neutrophilic bacteria over acidophilic populations according to estimated environmental pH optima. Collectively, these results demonstrate that a liming-induced change of one pH unit has an immediate and persistent effect on the structure and function of microbial communities in acid forest soils. The corresponding suppression of respiration indicates that anthropogenic alterations of soil pH, as driven by acid deposition or liming, can affect forest floor C stocks due to pH-driven shifts in community structure.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Disentangling the long-term effects of disturbance on soil biogeochemistry in a wet tropical forest ecosystem

Climate change is increasing the intensity of severe tropical storms and cyclones (also referred to as hurricanes or typhoons), with major implications for tropical forest structure and function. These changes in disturbance regime are likely to play an important role in regulating ecosystem carbon (C) and nutrient dynamics in tropical and subtropical forests. Canopy opening and debris deposition resulting from severe storms have complex and interacting effects on ecosystem biogeochemistry. Disentangling these complex effects will be critical to better understand the long-term implications of climate change on ecosystem C and nutrient dynamics. In this paper, we used a well-replicated, long-term (10 years) canopy and debris manipulation experiment in a wet tropical forest to determine the separate and combined effects of canopy opening and debris deposition on soil C and nutrients throughout the soil profile (1 m). Debris deposition alone resulted in higher soil C and N concentrations, both at the surface (0–10 cm) and at depth (50–80 cm). Concentrations of NaOH-organic P also increased significantly in the debris deposition only treatment (20–90 cm depth), as did NaOH-total P (20–50 cm depth). Canopy opening, both with and without debris deposition, significantly increased NaOH-inorganic P concentrations from 70 to 90 cm depth. Soil iron concentrations were a strong predictor of both C and P patterns throughout the soil profile. Our results demonstrate that both surface- and subsoils have the potential to significantly increase C and nutrient storage a decade after the sudden deposition of disturbance-related organic debris. Our results also show that these effects may be partially offset by rapid decomposition and decreases in litterfall associated with canopy opening. Finally, the significant effects of debris deposition on soil C and nutrient concentrations at depth (>50 cm), suggest that deep soils are more dynamic than previously believed, and can serve as sinks of C and nutrients derived from disturbance-induced pulses of organic matter inputs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of experimental nitrogen deposition on soil organic carbon storage in Southern California drylands

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is enriching soils with N across biomes. Soil N enrichment can increase plant productivity and affect microbial activity, thereby increasing soil organic carbon (SOC), but such responses vary across biomes. Drylands cover ~45% of Earth's land area and store ~33% of global SOC contained in the top 1 m of soil. Nitrogen fertilization could, therefore, disproportionately impact carbon (C) cycling, yet whether dryland SOC storage increases with N remains unclear. To understand how N enrichment may change SOC storage, we separated SOC into plant–derived, particulate organic C (POC), and largely microbially derived, mineral–associated organic C (MAOC) at four N deposition experimental sites in Southern California. Theory suggests that N enrichment increases the efficiency by which microbes build MAOC (C stabilization efficiency) if soil pH stays constant. But if soils acidify, a common response to N enrichment, then microbial biomass and enzymatic organic matter decay may decrease, increasing POC but not MAOC. We found that N enrichment had no effect on C fractions except for a decrease in MAOC at one site. Specifically, despite reported increases in plant biomass in three sites and decreases in microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activities in two sites that acidified, POC did not increase. Furthermore, microbial C use and stabilization efficiency increased in a non–acidified site, but without increasing MAOC. Instead, MAOC decreased by 16% at one of the sites that acidified, likely because it lost 47% of the exchangeable calcium (Ca) relative to controls. Indeed, MAOC was strongly and positively affected by Ca, which directly and, through its positive effect on microbial biomass, explained 58% of variation in MAOC. Finally, long–term effects of N fertilization on dryland SOC storage appear abiotic in nature, such that drylands where Ca–stabilization of SOC is prevalent and soils acidify, are most at risk for significant C loss.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗