Divergent accumulation of soil amino sugars and lignin phenols during Castanopsis hystrix plantation restoration

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtaf123

J Plant Ecol ›› Advance articles DOI:10.1093/jpe/rtaf123

Divergent accumulation of soil amino sugars and lignin phenols during Castanopsis hystrix plantation restoration

Guopeng Wu^a,b,c,1, Xu Li^a,b,c,1, Wenjuan Huang^d, Shuyidan Zhou^a,b, Chushu Meng^a,b,c, Han Sheng^a,b, Xujun Liu^a,b, Zhiyang Lie^a,b, Juxiu Liu^a,b,*

^aNational Ecological Science Data Center Guangdong Branch, 723 Xingke Road, Guangzhou 510650, China
^bGuangdong Province Data Center of Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems Carbon Cycle, 723 Xingke Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510650, China
^cUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
^dDepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA

¹Joint first authors
^*Corresponding author: Juxiu Liu
Address: No.723, Xingke Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China
E–mail address: ljxiu@scbg.ac.cn

Online:2025-07-25 Published:2025-07-25
Supported by:
This study was jointly funded by the Science and Technology Program of Guangdong (Nos. 2024B1212080005 and 2024B1212070012), Guangdong Flagship Project of Basic and Applied Basic Research (2023B0303050001), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 32101342 and 42207158), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2021M703259, 2021M703260 and 2021M693220).

红锥人工林恢复过程中土壤氨基糖与木质素酚的差异化积累

Abstract

Abstract: As important components of soil organic carbon (SOC), soil amino sugars and lignin phenols serve as reliable biomarkers for microbial- and plant-derived C, and their relative contents provide critical insights into the SOC composition and stability. However, the dynamic changes of soil amino sugars and lignin phenols with restoration time in the widely planted subtropical Castanopsis hystrix plantations remain unclear, which limits the development of scientific management strategies. Here, we analyzed soil amino sugars, lignin phenols, and the related biotic and abiotic factors at two soil depths (0–10 cm and 20–30 cm) across various stand age of Castanopsis hystrix plantations in southern China. The results showed that the divergent accumulation of soil amino sugars and lignin phenols with stand age, in which the ratio of soil amino sugars to SOC exhibited a unimodal pattern with stand age in the topsoil (0–10 cm), while the ratio of soil lignin phenols to SOC decreased with stand age in both soil depths. Consequently, the ratio of soil amino sugars to lignin phenols increased with stand age, particularly in the subsoil (20–30 cm). Further analysis indicated that the divergent accumulation of soil amino sugars and lignin phenols with stand age was mainly related to changes in the litter biomass and quality, while the divergence with soil depth was primarily driven by microbial residue formation efficiency. These findings indicated the SOC composition shift from plant-derived C to microbial-derived C during plantation restoration, offering important implications for forest management practices and nature-based climate solutions.

Key words: Microbial-derived C, Plant-derived C, Restoration, Forest ecosystem, Forest soil

摘要：
土壤氨基糖和木质素酚作为土壤有机碳(SOC)的重要组成部分，分别是指示微生物源碳与植物源碳的可靠生物标志物，其相对含量为揭示SOC的组成特征与稳定性提供了重要依据。然而，在中国亚热带地区广泛栽培的红锥(Castanopsis hystrix)人工林中，土壤氨基糖与木质素酚在恢复过程中的动态变化并不清楚，这在一定程度上限制了科学化林业管理的推进。为此，本研究选取中国南方不同林龄的红锥人工林，分析了0–10 cm与20–30 cm两个土层中土壤氨基糖、木质素酚及其相关的生物和非生物因子。结果表明，随着林龄的增加，土壤氨基糖与木质素酚呈现出差异化的积累模式：在表层土(0–10 cm)中，氨基糖与SOC的比值呈现出单峰变化趋势，而木质素酚与SOC的比值则在两个土层中均随林龄逐渐下降。因此，氨基糖与木质素酚的比值总体随林龄增加而增加，且在底层土(20–30 cm)中的增幅更为显著。进一步分析表明，土壤氨基糖和木质素酚的差异性积累主要受到凋落物生物量与质量的影响，而不同土层间的差异性积累则主要受微生物残体形成效率的驱动。上述研究结果揭示了红锥人工林恢复过程中SOC组成由植物源碳向微生物源碳转变的过程，为森林可持续经营与基于自然的气候调控策略提供了科学依据与实践参考。

关键词: 微生物源碳, 植物源碳, 森林恢复, 森林生态系统, 森林土壤

Guopeng Wu, Xu Li, Wenjuan Huang, Shuyidan Zhou, Chushu Meng, Han Sheng, Xujun Liu, Zhiyang Lie, Juxiu Liu. Divergent accumulation of soil amino sugars and lignin phenols during Castanopsis hystrix plantation restoration[J]. J Plant Ecol, DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf123.

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