Interactive effects of understory removal and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtu013

J Plant Ecol ›› 2015, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (3): 284-290 .DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtu013

• Research Articles • Previous Articles Next Articles

Interactive effects of understory removal and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations

Songze Wan^1,2, Chenlu Zhang³, Yuanqi Chen^1,2, Jie Zhao⁴, Xiaolin Zhu^1,2, Jianping Wu⁵, Lixia Zhou¹, Yongbiao Lin¹, Zhanfeng Liu¹ and Shenglei Fu^1,*

¹ Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Xingke Road No. 723, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510650, China; ² Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuquan Road No.19, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, China; ³ Key laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, College of Life Science, Henan University, Minglun Street, Jinming Road, Kaifeng City, Henan 475004, China; ⁴ Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuandaer Road No.644, Furong District, Changsha 410125, China; ⁵ Institute of Ecology & Environmental Science, Nanchang Institute of Technology, Tianxiang Road NO.289, Gaoxin District, Nanchang 330099, China

Received:2014-02-25 Accepted:2014-07-18 Published:2015-05-20
Contact: Fu, Shenglei

Interactive effects of understory removal and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations

Abstract

Abstract: Aims It has been well recognized that understory vegetation plays an important role in driving forest ecosystem processes and functioning. In subtropical plantation forests, understory removal and fertilization have been widely applied; however, our understanding on how understory removal affects soil respiration and how the process is regulated by fertilization is limited. Here, we conducted an understory removal experiment combined with fertilization to evaluate the effects of the two forest management practices and their interactions on soil respiration in subtropical forest in southern China.
Methods The study was conducted in a split-plot design with fertilization as the whole-plot factor, understory removal as the subplot factor and block as the random factor in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations. In total, there were four treatments: control with unfertilized and intact understory (CK), understory removal but without fertilization (UR), with fertilization but without understory removal (FT) and with fertilization + understory removal (FT + UR). Eucalyptus above- and belowground biomass increment, fine root biomass, soil temperature, soil moisture and soil respiration were measured in the present study. Understory respiration (R U) was quantified in different ways: R u = R CK ? R UR or R u = R FT ? R (FT + UR); fertilization increased soil respiration (R FI) was also quantified in different ways: R FI = R FT ? R CK or R FI = R (FT + UR) ? R UR .
Important findings Over a 2-year experiment, our data indicate that understory removal significantly decreased soil respiration, while fertilization increased soil respiration. Understory removal decreased soil respiration by 28.8% under fertilization, but only 15.2% without fertilization. Fertilization significantly increased soil respiration by 23.6% with the presence of understory vegetation, and only increased by 3.7% when understory was removed, indicating that fertilization increased soil respiration mainly by increasing the contribution of the understory. Our study advances our understanding of the interactive effects of understory management and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical plantations.

Key words: understory removal, fertilization, interactive effects, soil respiration, subtropical plantation

摘要：
Aims It has been well recognized that understory vegetation plays an important role in driving forest ecosystem processes and functioning. In subtropical plantation forests, understory removal and fertilization have been widely applied; however, our understanding on how understory removal affects soil respiration and how the process is regulated by fertilization is limited. Here, we conducted an understory removal experiment combined with fertilization to evaluate the effects of the two forest management practices and their interactions on soil respiration in subtropical forest in southern China.
Methods The study was conducted in a split-plot design with fertilization as the whole-plot factor, understory removal as the subplot factor and block as the random factor in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations. In total, there were four treatments: control with unfertilized and intact understory (CK), understory removal but without fertilization (UR), with fertilization but without understory removal (FT) and with fertilization + understory removal (FT + UR). Eucalyptus above- and belowground biomass increment, fine root biomass, soil temperature, soil moisture and soil respiration were measured in the present study. Understory respiration (R U) was quantified in different ways: R u = R CK ? R UR or R u = R FT ? R (FT + UR); fertilization increased soil respiration (R FI) was also quantified in different ways: R FI = R FT ? R CK or R FI = R (FT + UR) ? R UR .
Important findings Over a 2-year experiment, our data indicate that understory removal significantly decreased soil respiration, while fertilization increased soil respiration. Understory removal decreased soil respiration by 28.8% under fertilization, but only 15.2% without fertilization. Fertilization significantly increased soil respiration by 23.6% with the presence of understory vegetation, and only increased by 3.7% when understory was removed, indicating that fertilization increased soil respiration mainly by increasing the contribution of the understory. Our study advances our understanding of the interactive effects of understory management and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical plantations.

Songze Wan, Chenlu Zhang, Yuanqi Chen, Jie Zhao, Xiaolin Zhu, Jianping Wu, Lixia Zhou, Yongbiao Lin, Zhanfeng Liu, Shenglei Fu. Interactive effects of understory removal and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations[J]. J Plant Ecol, 2015, 8(3): 284-290.

[1]	Han Chen, Hua He, Jinge Zhou, Xiaolin Huang, Yingwen Li, Yongxin Li, Yicheng Bai, Jingfan Zhang, Guoming Qin, Zhian Li, Hai Ren, Faming Wang. Nitrogen form governs nutrient retention and plant uptake in coral island soils: evidence from a ¹⁵N-tracing experiment [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(3): 1-.
[2]	Mingli Wei, Jingwei Guo, Runhao Liu, Juan Xuan, Zhenxing Zhou, Zhongling Yang, Anqun Chen, Yinzhan Liu. Growing and non-growing seasons warming interactively affect plant phenology in semi-arid steppe [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(1): 1-.
[3]	Chen Hu, Jinyu Gong, Zhiyuan Ma, Linxuan He, Jingpin Lei, Hongxia Cui. Nitrogen and biochar interactions promote the stabilization of the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(1): 1-0.
[4]	Siqi Wu, Yanyu Jiang, Ling Ai, Fuzhong Wu, Qiuxia Wu, Xinying Zhang, Jingjing Zhu, Xiangyin Ni. Declines in carbon and nitrogen release from decomposing litter under elevated CO₂ in terrestrial ecosystems [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2025, 18(1): 1-12.
[5]	Xiang Tao, Qiuju Xiao, Huanhuan Shao, Weiguo Tu, Ling Li, Yuanbin Zhang, Hao Jiang. Effects of thinning and ground cover plants on soil bacterial community composition and diversity in Picea asperata plantations within giant panda habitats [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2024, 17(6): 0-rtae069.
[6]	Lelong Yin, Xiaohong Liu, Xiaomin Zeng, Ziyi Wang, Guobao Xu, Liangju Zhao, Qiangqiang Lu, Lingnan Zhang, Xiaoyu Xing. Weakened relationship between tree growth and nitrogen availability due to global CO₂ increase and warming in the Taibai Mountain timberline, central China [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2024, 17(1): 1-.
[7]	Taiki Mori, Senhao Wang, Cong Wang, Ji Chen, Cheng Peng, Mianhai Zheng, Juan Huang, Faming Wang, Zhanfeng Liu, Jiangming Mo, Wei Zhang. Effects of long-term phosphorus addition on soil ratios of phosphomonoesterase to phosphodiesterase in three tropical forests [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2023, 16(3): 0-rtac091.
[8]	Rebekka Gerlach, Constanze Buhk, Jens Schirmel, Hermann F. Jungkunst. Exploration of the response of soil properties and plant species composition to centuries-old traditional meadow irrigation [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2023, 16(2): 0-.
[9]	Guodong Zhang, Guiyao Zhou, Xuhui Zhou, Lingyan Zhou, Junjiong Shao, Ruiqiang Liu, Jing Gao, Yanghui He, Zhenggang Du, Jianwei Tang and Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo. Effects of tree mycorrhizal type on soil respiration and carbon stock via fine root biomass and litter dynamic in tropical plantations [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2023, 16(1): 0-.
[10]	Huajie Diao, Xiaopeng Chen, Ge Wang, Qiushi Ning, Shuya Hu, Wei Sun, Kuanhu Dong and Changhui Wang. The response of soil respiration to different N compounds addition in a saline–alkaline grassland of northern China [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2022, 15(5): 897-910.
[11]	Lihua Zhang, Junfeng Wang, Ruifeng Zhao, Yafei Guo and Lianyi Hao. Aboveground net primary productivity and soil respiration display different responses to precipitation changes in desert grassland [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2022, 15(1): 57-70.
[12]	Zhaoxia Jiang, Hongfeng Bian, Li Xu, Mingxu Li and Nianpeng He. Effects of pulse precipitation on soil organic matter mineralization in forests: spatial variation and controlling factors [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2021, 14(5): 970-980.
[13]	Xian-Feng Jiang, Xing-Fu Zhu, Ling-Ling Chen, Qing-Jun Li. What ecological factors favor the shift from distyly to homostyly? A study from the perspective of reproductive assurance [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2018, 11(4): 645-655.
[14]	Quentin D. Read, Jeremiah A. Henning, Aimée T. Classen, Nathan J. Sanders. Aboveground resilience to species loss but belowground resistance to nitrogen addition in a montane plant community [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2018, 11(3): 351-363.
[15]	Lai Jiang, Suhui Ma, Zhang Zhou, Tianli Zheng, Xingxing Jiang, Qiong Cai, Peng Li, Jianxiao Zhu, Yide Li, Jingyun Fang. Soil respiration and its partitioning in different components in tropical primary and secondary mountain rain forests in Hainan Island, China [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2017, 10(5): 791-799.

Interactive effects of understory removal and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations

Interactive effects of understory removal and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations

HTML

PDF

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 15

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments