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Forests
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Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in the Forest Ecosystems
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Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in the Forest Ecosystems

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2024) | Viewed by 5373

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shengqiang Wang

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Guest Editor
College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: soil microbial diversity; soil nutrient cycling; soil aggregate turnover
Prof. Dr. Yili Guo

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Guest Editor
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Plant Conservation and Restoration Ecology in Karst Terrain, Guangxi Institute of Botany, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guilin 541006, China
Interests: biodiversity; ecosystem structure and function; restoration ecology
Dr. Qiqian Wu

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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou 311300, China
Interests: global change ecology; soil C and N cycling; forest ecology
Dr. Pujia Yu

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Guest Editor
School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Interests: soil carbon stability; soil quality; fragile ecosystem; land use change; climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As the main component of terrestrial ecosystems, forest plays an important ecological service function. Forest soil stores a large amount of organic carbon, and the effective use of its carbon sink capacity is conducive to the realization of carbon neutrality. At the same time, the nutrient cycle of forest soil is accompanied by the energy flow, which determines the health and development of forest ecosystems. Due to the complexity of subsurface processes and the limitation of field observation, the study of forest soil processes has long been a difficult as well as an advanced field in forest ecology. 

Therefore, this Special Issue aims to bring together important research on soil organic carbon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems, including (1) the mechanism of soil organic carbon and nutrient cycling influenced by plant traits and their diversity; (2) the interaction of soil organic carbon and nutrient cycling with root secretions, rhizosphere microorganisms, and litter quality; (3) and the response of soil organic carbon and nutrient cycling to anthropogenic or natural disturbances.

Dr. Shengqiang Wang
Prof. Dr. Yili Guo
Dr. Qiqian Wu
Dr. Pujia Yu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soil organic carbon
  • soil nutrients
  • soil stoichiometry
  • soil fertility
  • soil ecology

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 4511 KiB  
Article
Spatial Variability of Soil CO2 Emissions and Microbial Communities in a Mediterranean Holm Oak Forest
by Claudia Di Bene, Loredana Canfora, Melania Migliore, Rosa Francaviglia and Roberta Farina
Forests 2024, 15(11), 2018; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15112018 - 15 Nov 2024
Viewed by 348
Abstract
Forests play a key role in the global carbon (C) cycle through multiple interactions between above-ground and soil microbial communities. Deeper insights into the soil microbial composition and diversity at different spatial scales and soil depths are of paramount importance. We hypothesized that [...] Read more.
Forests play a key role in the global carbon (C) cycle through multiple interactions between above-ground and soil microbial communities. Deeper insights into the soil microbial composition and diversity at different spatial scales and soil depths are of paramount importance. We hypothesized that in a homogeneous above-ground tree cover, the heterogeneous distribution of soil microbial functional diversity and processes at the small scale is correlated with the soil’s chemical properties. From this perspective, in a typical Mediterranean holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) peri-urban forest, soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were measured with soil chambers in three different plots. In each plot, to test the linkage between above-ground and below-ground communities, soil was randomly sampled along six vertical transects (0–100 cm) to investigate soil physico-chemical parameters; microbial processes, measured using Barometric Process Separation (BaPS); and structural and functional diversity, assessed using T-RFLP and qPCR Real Time analyses. The results highlighted that the high spatial variability of CO2 emissions—confirmed by the BaPS analysis—was associated with the microbial communities’ abundance (dominated by bacteria) and structural diversity (decreasing with soil depth), measured by H′ index. Bacteria showed higher variability than fungi and archaea at all depths examined. Such an insight showed the clear ecological and environmental implications of soil in the overall sustainability of the peri-urban forest system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in the Forest Ecosystems)
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14 pages, 5375 KiB  
Article
Patterns and Driving Mechanisms of Soil Organic Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus, and Their Stoichiometry in Limestone Mines of Anhui Province, China
by Yiyi Long, Dandan Zhang, Hongmiao Wu, Jinsheng Li, Peifeng Xiong, Guohong Zhao, Hai Liu, Boren Wu and Zhen Zhang
Forests 2024, 15(11), 1969; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15111969 - 8 Nov 2024
Viewed by 424
Abstract
Active vegetation restoration plays an important role in the improvement in soil organic matter (SOM), including the carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) sequestration of degraded mining ecosystems. However, there is still a lack of understanding of the key drivers of SOM [...] Read more.
Active vegetation restoration plays an important role in the improvement in soil organic matter (SOM), including the carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) sequestration of degraded mining ecosystems. However, there is still a lack of understanding of the key drivers of SOM pool size and dynamics in active vegetation restoration. For this study, soil was collected from five different sites (Xiaoxian, Dingyuan, Chaohu, Tongling and Dongzhi), four habitats (platforms, slopes, steps and native areas) and two soil layers (0–20 cm and 20–40 cm) in limestone mines of Anhui province to quantify the spatial distribution of SOM contents and their stoichiometric characteristics and influential factors. It was found that the top soil in Chaohu had the highest significant C, N and P contents in the ranges of 14.95–17.97, 1.74–2.21 and 0.80–1.24 g/kg, respectively. Comparing the stoichiometric ratios of the different sites revealed significant differences in C:N and N:P ratios, but C:P ratios were relatively consistent. In particular, the C:N and C:P ratios in deep soil were higher than those in top soil, whereas the N:P ratio in deep soil was lower than that in top soil, suggesting that soil N is a major limiting factor in the top soil. The SOM content did not differ significantly between the three reclaimed habitats, but was significantly higher than that in the native habitat, suggesting that mine restoration has significantly enhanced SOM accumulation. Further analysis showed that nutrient availability and enzyme activity are important factors affecting soil C, N and P content in top soil, while the relationship gradually weakens in deep soil. This was attributed to active anthropogenic management and conservation measures during the early stages of reclamation. This study shows that the ecological recovery of the mining area can be enhanced by implementing differentiated vegetation planting strategies and anthropogenic management on different habitats in the mining area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in the Forest Ecosystems)
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16 pages, 2248 KiB  
Article
Soil Quality Evaluation and Analysis of Driving Factors of Pinus tabuliformis in Loess Hilly Areas
by Junzhe Li, Fangfang Qiang, Ning Ai, Changhai Liu, Guangquan Liu, Menghuan Zou, Qianwen Ren and Minglu Liu
Forests 2024, 15(9), 1603; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15091603 - 11 Sep 2024
Viewed by 597
Abstract
The selection of suitable tree species and the reasonable allocation of planting areas are important measures for improving soil quality. To evaluate the soil quality (SQ) and its driving factors of Pinus tabuliformis forests in loess hilly areas where forestry ecological projects, such [...] Read more.
The selection of suitable tree species and the reasonable allocation of planting areas are important measures for improving soil quality. To evaluate the soil quality (SQ) and its driving factors of Pinus tabuliformis forests in loess hilly areas where forestry ecological projects, such as returning farmland to forest (grass), have been implemented, this study selected P. tabuliformis forests with different restoration years (1a, 6a, 11a, 18a, and 22a) in Wuqi County and used grassland before afforestation (PRG) and abandoned grassland (AG) with 22 years as controls. In this study, soil physicochemical indices, soil fauna indices, and herbaceous plant indices obtained via principal component analysis were used to establish a soil quality evaluation model via the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to comprehensively evaluate SQ. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to identify the key factors affecting the SQ of P. tabuliformis forests. The goal was to create a model that could effectively evaluate the SQ while considering all relevant factors. The findings of the study showed that: (1) by performing a principal component analysis on the 27 indicator factors, the first six principal components had eigenvalues > 1, and the cumulative contribution rate was 90.028%, effectively encompassing the information of the original variables. (2) The highest soil quality index (SQI) was 0.592 (p < 0.05) in the restored 6a P. tabuliformis forest, whereas the lowest SQI was 0.323 in the restored 1a P. tabuliformis forest. As the number of years of restoration increased, the SQ of the P. tabuliformis plantation forest progressively approached that of the long-term abandoned grassland, with only a 1.8% difference after 22 years of restoration. The SQI of the P. tabuliformis woodland in restored 6a was 83% higher than that of 1a, and following 6a of restoration, the SQI showed a decreasing trend with increasing restoration years. Nevertheless, the SQI increased by >52% compared with the early stage of restoration (1a) and by 31% compared with the grassland before afforestation (PRG). (3) SEM revealed that the SQ of P. tabuliformis forest land was mainly driven by soil physical and herbaceous plant indicators, and soil fauna indicators and restoration years had a negative effect on the evolution of SQ in P. tabuliformis forests. The driving factors of P. tabuliformis forests of different restoration years were different, and with the increase in restoration years, the effects of soil fauna and herbaceous plant indicators on the SQ of P. tabuliformis plantation forests showed an overall upward trend. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in the Forest Ecosystems)
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20 pages, 8578 KiB  
Article
Effect of Stand Age on Soil CO2 Emissions in Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur L.) Forests
by Velisav Karaklić, Miljan Samardžić, Saša Orlović, Martina Zorić, Lazar Kesić, Nikola Perendija and Zoran Galić
Forests 2024, 15(9), 1574; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15091574 - 7 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1037
Abstract
The emission of CO2 from soil represents one of the most significant fluxes between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. It is crucial to investigate the impact of stand age on soil CO2 emissions in order to evaluate the possibility of carbon [...] Read more.
The emission of CO2 from soil represents one of the most significant fluxes between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. It is crucial to investigate the impact of stand age on soil CO2 emissions in order to evaluate the possibility of carbon sequestration through the establishment of new forests. In this study, soil CO2 emissions and microclimate variables (soil temperature and moisture) were investigated in the chronosequence of three differently aged stands (4-, 14-, and 70-year-old stands) in floodplain pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) forests in Serbia. This study highlights how the artificial regeneration of pedunculate oak forests (establishment of new stands) can affect CO2 emissions from soils. Seasonal fluctuations in soil CO2 emissions were observed in all of the monitored stands, along with variations in the influence of soil temperature and moisture. Multiple linear regression, incorporating soil temperature, soil moisture, and their interaction, offered the most comprehensive explanation for the variation observed in soil CO2 emissions. The seasons had statistically significant effects (p < 0.001) on CO2 emission from the soil in the examined stands during 2022. The youngest stand (4-year-old) had significantly higher soil CO2 emissions (p < 0.05) compared to the older stands over the entire study period (2021–2022). These results showed that the 70-year-old stand (natural high stand) had significantly lower soil CO2 emissions compared to the 4-year-old stand (artificially regenerated stand). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in the Forest Ecosystems)
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13 pages, 3285 KiB  
Article
Minor Effects of Canopy and Understory Nitrogen Addition on Soil Organic Carbon Turnover Time in Moso Bamboo Forests
by Changli Zeng, Shurui He, Boyin Long, Zhihang Zhou, Jie Hong, Huan Cao, Zhihan Yang and Xiaolu Tang
Forests 2024, 15(7), 1144; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15071144 - 1 Jul 2024
Viewed by 883
Abstract
Increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has greatly influenced soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. Currently, the response of SOC to atmospheric N deposition is generally detected through understory N addition, while canopy processes have been largely ignored. In the present study, canopy N addition [...] Read more.
Increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has greatly influenced soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. Currently, the response of SOC to atmospheric N deposition is generally detected through understory N addition, while canopy processes have been largely ignored. In the present study, canopy N addition (CN) and understory N addition (UN, 50 and 100 kg N ha−1 year−1) were performed in a Moso bamboo forest to compare whether CN and UN addition have consistent effects on SOC and SOC turnover times (τsoil: defined as the ratio of SOC stock and soil heterotrophic respiration) with a local NHx:NOy ratio of 2.08:1. The experimental results showed that after five years, the SOC content of canopy water addition without N addition (CN0) was 82.9 g C kg−1, while it was 79.3, 70.7, 79.5 and 74.5 g C kg−1 for CN50, CN100, UN50 and UN100, respectively, and no significant difference was found for the SOC content between CN and UN. Five-year N addition did not significantly change τsoil, which was 34.5 ± 7.4 (mean ± standard error) for CN0, and it was 24.9 ± 4.8, 22.4 ± 4.9, 30.5 ± 4.0 and 22.1 ± 6.5 years for CN0, CN50, CN100, UN50 and UN100, respectively. Partial least squares structural equation modeling explained 93% of the variance in τsoil, and the results showed that soil enzyme activity was the most important positive factor controlling τsoil. These findings contradicted the previous assumption that UN may overestimate the impacts of N deposition on SOC. Our findings were mainly related to the high N deposition background in the study area, the special forest type of Moso bamboo and the short duration of the experiment. Therefore, our study had significant implications for modeling SOC dynamics to N deposition for high N deposition areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in the Forest Ecosystems)
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18 pages, 3745 KiB  
Article
Eleven-Year Canopy Nitrogen Addition Enhances the Uptake of Phosphorus by Plants and Accelerates Its Depletion in Soil
by Xiaoli Gao, Yinmei Gao, Xiaowei Li, Chenlu Zhang, Quanxin Zeng, Xiaochun Yuan, Yuehmin Chen, Yuanchun Yu and Shenglei Fu
Forests 2024, 15(3), 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15030416 - 22 Feb 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1491
Abstract
Soil phosphorus (P) is a critical factor that limits plant productivity. Enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition has the potential to modify P transformation and availability, thereby potentially affecting the long-term productivity of forests. Here, we conducted an 11-year-long field experiment to simulate N deposition [...] Read more.
Soil phosphorus (P) is a critical factor that limits plant productivity. Enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition has the potential to modify P transformation and availability, thereby potentially affecting the long-term productivity of forests. Here, we conducted an 11-year-long field experiment to simulate N deposition by adding N to the forest canopy in a N-limited northern subtropical forest in central China and assessed the changes in soil organic P mineralization, P fractions, microbial biomass P content, phosphatase activity, and plant P content under N deposition. Our objective was to establish a theoretical framework for addressing the P supply and sustaining plant productivity in soils with low P availability, particularly in a changing global setting. The results demonstrated a substantial reduction in the levels of total, organic, and available P owing to the canopy addition of N. Furthermore, there was a marked decrease in the proportion of organic P in the total P pool. However, no substantial changes were observed in the soil inorganic P content or the proportion of inorganic P within the total P across different treatments. Canopy N addition significantly enhanced the microbial biomass P content, phosphatase activity, and organic P mineralization rate, suggesting that in soils with limited P availability, the primary source of P was derived from the mineralization of organic P. Canopy N addition substantially increased the P content in leaves and fine roots while concurrently causing a considerable decrease in the N:P ratio. This indicates that N deposition increases P demand in plants. Correlation analysis revealed a significant negative association among the total, organic, and available P levels in the soil and plant P concentrations (p < 0.05). This suggests that the primary cause of the reduced fractions of P was plant uptake following canopy N addition. Various studies have demonstrated that N deposition induces an augmented P demand in plants and expedites the utilization of available P. A substantial reduction in potentially accessible soil P caused by N deposition is likely to exacerbate regional P depletion, thereby exerting adverse impacts on forest ecosystem productivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in the Forest Ecosystems)
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