Abstract
Nutrient availability greatly regulates soil microbial processes and functions in tropical forests. However, few studies have explored the impacts of nitrogen (N) addition (100 kg P ha−1 year−1), phosphorus (P) addition (100 kg N ha−1 year−1), and N × P interaction on soil microbial biomass and microbial community composition in tropical forests. We established a field nutrient manipulation experiment in a secondary tropical forest of South China. Soil physicochemical properties and microbial community composition were measured. Analysis of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) was used to determine soil microbial biomass and composition, and both were related to environmental factors by the redundancy analysis (RDA) and principal response curves (PRC). We demonstrated that N addition usually did not affect microbial biomass, which was increased by P addition over 3 years of fertilization. Nitrogen addition decreased soil bacterial biomass but did not affect soil fungal biomass after 3 years of fertilization. After P addition, soil fungal biomass increased faster than soil bacterial biomass, indicating a more sensitive response of soil fungi to P addition than bacteria. Phosphorus addition increased fungi/bacteria ratio (F/B) ratios after 3 years of fertilization. Both N and P additions had different effects on soil microbial community in this tropical forest and, thus, probably altered ecosystem functioning.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Artursson V, Finlay RD, Jansson JK (2006) Interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria and their potential for stimulating plant growth. Environ Microbiol 8:1–10
Balser TC (2001) The impact of long-term nitrogen addition on microbial community composition in three Hawaiian forest soils. Sci World J 1(Suppl 2):500–504
Bardgett RD, Hobbs PJ, Frostegard A (1996) Changes in soil fungal:bacterial biomass ratios following reductions in the intensity of management of an upland grassland. Biol Fertil Soils 22:261–264
Beauregard MS, Hamel C, Atul N, St-Arnaud M (2010) Long-term phosphorus fertilization impacts soil fungal and bacterial diversity but not AM fungal community in alfalfa. Microb Ecol 59:379–389
Bossio DA, Scow KM (1998) Impacts of carbon and flooding on soil microbial communities: phospholipid fatty acid profiles and substrate utilization patterns. Microb Ecol 35:265–278
Bünemann EK, Bossio DA, Smithson PC, Frossard E, Oberson A (2004) Microbial community composition and substrate use in a highly weathered soil as affected by crop rotation and P fertilization. Soil Biol Biochem 36:889–901
Chung HG, Zak DR, Reich PB, Ellsworth DS (2007) Plant species richness, elevated CO2, and atmospheric nitrogen deposition alter soil microbial community composition and function. Glob Chang Biol 13:980–989
Cleveland CC, Townsend AR, Schmidt SK (2002) Phosphorus limitation of microbial processes in moist tropical forests: evidence from short-term laboratory incubations and field studies. Ecosystems 5:0680–0691
Cleveland CC, Townsend AR, Taylor P, Alvarez‐Clare S, Bustamante M, Chuyong G, Dobrowski SZ, Grierson P, Harms KE, Houlton BZ (2011) Relationships among net primary productivity, nutrients and climate in tropical rain forest: a pan-tropical analysis. Ecol Lett 14:939–947
Cusack DF, Silver WL, Torn MS, Burton SD, Firestone MK (2011) Changes in microbial community characteristics and soil organic matter with nitrogen additions in two tropical forests. Ecology 92:621–632
DeForest JL, Zak DR, Pregitzer KS, Burton AJ (2004) Atmospheric nitrate deposition, microbial community composition, and enzyme activity in northern hardwood forests. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:132–138
Ding M, Yi W, Liao L, Martens R, Insam H (1992) Effect of afforestation on microbial biomass and activity in soils of tropical China. Soil Biol Biochem 24:865–872
Elser JJ, Bracken ME, Cleland EE, Gruner DS, Harpole WS, Hillebrand H, Ngai JT, Seabloom EW, Shurin JB, Smith JE (2007) Global analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Ecol Lett 10:1135–1142
Frey SD, Knorr M, Parrent JL, Simpson RT (2004) Chronic nitrogen enrichment affects the structure and function of the soil microbial community in temperate hardwood and pine forests. Forest Ecol Manag 196:159–171
Frostegård Å, Bååth E (1996) The use of phospholipid fatty acid analysis to estimate bacterial and fungal biomass in soil. Biol Fertil Soils 22:59–65
Frostegård Å, Bååth E, Tunlid A (1993) Shifts in the structure of soil microbial communities in limed forests as revealed by phospholipid fatty acid analysis. Soil Biol Biochem 25:723–730
Gallo M, Amonette R, Lauber C, Sinsabaugh RL, Zak DR (2004) Microbial community structure and oxidative enzyme activity in nitrogen-amended north temperate forest soils. Microb Ecol 48:218–229
Griffiths B, Spilles A, Bonkowski M (2012) C:N:P stoichiometry and nutrient limitation of the soil microbial biomass in a grazed grassland site under experimental P limitation or excess. Ecol Process 1:1–11
He J-Z, Zheng Y, Chen C-R, He Y-Q, Zhang L-M (2008) Microbial composition and diversity of an upland red soil under long-term fertilization treatments as revealed by culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. J Soil Sediment 8:349–358
Hietz P, Turner BL, Wanek W, Richter A, Nock CA, Wright SJ (2011) Long-term change in the nitrogen cycle of tropical forests. Science 334:664–666
Kennedy AC (1999) Bacterial diversity in agroecosystems. Agric Ecosyst Environ 74:65–76
LeBauer DS, Treseder KK (2008) Nitrogen limitation of net primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems is globally distributed. Ecology 89:371–379
Lepš J, Šmilauer P (2003) Multivariate analysis of ecological data using CANOCO. Cambridge University Press, New York
Liu G, Jiang N, Zhang L, Liu Z (1996) Soil physical and chemical analysis and description of soil profiles. China Standard Methods Press, Beijing, 24
Liu L, Gundersen P, Zhang T, Mo J (2012) Effects of phosphorus addition on soil microbial biomass and community composition in three forest types in tropical China. Soil Biol Biochem 44:31–38
Liu L, Zhang T, Gilliam FS, Gundersen P, Zhang W, Chen H, Mo J (2013) Interactive effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on soil microbial communities in a tropical forest. Plos ONE 8:e61188
Miller AJ, Schuur EAG, Chadwick OA (2001) Redox control of phosphorus pools in Hawaiian montane forest soils. Geoderma 102:219–237
Nilsson L, Bååth E, Falkengren-Grerup U, Wallander H (2007) Growth of ectomycorrhizal mycelia and composition of soil microbial communities in oak forest soils along a nitrogen deposition gradient. Oecologia 153:375–384
Ramirez KS, Lauber CL, Knight R, Bradford MA, Fierer N (2010) Consistent effects of nitrogen fertilization on soil bacterial communities in contrasting systems. Ecology 91:3463–3470
Ramirez KS, Craine JM, Fierer N (2012) Consistent effects of nitrogen amendments on soil microbial communities and processes across biomes. Glob Chang Biol 18:1918–1927
Ren H, Li Z, Shen W, Yu Z, Peng S, Liao C, Ding M, Wu J (2007) Changes in biodiversity and ecosystem function during the restoration of a tropical forest in south China. Sci China Ser C 50:277–284
Sayer EJ, Wright SJ, Tanner EVJ, Yavitt JB, Harms KE, Powers JS, Kaspari M, Garcia MN, Turner BL (2012) Variable responses of lowland tropical forest nutrient status to fertilization and litter manipulation. Ecosystems 15:387–400
Shi Y, Lalande R, Ziadi N, Sheng M, Hu Z (2012) An assessment of the soil microbial status after 17 years of tillage and mineral P fertilization management. Appl Soil Ecol 62:14–23
Shi YC, Lalande R, Hamel C, Ziadi N, Gagnon B, Hu ZY (2013) Seasonal variation of microbial biomass, activity, and community structure in soil under different tillage and phosphorus management practices. Biol Fertil Soils 49:803–818
Tan H, Barret M, Mooij MJ, Rice O, Morrissey JP, Dobson A, Griffiths B, O’Gara F (2013) Long-term phosphorus fertilisation increased the diversity of the total bacterial community and the phoD phosphorus mineraliser group in pasture soils. Biol Fertil Soils 49:661–672
Treseder KK (2008) Nitrogen additions and microbial biomass: a meta-analysis of ecosystem studies. Ecol Lett 11:1111–1120
Treseder KK, Allen MF (2002) Direct nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: a model and field test. New Phytol 155:507–515
Tunlid A, Hoitink HAJ, Low C, White DC (1989) Characterization of bacteria that suppress rhizoctonia damping-off in bark compost media by analysis of fatty-acid biomarkers. Appl Environ Microbiol 55:1368–1374
Vitousek PM (1984) Litterfall, nutrient cycling, and nutrient limitation in tropical forests. Ecology 65:285–298
Vitousek PM, Farrington H (1997) Nutrient limitation and soil development: experimental test of a biogeochemical theory. Biogeochemistry 37:63–75
Vitousek PM, Howarth RW (1991) Nitrogen limitation on land and in the sea: how can it occur? Biogeochemistry 13:87–115
Waldrop MP, Zak DR, Sinsabaugh RL (2004) Microbial community response to nitrogen deposition in northern forest ecosystems. Soil Biol Biochem 36:1443–1451
Walker T, Syers J (1976) The fate of phosphorus during pedogenesis. Geoderma 15:1–19
Wang QK, Wang SL, Liu Y (2008) Responses to N and P fertilization in a young Eucalyptus dunnii plantation: microbial properties, enzyme activities and dissolved organic matter. Appl Soil Ecol 40:484–490
Wang FM, Li J, Wang XL, Zhang W, Zou B, Neher DA, Li ZA (2014) Nitrogen and phosphorus addition impact soil N2O emission in a secondary tropical forest of South China. Sci Rep 4:5615
Wright SJ, Yavitt JB, Wurzburger N, Turner BL, Tanner EV, Sayer EJ, Santiago LS, Kaspari M, Hedin LO, Harms KE, Garcia MN, Corre MD (2011) Potassium, phosphorus, or nitrogen limit root allocation, tree growth, or litter production in a lowland tropical forest. Ecology 92:1616–1625
Yu Z, Pi Y (1985) The path and its effects to rehabilitating vegetation on the tropical littoral eroded land in Guangdong province. Trop Subtrop For Ecosyst Res 3:97–108
Zelles L (1999) Fatty acid patterns of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides in the characterisation of microbial communities in soil: a review. Biol Fertil Soils 29:111–129
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by Natural Science Foundation of China (31300419), NSFC-Guangdong Joint Project (U1131001), National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB403200), Innovation Foundation of Guangdong Forestry (2012KJCX013-02), and the “Strategic Priority Research Program” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA05070307).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, J., Li, Z., Wang, F. et al. Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus addition on soil microbial community in a secondary tropical forest of China. Biol Fertil Soils 51, 207–215 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-014-0964-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-014-0964-1