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  • Publication
    Effect of soil microorganisms and labile C availability on soil respiration in response to litter inputs in forest ecosystems: A meta‐analysis
    Litter inputs can influence soil respiration directly through labile C availability and, indirectly, through the activity of soil microorganisms and modifications in soil microclimate; however, their relative contributions and the magnitude of any effect remain poorly understood. We synthesized 66 recently published papers on forest ecosystems using a meta‐analysis approach to investigate the effect of litter inputs on soil respiration and the underlying mechanisms involved. Our results showed that litter inputs had a strong positive impact on soil respiration, labile C availability, and the abundance of soil microorganisms, with less of an impact related to soil moisture and temperature. Overall, soil respiration was increased by 36% and 55%, respectively, in response to natural and doubled litter inputs. The increase in soil respiration induced by litter inputs showed a tendency for coniferous forests (50.7%)> broad‐leaved forests (41.3%)> mixed forests (31.9%). This stimulation effect also depended on stand age with 30‐ to 100‐year‐old forests (53.3%) and ≥100‐year‐old forests (50.2%) both 1.5 times larger than ≤30‐year‐old forests (34.5%). Soil microbial biomass carbon and soil dissolved organic carbon increased by 21.0%‐33.6% and 60.3%‐87.7%, respectively, in response to natural and doubled litter inputs, while soil respiration increased linearly with corresponding increases in soil microbial biomass carbon and soil dissolved organic carbon. Natural and doubled litter inputs increased the total phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) content by 6.6% and 19.7%, respectively, but decreased the fungal/bacterial PLFA ratio by 26.9% and 18.7%, respectively. Soil respiration also increased linearly with increases in total PLFA and decreased linearly with decreases in the fungal/bacterial PLFA ratio. The contribution of litter inputs to an increase in soil respiration showed a trend of total PLFA > fungal/bacterial PLFA ratio > soil dissolved organic carbon > soil microbial biomass carbon. Therefore, in addition to forest type and stand age, labile C availability and soil microorganisms are also important factors that influence soil respiration in response to litter inputs, with soil microorganisms being more important than labile C availability.
    Scopus© Citations 41  114
  • Publication
    The Impact of Modifications in Forest Litter Inputs on Soil N2O Fluxes: A Meta-Analysis
    Although litter can regulate the global climate by influencing soil N2O fluxes, there is no consensus on the major drivers or their relative importance and how these impact at the global scale. In this paper, we conducted a meta-analysis of 21 global studies to quantify the impact of litter removal and litter doubling on soil N2O fluxes from forests. Overall, our results showed that litter removal significantly reduced soil N2O fluxes (−19.0%), while a doubling of the amount of litter significantly increased soil N2O fluxes (30.3%), based on the results of a small number of studies. Litter removal decreased the N2O fluxes from tropical forest and temperate forest. The warmer the climate, the greater the soil acidity, and the larger the soil C:N ratio, the greater the impact on N2O emissions, which was particularly evident in tropical forest ecosystems. The decreases in soil N2O fluxes associated with litter removal were greater in acid soils (pH < 6.5) or soils with a C:N > 15. Litter removal decreased soil N2O fluxes from coniferous forests (−21.8%) and broad-leaved forests (−17.2%) but had no significant effect in mixed forests. Soil N2O fluxes were significantly reduced in experiments where the duration of litter removal was <1 year. These results showed that modifications in ecosystem N2O fluxes due to changes in the ground litter vary with forest type and need to be considered when evaluating current and future greenhouse gas budgets.
    Scopus© Citations 1  22