Abstract
Aims
Soil fauna play a key role in the litter decomposition process in two ways; directly via fragmentation and consumption of the litter, and indirectly through changes in soil structure and the activity of microorganisms. The study aimed at better understanding how soil fauna affects the release of nutrients from litter.
Methods
We conducted a litter decomposition experiment using litterbags of three mesh sizes (0.01 mm, 1 mm, and 4 mm), and chemical treatments (no naphthalene; naphthalene application) to assess soil fauna effect on nutrient release in a poplar plantation in eastern China over a two-year period from Jan 2019 to Dec 2020.
Results
We found that the contribution of soil fauna to the mass loss of poplar leaf litter was 29% over the two-year period, and the contribution was more pronounced within the first four months. Soil macrofauna and meso-/micro- fauna contributed similarly to leaf litter mass loss, while microbial decomposition contributed the most to the decomposition process. The presence of soil fauna significantly promoted the degradation of cellulose and lignin, and accelerated the release of nitrogen at later stages of decomposition. A structural equation model revealed that higher soil fauna abundance not only promoted the litter decay rate directly, but also indirectly through modifying nitrogen and lignin contents.
Conclusions
Our results highlight the importance of soil fauna on cellulose and lignin degradation, and the importance of including this when simulating decomposition models for obtaining a better mechanistic understanding of forest litter decomposition.
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Data availability
The datasets analysed in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No.2021YFD22004), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31700555, 32071594 and 32101339), Fujian Youth Natural Science Foundation (No.2020J05245), Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (KYCX18_0992). Xuan Xu acknowledges the China Scholarship Council for support in the form of a Visiting Scholar Program grant (202008320475) for a one-year study in Tropical Ecology and Entomology Lab, Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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X.X., W.W., and H.R. designed the study. X.X., P.C., and Y.W. carried out the field work and laboratory work. X.X. analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. E.S., X.Z., W.W., and H.R. contributed to the review and editing of the manuscript, data analysis, and language editing. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Xu, X., Slade, E.M., Cao, P. et al. Effects of soil fauna on leaf litter decomposition and nutrient release during a two-year field experiment in a poplar plantation. Plant Soil (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06300-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06300-3