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Plant species diversity affects soilatmosphere fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide
- Source :
- Oecologia, Oecologia, Springer Verlag, 2016, pp.1-12. ⟨10.1007/s00442-016-3611-8⟩, Oecologia, Springer Verlag, 2016, 181 (3), pp.1-12. ⟨10.1007/s00442-016-3611-8⟩
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- HAL CCSD, 2016.
-
Abstract
- International audience; Plant diversity effects on ecosystem functioning can potentially interact with global climate by altering fluxes of the radiatively active trace gases nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). We studied the effects of grassland species richness (116) in combination with application of fertilizer (nitrogen:phosphorus:potassium = 100:43.6:83 kg ha-1 a-1) on N2O and CH4 fluxes in a long-term field experiment. Soil N2O emissions, measured over 2 years using static chambers, decreased with species richness unless fertilizer was added. N2O emissions increased with fertilization and the fraction of legumes in plant communities. Soil CH4 uptake, a process driven by methanotrophic bacteria, decreased with plant species numbers, irrespective of fertilization. Using structural equation models, we related trace gas fluxes to soil moisture, soil inorganic N concentrations, nitrifying and denitrifying enzyme activity, and the abundance of ammonia oxidizers, nitrite oxidizers, and denitrifiers (quantified by real-time PCR of gene fragments amplified from microbial DNA in soil). These analyses indicated that plant species richness increased soil moisture, which in turn increased N cycling-related activities. Enhanced N cycling increased N2O emission and soil CH4 uptake, with the latter possibly caused by removal of inhibitory ammonium by nitrification. The moisture-related indirect effects were surpassed by direct, moisture-independent effects opposite in direction. Microbial gene abundances responded positively to fertilizer but not to plant species richness. The response patterns we found were statistically robust and highlight the potential of plant biodiversity to interact with climatic change through mechanisms unrelated to carbon storage and associated carbon dioxide removal.
- Subjects :
- 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]
Nitrification and denitrification
Nitrous Oxide
Biology
engineering.material
01 natural sciences
Structural equation modeling
10127 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies
Denitrifying bacteria
Soil
Ecosystem
Jena experiment
Water content
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
2. Zero hunger
Atmosphere
Soil organic matter
Plant Sciences
Functional genes
Plant community
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
15. Life on land
Plants
1105 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Agronomy
13. Climate action
040103 agronomy & agriculture
engineering
570 Life sciences
biology
590 Animals (Zoology)
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Nitrification
Microbial activities
Species richness
Fertilizer
ecology
Hydrology/Water Resources
Methane
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00298549 and 14321939
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Oecologia, Oecologia, Springer Verlag, 2016, pp.1-12. ⟨10.1007/s00442-016-3611-8⟩, Oecologia, Springer Verlag, 2016, 181 (3), pp.1-12. ⟨10.1007/s00442-016-3611-8⟩
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....3a2c2e383e01bae4b00c3c8a91080d6e