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Litter C transformations of invasive Spartina alterniflora affected by litter type and soil source

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Abstract

Litter types and soil properties can affect litter decomposition rate and litter carbon (C) transformation, consequently regulating soil C cycling. Yet, litter C transformations of leaves and roots of invasive plants are poorly understood, which limits our understanding of the role of plant residues in soil C sequestration during plant invasion. In a laboratory incubation experiment lasting for 153 days, we used two types of soil which were collected from invasive S. alterniflora and native Phragmites australis marshlands, and traced the transformation of 13C from leaf and root litter of invasive Spartina alterniflora into CO2, soil-dissolved organic C (DOC), microbial biomass C (MBC), and soil organic C (SOC). The leaf litter of S. alterniflora decomposed faster than root litter, resulting in higher soil respiration and higher transformation of litter-derived 13C into CO2, MBC, and DOC. Although the root litter of S. alterniflora decomposed slowly, SOC comprised up to 24% of litter-derived 13C. Furthermore, the litter C transformations of S. alterniflora showed a positive home-field advantage effect. Soil respiration, MBC, fractions of litter-derived 13C in Gram-negative bacteria, 13C recovered in CO2, DOC, and SOC were higher in the soil colonized by S. alterniflora than in the soil colonized by P. australis, with the home-field advantage effect being more pronounced in root than leaf litter treatments. Therefore, litter type and soil source had differential impacts on litter C transformation patterns of S. alterniflora and the root litter of invasive S. alterniflora played an important role in SOC formation and C sequestration in soils from its invaded ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Prof. Ming Nie for his advice to the experimental design, Jun Yan and Jinquan Li for their help in litter preparation and measurements of microbial biomass carbon. We are grateful to Dr. Sarah Zieger and Dr. Xianshan Zhu for their help on isotope analyses.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC1200103), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41371258, 31570513), Science and Technology Department of Shanghai (18DZ1206507), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SCU2019D013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Bio-Resource and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Pei Zhang

  2. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science and Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China

    Pei Zhang, Bo Li, Jiayuan Zhao & Jihua Wu

  3. J.F. Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Stefan Scheu

  4. Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, University of Göttingen, 37075, Göttingen, Germany

    Stefan Scheu

  5. Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Guanghui Lin

  6. Division of Ocean Sciences and Technology, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China

    Guanghui Lin

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  1. Pei Zhang
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. PZ performed the material preparation, data collection, and analysis and wrote the first draft of manuscript, and all authors contributed substantially to revisions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jihua Wu.

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Zhang, P., Scheu, S., Li, B. et al. Litter C transformations of invasive Spartina alterniflora affected by litter type and soil source. Biol Fertil Soils 56, 369–379 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-019-01429-9

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