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Variations in the nitrogen saturation threshold of soil respiration in grassland ecosystems

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Abstract

Over the last century, anthropogenic activities have increased nitrogen (N) deposition considerably, which significantly affects ecosystem processes and has the potential to induce N saturation in the future. The continuous increase in N deposition may cause a non-linear response in soil respiration (Rs), an important component of carbon (C) cycling. However, little is known about N saturation threshold of soil respiration. In this study, we conducted coordinated experiments in four grassland types across northern China with four N addition levels to explore patterns in the Rs saturation threshold. Our results showed that an Rs saturation threshold generally exists in grassland ecosystems in response to N addition gradients. The N saturation threshold of Rs occurred at an average rate of 50 kg N ha−1 yr−1, but varied widely with grassland type; the N saturation threshold occurred at rates of 100, 50, 50, and 25 kg N ha−1 yr−1 in the alpine meadow, meadow steppe, typical steppe, and desert steppe, respectively. Autotrophic respiration (Ra) and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) responded to N addition gradients differently. Ra increased initially and became saturated at a rate of 50 kg N ha−1 yr−1 and declined thereafter. In contrast, Rh decreased monotonically after N addition. Structural equation models further confirmed that the effects of N addition gradients on Rs were primarily determined by the non-linear response of belowground biomass. Interestingly, the compiled global dataset showed that the N saturation threshold of Rs increased with precipitation and soil moisture. These findings indicate that the stimulating effect of N deposition on Rs and Ra might diminish with increasing N deposition in the future, especially in dry grassland ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Yonghui Wang and Stefan Trogisch for the helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. This study was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2014CB954000), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31630009, 31570394, 31370454, and 31901173), and Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 5204030).

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Author notes

  1. Chao Wang and Fei Ren have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Chao Wang, Jinzhou Wang & Jin-Sheng He

  2. Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology for Cold Regions in Qinghai Province, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 23 Xinning Rd, Xining, 810008, China

    Fei Ren & Huakun Zhou

  3. Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, Center for Global Change and Ecological Forecasting, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China

    Xuhui Zhou

  4. Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, China

    Wenhong Ma, Cunzhu Liang & Jianwei Cheng

  5. State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, and College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Jin-Sheng He

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  1. Chao Wang
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Wang, C., Ren, F., Zhou, X. et al. Variations in the nitrogen saturation threshold of soil respiration in grassland ecosystems. Biogeochemistry 148, 311–324 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00661-y

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