Skip to main content
Log in

Availability of soil base cations and micronutrients along soil profile after 13-year nitrogen and water addition in a semi-arid grassland

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Alteration in the availability of soil base cations and micronutrients is critical to maintain stable ecosystem functioning under the predicted global change scenarios. However, changes in these soil cations and their relationships with soil physiochemical properties along soil profile remain unclear under the combined increasing N deposition and precipitation changes. In this study, the concentrations of soil exchangeable base cations (Ca, Mg, K and Na) and available micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) were determined along an 80-cm soil profile after 13-year continuous N and water manipulation in a semi-arid grassland. Our results showed that N addition significantly decreased exchangeable Ca (− 25.4%, averaging across the three N addition rates) and Mg (− 7.8%) at the depth of 10 cm while increased available Fe (+ 70.5%), Mn (+ 64.7%), and Cu (+ 26.0%). Besides, the magnitude of the increase or decrease escalated with the rates of additional N. Such pattern was also true for the concentrations of available Fe, Mn and Cu in the 10–20 cm soil layer, but the magnitude of changes was much smaller than in the top 10-cm soil layer. Nevertheless, N addition increased the concentrations of the three available micronutrients across the entire profile, indicating that Fe, Mn and Cu were more sensitive to N addition in subsoils than surface soils. Nitrogen addition significantly reduced soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) in the top 10-cm and soil base saturation (BS) ratio in the top 20-cm soil, while water addition significantly increased soil CEC and BS ratio in the top 20-cm soil. Water addition significantly increased Na (+ 75.1%) in the entire soil profile and increased Ca (+ 14.8%), Mg (+ 12.7%) at the 0–10, 10–20 and 40–60 cm soil layers. Soil pH positively correlated with soil exchangeable Ca, Mg and Na, but negatively with available Fe, Mn and Cu in the upper 20 cm. Soil base cations and CEC positively correlated with clay and silt contents, but negatively with sand content along the profile. These results can extend our understandings on soil cation dynamics to deep soil profile under long-term N and water addition and suggest that precipitation effects should be considered when assessing N deposition effects on these soil cations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Balesdent J, Basile-Doelsch I, Chadoeuf J, Cornu S, Derrien D, Fekiacova Z, Hatte C (2018) Atmosphere-soil carbon transfer as a function of soil depth. Nature 559:599–602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnard RL, Osborne CA, Firestone MK (2015) Changing precipitation pattern alters soil microbial community response to wet-up under a Mediterranean-type climate. ISME J 9:946–957

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batjes NH (2014) Total carbon and nitrogen in the soils of the world. Eur J Soil Sci 65:10–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman WD, Cleveland CC, Halada L, Hresko J, Baron JS (2008) Negative impact of nitrogen deposition on soil buffering capacity. Nat Geosci 1:767–770

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai JP, Luo WT, Liu HY, Feng X, Zhang YY, Wang RZ, Xu ZW, Zhang YG, Jiang Y (2017) Precipitation-mediated responses of soil acid buffering capacity to long-term nitrogen addition in a semi-arid grassland. Atmos Environ 170:312–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron KC, Di HJ, Moir JL (2013) Nitrogen losses from the soil/plant system: a review. Ann Appl Biol 162:145–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen DM, Saleem M, Cheng JH, Mi J, Chu PF, Tuvshintogtokh I, Hu SJ (2019) Effects of aridity on soil microbial communities and functions across soil depths on the Mongolian Plateau. Funct Ecol 33:1561–1571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cotrufo MF, Soong JL, Horton AJ, Campbell EE, Haddix ML, Wall DH, Parton AJ (2015) Formation of soil organic matter via biochemical and physical pathways of litter mass loss. Nat Geosci 8:776–779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cregger MA, McDowell NG, Pangle RE, Pockman WT, Classen AT (2014) The impact of precipitation change on nitrogen cycling in a semi-arid ecosystem. Funct Ecol 28:1534–1544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doetterl S, Steven A, Six J, Merckx R, Van Oost K, Pinto MC, Casanova-Katny A, Munoz C, Boudin M, Venegas EZ, Boeckx P (2015) Soil carbon storage controlled by interactions between geochemistry and climate. Nat Geosci 8:780–783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doetterl S, Berhe AA, Arnold C, Bode S, Fiener P, Finke P, Fuchslueger L, Griepentrog M, Harden JW, Nadeu E, Schnecker J, Six J, Trumbore S, Van Oost K, Vogel C, Boeckx P (2018) Links among warming, carbon and microbial dynamics mediated by soil mineral weathering. Nat Geosci 11:589–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eilers KG, Debenport S, Anderson S, Fierer N (2012) Digging deeper to find unique microbial communities: the strong effect of depth on the structure of bacterial and archaeal communities in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 50:58–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang K, Kou D, Wang GQ, Chen LY, Ding JZ, Li F, Yang GB, Qin SQ, Liu L, Zhang QW, Yang YH (2017) Decreased soil cation exchange capacity across Northern China’s grasslands over the last three decades. J Geophys Res 122:3088–3097

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine S, Barot S, Barre P, Bdioui N, Mary B, Rumpel C (2007) Stability of organic carbon in deep soil layers controlled by fresh carbon supply. Nature 450:277–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galloway JN, Townsend AR, Erisman JW, Bekunda M, Cai ZC, Freney JR, Martinelli LA, Seitzinger SP, Sutton MA (2008) Transformation of the nitrogen cycle: recent trends, questions, and potential solutions. Science 320:889–892

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han WX, Fang JY, Reich PB, Ian Woodward F, Wang ZH (2011) Biogeography and variability of eleven mineral elements in plant leaves across gradients of climate, soil and plant functional type in China. Ecol Lett 14:788–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He CE, Liu X, Fangmeier A, Zhang F (2007) Quantifying the total airborne nitrogen input into agroecosystems in the North China Plain. Agr Ecosyst Environ 121:395–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jian SY, Li JW, Chen J, Wang GS, Mayes MA, Dzantor KE, Hui DF, Luo YQ (2016) Soil extracellular enzyme activities, soil carbon and nitrogen storage under nitrogen fertilization: a meta-analysis. Soil Biol Biochem 101:32–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jobbagy EG, Jackson RB (2001) The distribution of soil nutrients with depth: global patterns and the imprint of plants. Biogeochemistry 53:51–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keyvanshokouhi S, Cornu S, Lafolie F, Balesdent J, Guenet B, Moitrier N, Nougier C, Finke P (2019) Effects of soil process formalisms and forcing factors on simulated organic carbon depth-distributions in soils. Sci Total Environ 652:523–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kulmatiski A, Adler PB, Stark JM, Tredennick AT (2017) Water and nitrogen uptake are better associated with resource availability than root biomass. Ecosphere 8:01738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li CH, Yan K, Tang LS, Jia ZJ, Li Y (2014) Change in deep soil microbial communities due to long-term fertilization. Soil Biol Biochem 75:264–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay WL, Norvell WA (1978) Development of a DTPA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. Soil Sci Soc Am J 42:421–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Zhang Y, Han W, Tang A, Shen J, Cui Z, Vitousek P, Erisman JW, Zhang F (2013) Enhanced nitrogen deposition over China. Nature 494:459–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loeppmann S, Blagodatskaya E, Pausch J, Kuzyakov Y (2016) Enzyme properties down the soil profile: a matter of substrate quality in rhizosphere and detritusphere. Soil Biol Biochem 103:274–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lü XT, Han XG (2009) Nutrient resorption responses to water and nitrogen amendment in semi-arid grassland of Inner Mongolia, China. Plant Soil 327:481–491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lü XT, Dijkstra FA, Kong DL, Wang ZW, Han XG (2014) Plant nitrogen uptake drives responses of productivity to nitrogen and water addition in a grassland. Sci Rep 4:4817

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu XK, Mao QG, Gilliam FS, Luo YQ, Mo JM (2014) Nitrogen deposition contributes to soil acidification in tropical ecosystems. Global Change Biol 20:3790–3801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas RW, Klaminder J, Futter MN, Bishop KH, Egnell G, Laudon H, Hogberg P (2011) A meta-analysis of the effects of nitrogen additions on base cations: implications for plants, soils, and streams. For Ecol Manag 262:95–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutzow MV, Kogel-Knabner I, Ekschmitt K, Matzner E, Guggenberger G, Marschner B, Flessa H (2006) Stabilization of organic matter in temperate soils: mechanisms and their relevance under different soil conditions: a review. Eur J Soil Sci 57:426–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma ZL, Chen HYH (2016) Effects of species diversity on fine root productivity in diverse ecosystems: a global meta-analysis. Global Ecol Biogeogr 25:1387–1396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng C, Tian DS, Zeng H, Li ZL, Yi CX, Niu SL (2019) Global soil acidification impacts on belowground processes. Environ Res Lett 14:074003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nearing MA, Jetten V, Baffaut C, Cerdan O, Couturier A, Hernandez M, Le Bissonnais Y, Nichols MH, Nunes JP, Renschler CS, Souchere V, van Oost K (2005) Modeling response of soil erosion and runoff to changes in precipitation and cover. CATENA 61:131–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen UN, Ball BA (2015) Impacts of altered precipitation regimes on soil communities and biogeochemistry in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Global Change Biol 21:1407–1421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ochoa-Hueso R, Bell MD, Manrique E (2014) Impacts of increased nitrogen deposition and altered precipitation regimes on soil fertility and functioning in semiarid Mediterranean shrublands. J Arid Environ 104:106–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pendergrass AG, Knutti R (2018) The uneven nature of daily precipitation and its change. Geophys Res Lett 45:11980–11988

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren GY, Ding YH, Zhao ZC, Zheng JY, Wu TW, Tang GL, Xu Y (2012) Recent progress in studies of climate change in China. Adv Atmos Sci 29:958–977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren HY, Xu ZW, Isbell F, Huang JH, Han XG, Wan SQ, Chen SP, Wang RZ, Zeng DH, Jiang Y, Fang YT (2017) Exacerbated nitrogen limitation ends transient stimulation of grassland productivity by increased precipitation. Ecol Monogr 87:457–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumpel C, Kögel-Knabner I (2010) Deep soil organic matter: a key but poorly understood component of terrestrial C cycle. Plant Soil 338:143–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahzad T, Anwar F, Hussain S, Mahmood F, Arif MS, Sahar A, Nawaze MF, Perveen N, Sanaullah M, Rehman K, Rashid MI (2019) Carbon dynamics in surface and deep soil in response to increasing litter addition rates in an agro-ecosystem. Geoderma 333:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi LL, Zhang HZ, Liu T, Mao P, Zhang WX, Shao YH, Fu SL (2018) An increase in precipitation exacerbates negative effects of nitrogen deposition on soil cations and soil microbial communities in a temperate forest. Environ Pollut 235:293–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spohn M, Klaus K, Wanek W, Richter A (2016) Microbial carbon use efficiency and biomass turnover times depending on soil depth: implications for carbon cycling. Soil Biol Biochem 96:74–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun Y, Ding YH (2010) A projection of future changes in summer precipitation and monsoon in East Asia. Sci China D 53:284–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tian DS, Reich P, Chen HYH, Xiang YZ, Luo YQ, Shen Y, Meng C, Han WX, Niu SL (2019) Global changes alter plant multi-element stoichiometric coupling. New Phytol 221:807–817

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tian QY, Liu NN, Bai WM, Li LH, Chen JQ, Reich PB, Yu Q, Guo DL, Smith MD, Knapp AK, Cheng WX, Lu P, Gao Y, Yang A, Wang TZ, Li X, Wang ZW, Ma YB, Han XG, Zhang WH (2016) A novel soil manganese mechanism drives plant species loss with increased nitrogen deposition in a temperate steppe. Ecology 97:65–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treseder KK (2008) Nitrogen additions and microbial biomass: a meta-analysis of ecosystem studies. Ecol Lett 11:1111–1120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM (2015) Grassland ecology: complexity of nutrient constraints. Nat Plants 1:15098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walvoord MA, Phillips FM, Stonestrom DA, Evans RD, Hartsough PC, Newman BD, Striegl RG (2003) A reservoir of nitrate beneath desert soils. Science 302:1021–1024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang RZ, Dorodnikov M, Yang S, Zhang YY, Filley TR, Turco RF, Zhang YG, Xu ZW, Li H, Jiang Y (2015) Responses of enzymatic activities within soil aggregates to 9-year nitrogen and water addition in a semi-arid grassland. Soil Biol Biochem 81:159–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang RZ, Dungait JAJ, Buss HL, Yang S, Zhang YG, Xu ZW, Jiang Y (2017) Base cations and micronutrients in soil aggregates as affected by enhanced nitrogen and water inputs in a semi-arid steppe grassland. Sci Total Environ 575:564–572

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe T, Broadley MR, Jansen S, White PJ, Takada J, Satake K, Takamatsu T, Tuah SJ, Osaki M (2007) Evolutionary control of leaf element composition in plants. New Phytol 174:516–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Will C, Thurmer A, Wollherr A, Nacke H, Herold N, Schrumpf M, Gutknecht J, Wubet T, Buscot F, Daniel R (2010) Horizon-specific bacterial community composition of German grassland soils, as revealed by pyrosequencing-based analysis of 16S rRNA genes. Appl Environ Microb 76:6751–6759

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZF, Pu XZ, Yin HJ, Zhao CZ, Liu Q, Wu FZ (2012) Warming effects on the early decomposition of three litter types, eastern tibetan plateau, china. Eur J Soil Sci 63:360–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZW, Ren HY, Li MH, Ruijven J, Han XG, Wan SQ, Li H, Yu Q, Jiang Y, Jiang L (2015) Environmental changes drive the temporal stability of semi-arid natural grasslands through altering species asynchrony. J Ecol 103:1308–1316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZW, Ren HY, Li MH, Brunner I, Yin J, Liu H, Kong DL, lü XT, Sun T, Cai JP, Wang RZ, Zhang YY, He P, Han XG, Wan SQ, Jiang Y, (2017) Experimentally increased water and nitrogen affect root production and vertical allocation of an old-field grassland. Plant Soil 412:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZW, Li MH, Zimmermann NE, Li SP, Li H, Ren HY, Sun H, Han XG, Jiang Y, Jiang L (2018) Plant functional diversity modulates global environmental change effects on grassland productivity. J Ecol 106:1941–1951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Y, Cheng H, Gao H, An SS (2020) Response and driving factors of soil microbial diversity related to global nitrogen addition. Land Degrad Dev 31:190–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ye CL, Chen DM, Hall SJ, Pan S, Yan XB, Bai TS, Guo H, Zhang Y, Bai YF, Hu SJ (2018) Reconciling multiple impacts of nitrogen enrichment on soil carbon: plant, microbial and geochemical controls. Ecol Lett 21:1162–1173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu ZP, Chen HYH, Searle EB, Sardans J, Ciais P, Penuelas J, Huang ZQ (2020) Whole soil acidification and base cation reduction across subtropical china. Geoderma 361:e114107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang BW, Cadotte MW, Chen SP, Tan XR, You CH, Ren TT, Chen ML, Wang SS, Li WJ, Chu CJ, Jiang L, Bai YF, Huang JH, Han XG (2019) Plants alter their vertical root distribution rather than biomass allocation in response to changing precipitation. Ecology 100:e02828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YG, Xu ZW, Jiang DM, Jiang Y (2012) Soil exchangeable base cations along a chronosequence of Caragana microphylla plantation in a semi-arid sandy land, China. J Arid Land 5:42–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuo Y, Li J, Zeng H, Wang W (2018) Vertical pattern and its driving factors in soil extracellular enzyme activity and stoichiometry along mountain grassland belts. Biogeochemistry 141:23–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support provided by Duolun Restoration Ecological Research Station. We also would like to thank Mr. Liu Heyong for helping in the field sampling and Ms. Zhang Shumin for helping in the laboratory analysis.

Funding

This study was financially supported by a grant from Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 31870440).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

YJ, JH, RW and GN designed and performed the research. GN, RW, JH and CW analyzed the data and wrote the paper. MH, YW and QG helped to conduct the field and lab work. All authors commented, edited and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianhui Huang.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Edith Bai.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 39 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Niu, G., Wang, R., Hasi, M. et al. Availability of soil base cations and micronutrients along soil profile after 13-year nitrogen and water addition in a semi-arid grassland. Biogeochemistry 152, 223–236 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00749-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00749-5

Keywords

Navigation