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Plant community effects on soil moisture and nitrogen cycling in a semi-arid ecosystem

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Abstract

Wildlands of the United States’ Intermountain West contain recurring interspersed plant-community types; namely native sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata spp. wyomingensis Nutt.), non-native invasive cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), and crested wheatgrass [Agropyron desertorum (Fisch. ex Link) Schult.]. Soil nitrogen (N) cycling in these water and N co-limited ecosystems shows very strong spatial and temporal variability, but the mechanism(s) by which these semi-arid plant communities control soil N transformations are not well understood. Over two growing seasons, we conducted field and laboratory incubations of intact soil cores (0–10 cm) with and without water added, and created a mass balance model to predict N mineralization. We found that soils under cheatgrass had the highest net N mineralization, net nitrification and soil moisture compared to soils from under the other two plant communities. Moreover, water additions to field-incubated soil cores under cheatgrass more than doubled net N mineralization (0.18 ± 0.02 vs 0.07 ± 0.01 mg N kg−1 d−1). Temperature had a small effect on net N mineralization and net nitrification, with both rates increasing by < 0.005 mg N kg−1 d−1 per °C. The model’s ability to predict N mineralization was relatively low (R2 = 0.33). However, both our model and the data themselves strongly support plant community regulation of soil N cycling through modification of soil moisture.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Myq Larson, Sarah Smith Benanti, Toby Hooker, Carey Wicks, Casey Anderson, Ammon Anderson, Allison Czerniak, Matt Groll, Sethu Kambham, and Adrienne Marler for assistance with field and lab work. Thanks also goes to two anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved the manuscript. Better late than never!

Funding

This research was supported by grants from the NSF Ecosystem Studies, the USDA-NRI, and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Kendalynn A. Morris & John M. Stark

  2. Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (SKB), P.O. Box 250, 101 24, Stockholm, Sweden

    Peter Saetre

  3. Plant Sciences Department and Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Dept. 3354, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Urszula Norton

  4. Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Lab, 5825 University Research Court, Suite 3500, College Park, MD, 20740, USA

    Kendalynn A. Morris

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  1. Kendalynn A. Morris
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Correspondence to Kendalynn A. Morris.

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Morris, K.A., Saetre, P., Norton, U. et al. Plant community effects on soil moisture and nitrogen cycling in a semi-arid ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 159, 215–232 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-00922-y

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