Nitrogen addition affects chemical compositions of plant tissues, litter and soil organic matter. Issue 7 (1st July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Jun; Wu, Nana; Wang, Hui; Sun, Jianfei; Peng, Bo; Jiang, Ping; Bai, Edith
• Is Part Of: Ecology. Volume 97:Issue 7(2016)
• Page Start: 1796
• Page End: 1806
• Publication Date: 2016-07-01
• Subjects: carbon cycle -- cellulose -- lignin -- meta‐analysis -- nitrogen deposition -- non‐structural carbohydrate; Ecology -- Periodicals; Ecology -- Periodicals; Écologie -- Périodiques; Ecologie; Écologie; Écologie animale; Écologie végétale; Ecology; Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1890/15-1683.1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0012-9658

Abstract

Abstract: Increasing nitrogen (N) deposition or fertilization has been found to significantly affect carbon (C) cycling. However, a comprehensive understanding of how different C chemical components of plant, litter, and soil would respond to external N addition is still lacking. We compiled data of 1, 160 observations from 52 individual studies and conducted a meta‐analysis of N addition effects on 18 variables related to C chemical compositions in terrestrial ecosystems. Results showed that plant lignin (+7.13%), plant protein (+25.94%), and soil lignin (+7.30%) were significantly increased by N addition, and plant hemicellulose (−4.39%) was significantly decreased, whereas plant fiber, plant cellulose, plant non‐structural carbohydrate (NSC), litter lignin, and litter cellulose were not significantly changed. The effects of N addition on C chemical composition varied among different ecosystems/plant types and different forms of N addition. Increasing treatment duration did not significantly change the effects of N addition on the chemical composition of plant, litter, and soil C. With increasing N addition rate, the effect of N addition on plant lignin, plant fiber, plant cellulose, and plant protein increased, while the effect of N addition on plant hemicellulose, plant NSC, and litter cellulose became more negative. Our meta‐analysis provided a systematic evaluation of the responses of different C chemical components to N addition in the plant–litter–soil continuum. Results suggest that the change of plant and soil C chemical composition under N addition may be beneficial for ecosystem C sequestration and could affect ecosystem structure and function in the future.