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Anthropogenic nitrogen enrichment increased the efficiency of belowground biomass production in a boreal forest

Forsmark, Benjamin ; Nordin, Annika ; Rosenstock, Nicholas P. LU ; Wallander, Håkan LU orcid and Gundale, Michael J. (2021) In Soil Biology and Biochemistry 155.
Abstract

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) enrichment in boreal forests has been shown to enhance aboveground net primary production and downregulate soil respiration, but it is not well understood if these effects are driven by reduced belowground C allocation or shifts between biomass production and respiration in fine-roots and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF). We utilized an experiment in a Pinus sylvestris (L.) forest simulating anthropogenic N enrichment with additions of low (3, 6, and 12 kg N ha−1 yr−1) and high (50 kg N ha−1 yr−1 × 12 yr) doses of N (n = 6) and measured the production of needles, fine-roots, and EMF mycelium during the 12th and 13th year of the experiment. We created a biomass production... (More)

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) enrichment in boreal forests has been shown to enhance aboveground net primary production and downregulate soil respiration, but it is not well understood if these effects are driven by reduced belowground C allocation or shifts between biomass production and respiration in fine-roots and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF). We utilized an experiment in a Pinus sylvestris (L.) forest simulating anthropogenic N enrichment with additions of low (3, 6, and 12 kg N ha−1 yr−1) and high (50 kg N ha−1 yr−1 × 12 yr) doses of N (n = 6) and measured the production of needles, fine-roots, and EMF mycelium during the 12th and 13th year of the experiment. We created a biomass production efficiency index by relating the biomass production rate to root-associated respiration, including both root and EMF respiration. The high N treatment enhanced the production of both needles and fine-roots, with a relatively larger increase in fine-roots, and strongly increased fine-root biomass production efficiency but had no effect on the fungal biomass in fine-roots or the production of EMF mycelium. The low N treatments had no effect on any of the measured variables. These results show that high levels of N enrichment drive shifts in the use of C allocated below ground, with less C going towards metabolic functions that result in rapid C emissions, and more C going towards the production of new tissues.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Above,- and below-ground linkages, Boreal forest, Carbon allocation, Ectomycorrhizal fungi, Fine-root, Nitrogen enrichment, Soil respiration
in
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
volume
155
article number
108154
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85100653609
ISSN
0038-0717
DOI
10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108154
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
25063e0b-0188-41ad-adcb-3f4d45e8934a
date added to LUP
2021-02-22 09:47:50
date last changed
2022-04-27 00:22:19
@article{25063e0b-0188-41ad-adcb-3f4d45e8934a,
  abstract     = {{<p>Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) enrichment in boreal forests has been shown to enhance aboveground net primary production and downregulate soil respiration, but it is not well understood if these effects are driven by reduced belowground C allocation or shifts between biomass production and respiration in fine-roots and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF). We utilized an experiment in a Pinus sylvestris (L.) forest simulating anthropogenic N enrichment with additions of low (3, 6, and 12 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>) and high (50 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> × 12 yr) doses of N (n = 6) and measured the production of needles, fine-roots, and EMF mycelium during the 12th and 13th year of the experiment. We created a biomass production efficiency index by relating the biomass production rate to root-associated respiration, including both root and EMF respiration. The high N treatment enhanced the production of both needles and fine-roots, with a relatively larger increase in fine-roots, and strongly increased fine-root biomass production efficiency but had no effect on the fungal biomass in fine-roots or the production of EMF mycelium. The low N treatments had no effect on any of the measured variables. These results show that high levels of N enrichment drive shifts in the use of C allocated below ground, with less C going towards metabolic functions that result in rapid C emissions, and more C going towards the production of new tissues.</p>}},
  author       = {{Forsmark, Benjamin and Nordin, Annika and Rosenstock, Nicholas P. and Wallander, Håkan and Gundale, Michael J.}},
  issn         = {{0038-0717}},
  keywords     = {{Above,- and below-ground linkages; Boreal forest; Carbon allocation; Ectomycorrhizal fungi; Fine-root; Nitrogen enrichment; Soil respiration}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Soil Biology and Biochemistry}},
  title        = {{Anthropogenic nitrogen enrichment increased the efficiency of belowground biomass production in a boreal forest}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108154}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108154}},
  volume       = {{155}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}