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C and N released in root exudates throughout a growing season were estimated in Bouteloua gracilis and Agropyron smithii (dominant species in the shortgrass steppe ecosystem) and A. cristatum (dominant species in a 40-yr-old crested wheatgrass ecosystem). The release of C and N exudate was measured with or without the presence of a rhizosphere microflora. These values were used to estimate the potential contribution of root exudates to the N cycle of both ecosystems. Total C released through root exudates by A. cristatum, A. smithii and vB. gracilis was estimated at 8, 17 and 15%, respectively, of C fixed. The contributions of root exudates to the N cycle were estimated to be 11 g N m?2 in the shortgrass steppe...
In desert ecosystems, belowground characteristics are influenced chiefly by the formation and persistence of ?shrub-islands of fertility? in contrast to barren plant interspaces. If soil microbial communities are exclusively compared between these two biogeochemically distinct soil types, the impact of characteristics altered by shrub species, especially soil C and N, are likely to be overemphasized and overshadow the role of other characteristics in structuring microbial composition. To determine how belowground characteristics influence microbial community composition, and if the relative importance of these characteristics shifts across the landscape (i.e., between and within shrub and interspace soils), changes...
Although metabolic activity of soil organisms is determined by water accessibility, little attention was given to rewetting with different water potentials. Rapid water potential increase induced a respiration pulse in organic layers in laboratory experiments and significant effects could be observed when soil below −6300 hPa was rewetted. Published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry, volume 41, issue 7, on pages 1577 - 1579, in 2009.
Soil organic matter (SOM) biomarker methods were utilized in this study to investigate the responses of fungi and bacteria to freeze?thaw cycles (FTCs) and to examine freeze?thaw-induced changes in SOM composition and substrate availability. Unamended, grass-amended, and lignin-amended soil samples were subject to 10 laboratory FTCs. Three SOM fractions (free lipids, bound lipids, and lignin-derived phenols) with distinct composition, stability and source were examined with chemolysis and biomarker Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry methods and the soil microbial community composition was monitored by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis. Soil microbial respiration was also measured before and during freezing...
Shifts in plant community structure in shrub and grass-dominated ecosystems are occurring over large land areas in the western US. It is not clear what effect this vegetative change will have on rates of carbon and nitrogen cycling, and thus long-term ecosystem productivity. To study the effect of different plant species on the decomposability of soil organic substrates and rates of C- and N-cycling, we conducted laboratory incubations of soils from a 15-yr-old experimental plot where big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) and crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum [Fisch.] Schult.) plants had been planted in a grid pattern. Soil samples collected from beneath crested wheatgrass had significantly greater total...
Dryland ecosystems have long been considered to have a highly heterogeneous distribution of nutrients and soil biota, with greater concentrations of both in soils under plants relative to interspace soils. We examined the distribution of soil resources in two plant communities (dominated by either the shrub Coleogyne ramosissima or the grass Stipa hymenoides) at two locations. Interspace soils were covered either by early successional biological soil crusts (BSCs) or by later successional BSCs (dominated by nitrogen (N)-fixing cyanobacteria and lichens). For each of the 8 plant type�crust type�locations, we sampled the stem, dripline, and 3 interspace distances around each of 3 plants. Soil analyses revealed that...
Phenol oxidase and peroxidase activities in desert grassland soils at the Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research site in central New Mexico (USA) are far greater than those of temperate soils. Activity is uniformly distributed across particles ranging from >1 mm to <38 ?m and is unaffected by autoclaving, in contrast to hydrolase activities. The sorbed enzymes are readily extractable and inactivated by boiling. High soil pH, high stabilized oxidative enzyme activity, and carbonates create optimal conditions for degradation of phenols which increase decomposition potentials and limit soil organic matter accumulation. Published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry, volume 40, issue 2, on pages 550 - 553, in 2008.
Soil respiration in semiarid ecosystems responds positively to temperature, but temperature is just one of many factors controlling soil respiration. Soil moisture can have an overriding influence, particularly during the dry/warm portions of the year. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the influence of soil moisture on the relationship between temperature and soil respiration. Soil samples collected from a range of sites arrayed across a climatic gradient were incubated under varying temperature and moisture conditions. Additionally, we evaluated the impact of substrate quality on short-term soil respiration responses by carrying out substrate-induced respiration assessments for each soil at nine different...
Plant roots and soil microorganisms contain significant quantities of low molecular weight (MW) phosphorylated nucleosides and sugars. Consequently, upon death these can represent a significant input of organic-P to the soil. Some of these organic-P substrates must first be dephosphorylated by phosphatases before being assimilated by the soil microbial community while others can be taken up directly from soil solution. To determine whether sorption or phosphatase activity was limiting the bioavailability of low MW organic-P in soil we compared the microbial uptake and C mineralization of a range of 14C-labeled organic-P substrates [glucose-6-phosphate, adenosine monophosphate (AMP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and...
Although freeze?thaw cycles can alter soil physical properties and microbial activity, their overall impact on soil functioning remains unclear. This review addresses the effects of freeze?thaw cycles on soil physical properties, microorganisms, carbon and nutrient dynamics, trace gas losses and higher organisms associated with soil. I discuss how the controlled manipulation of freeze?thaw cycles has varied widely among studies and propose that, despite their value in demonstrating the mechanisms of freeze?thaw action in soils, many studies of soil freeze?thaw cycles have used cycle amplitudes, freezing rates and minimum temperatures that are not relevant to temperature changes across much of the soil profile in...
The effect of inoculation of crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum L.), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) with the soil diazotroph Bacillus polymyxa was studied. Plant growth responses to inoculation varied from slightly negative (perennial ryegrass) to highly positive (white clover and crested wheatgrass) when root, shoot and plant dry weights were measured. Root-to-shoot ratios were also increased in the latter two species. Seedling emergence in crested wheatgrass was shown to be enhanced by inoculation with the bacterium. Possible mechanisms of the growth response include suppression of pathogenic organisms in the rhizosphere by the inoculant strain, root-associated...
Archaea are common and abundant members of biological soil crust communities across large-scale biogeographic provinces of arid North America. Regardless of microbial community development, archaeal populations averaged 2 × 107 16S rRNA gene copies per gram of soil, representing around 5% of the prokaryotic (total calculated bacterial and archaeal) numbers assessed by quantitative-PCR. In contrast, archaeal diversity, determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting and clone libraries of 16S rRNA genes, was very restricted. Only six different phylotypes (all Crenarchaea) were detected, three of which were very dominant. Some phylotypes were widespread, while others were typical of Southern...
Traditional models of soil organic matter decomposition predict that soil carbon pools with high chemical stability and large physical structure are more resistant against degradation than chemically labile and fine-grained material. We investigated whether soil fauna, by its direct and indirect effects on carbon turnover, would reinforce or counteract this general trend. The effects of four major faunal groups on carbon pools of differing recalcitrance were studied in an extensive microcosm experiment. Ninty-six microcosms were inoculated with nematodes, enchytraeids, collembola, and lumbricids in three densities, including combinations of groups. Bare agricultural soil and soil covered with maize litter were used...
We examined the effect of chronic soil warming on microbial biomass, functional capacity, and community structure in soil samples collected from the Soil Warming Study located at the Harvard Forest Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) site. Twelve years of chronic soil warming at 5 �C above the ambient temperature resulted in a significant reduction in microbial biomass and the utilization of a suite of C substrates which included amino acids, carbohydrates, and carboxylic acids. Heating significantly reduced the abundance of fungal biomarkers. There was also a shift in the mineral soil microbial community towards gram positive bacteria and actinomycetes. Published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry, volume 40, issue...
Soil erosion and subsequent degradation has been a contributor to societal collapse in the past and is one of the major expressions of desertification in arid regions. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) models soil lost to water erosion as a function of climate erosivity (the degree to which rainfall can result in erosion), topography, soil erodibility, and land use/management. The soil erodibility factor (K) is primarily based upon inherent soil properties (those which change slowly or not at all) such as soil texture and organic matter content, while the cover/management factor (C) is based on several parameters including biological soil crust (BSC) cover. We examined the effect of two more precise...
Potential C and N mineralization and soil microbial biomass C were determined following disturbance (i.e. drying and sieving) pretreatments in five soils varying in texture (30?350 mg clay g?1 soil) from the southern Piedmont USA. Soil disturbance by drying (i.e. rewetting following drying at 55�C for 72 h) of intact soil cores resulted in a flush of C mineralization (70% to 2.5-fold greater) during 0?3 d of incubation, but was not significantly different during 3?10 and 10?24 d periods compared with field-moist-intact soil cores. Soil disturbance by sieving resulted in greater C mineralization earlier than later in the incubation and led to significant immobilization of N of surface soil where respiration was highest....
Effects of large-scale weed invasion on the nature and magnitude of moisture-pulse-driven soil processes in semiarid ecosystems are not clearly understood. The objective of this study was to monitor carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and changes in soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) following the application of a water pulse in Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) communities dominated by the exotic annual grass cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and by the native perennial grass western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii). Sampling locations were established in shrub interspaces dominated by B. tectorum and P. smithi and beneath shrub canopies adjacent to interspaces dominated...
The effects of a dry-rewetting event (D/RW) on soil microbial properties and nutrient release by leaching from two soils taken from adjacent grasslands with different histories of management intensity were studied. These were a low-productivity grassland, with no history of fertilizer application and a high-productivity grassland with a history of high fertilizer application, referred to as unimproved and improved grassland, respectively. The use of phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA) revealed that the soil of the unimproved grassland had a significantly greater microbial biomass, and a greater abundance of fungi relative to bacteria than did the improved grassland. Soils from both grasslands were maintained...
The content of denitrifying enzymes in upland desert soil was strongly associated with indices of N and C availability. Combinations of several predictors could explain 71% of the variance in enzyme content in Chihuahuan desert soils and 87% of the variance in soils from various deserts in the southwestern U.S.A. A significant fraction of the enzyme content in wet desert soil is derived from a persistent pool of enzymes capable of tolerating extended periods of desiccation. The synthesis of new denitrifying enzymes appears to involve a complex interaction between available C, N, and soil moisture. The activity of denitrifying enzymes in desert soil was optimal at a pH of 7.0 and a temperature of 40�C. The Q10 for...
In a complete 2�2 factorial greenhouse experiment we examined the responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and non-mycorrhizal fungi to Gutierrezia sarothrae shrubs grown in elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (750 ?l l?1) and fertilized with N. AM percent infection did not change significantly with elevated CO2, but arbuscular infection increased 14-fold in the low-N treatment. Extraradical hyphal length increased on an absolute basis in elevated CO2, and also per infected root length. In the high-N treatments, increasing CO2 caused a decrease in hyphal length per infected root length, and an increase in vesicular infection. There was a significant positive response of AM infection intensity to increasing CO2 for...
map background search result map search result map Moisture pulses, trace gas emissions and soil C and N in cheatgrass and native grass-dominated sagebrush-steppe in Wyoming, USA