Opposite responses of global warming potential to ammonium and nitrate addition in an alpine steppe soil from Northern Tibet

Patterns and drivers of the belowground bud bank in alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

INTRODUCTION

In grassland ecosystems dominated by asexual plants, the maintenance, renewal, and resistance of plant populations to disturbance are more dependent on the belowground bud bank (BBB). However, the response of the BBB to environmental factors in the alpine grassland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is still unknown.

METHODS

Therefore, a transect survey was conducted to measure the size and scale of BBB and 21 factors in the alpine grassland of the QTP. In addition, the critical driving factors of BBB were screened by boost regression tree analysis, and a structural equation model (SEM) was employed to express the path coefficients of the key factors on the BBB size.

RESULTS

The results showed that BBB size had no significant geographical pattern in the QTP, and the BBB size was mainly accounted for by soil leucine aminopeptidase (LAP, 17.32%), followed by Margalef and Shannon -Wiener indices of plants (12.63% and 9.24%, respectively), and precipitation (9.23%). SEM further indicated significant positive effects of plant diversity (scored at 0.296) and precipitation (scored at 0.180) on BBB size, and a significant negative effect of LAP (scored at 0.280) on BBB size.

DISCUSSION

Generally, the findings allow for better understanding of the regulated mechanisms of BBB size and the importance of the role of bud bank in the restoration of the grassland ecosystem.

Converting rice husk to biochar reduces bamboo soil N2O emissions under different forms and rates of nitrogen additions

The effects of biochar application combined with different forms and rates of inorganic nitrogen (N) addition on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from forest soils have not been well documented. A microcosm experiment was conducted to study the effects of rice husk and its biochar in combination with the addition of N fertilizers in different forms (ammonium [NH4+] and nitrate [NO3-]) and rates (equivalent to 150 and 300 kg N ha-1 yr-1) on N2O emissions from Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) soils. The application of rice husk significantly increased cumulative N2O emissions under the addition of both NO3--N and NH4+-N. Biochar significantly reduced cumulative N2O emissions by 15.2 and 5.8 μg N kg-1 when co-applied with the low and high rates of NO3--N, respectively, compared with the respective NO3--N addition rate without biochar. There was no significant difference in soil N2O emissions between the two NH4+-N addition rates, and cumulative N2O emission decreased with increasing soil NH4+-N concentration, mainly due to the toxic effect caused by the excessive NH4+-N on soil N2O production from the nitrification process. Cumulative N2O emissions recorded 18.74 and 14.04 μg N kg-1 under low and high rates of NO3--N addition, respectively, which were higher than those produced by NH4+-N addition. Our study demonstrated that the conversion of rice husk to biochar could reduce N2O emissions under the addition of different N forms and rates. Moreover, rice husk or its biochar in combination with NH4+-N fertilizer produced less N2O in Lei bamboo soil, compared with NO3--N fertilizer.