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Mu Z, Asensio D, Sardans J, Ogaya R, Llusià J, Filella I, Liu L, Wang X, Peñuelas J. Chronic drought alters extractable concentrations of mineral elements in Mediterranean forest soils. Sci Total Environ 2023; 905:167062. [PMID: 37709077 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Soil mineral elements play a crucial role in ecosystem productivity and pollution dynamics. Climate models project an increase in drought severity in the Mediterranean Basin in the coming decades, which could lead to changes in the composition and concentrations of mineral elements in soils. These changes can have significant impacts on the fundamental processes of plant-soil cycles. While previous studies have predominantly focused on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, there is a notable lack of research on the biogeochemical responses of other mineral elements to increasing drought. In this study, we investigated the effects of chronic drought (15 years of experimental rainfall exclusion) and seasonal drought (summer period) on the extractable soil concentrations of 17 mineral elements (arsenic (As), calcium (Ca), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), sulphur (S), strontium (Sr), vanadium (V) and zinc (Zn)) in a Mediterranean holm oak forest. We also explored the potential biotic and abiotic mechanisms underlying the changes in extractable elemental concentrations under chronic drought conditions. Our findings reveal that soil elemental concentrations varied significantly due to seasonal changes and chronic drought, with soil microclimate, biological activity, and organic matter being the main drivers of this variability. Levels of soil water content primarily explained the observed variations in soil elemental concentrations. Most of the mineral elements (13 out of 17) exhibited higher concentrations during winter-spring (wet seasons) compared to summer-autumn (dry seasons). The chronic drought treatment resulted in K limitation, increasing vegetation vulnerability to drought stress. Conversely, the accumulation of S in soils due to drought may intensify the risk of S losses from the plant-soil system. Under drought conditions, certain trace elements (particularly Mn, V, and Cd) exhibited increased extractability, posing potential risks to plant health and the exportation of these elements into continental waters. Overall, our results suggest that alterations in mineral element concentrations under future drier conditions could promote ecosystem degradation and pollution dispersion in the Mediterranean Basin. Understanding and predicting these changes are essential for effective ecosystem management and mitigating the potential negative impacts on plant health and water quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaobin Mu
- CSIC, Global Ecology CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou 510640, China
| | - Dolores Asensio
- CSIC, Global Ecology CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano 39100, Italy.
| | - Jordi Sardans
- CSIC, Global Ecology CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Romà Ogaya
- CSIC, Global Ecology CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Joan Llusià
- CSIC, Global Ecology CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Iolanda Filella
- CSIC, Global Ecology CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Lei Liu
- Institute of Ecology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Agricultural Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
| | - Xinming Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou 510640, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Josep Peñuelas
- CSIC, Global Ecology CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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