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Summary: Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations (CO2) and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition have contrasting effects on ectomycorrhizal (EM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses, potentially mediating forest responses to environmental change.In this study, we evaluated the cumulative effects of historical environmental change on N concentrations and δ15N values in AM plants, EM plants, EM fungi, and saprotrophic fungi using herbarium specimens collected in Minnesota, USA from 1871 to 2016. To better understand mycorrhizal mediation of foliar δ15N, we also analyzed a subset of previously published foliar δ15N values from across the United States to parse the effects of N deposition and CO2 rise.Over the last century in Minnesota, N concentrations declined among all groups except saprotrophic fungi. δ15N also declined among all groups of plants and fungi; however, foliar δ15N declined less in EM plants than in AM plants. In the analysis of previously published foliar δ15N values, this slope difference between EM and AM plants was better explained by nitrogen deposition than by CO2 rise.Mycorrhizal type did not explain trajectories of plant N concentrations. Instead, plants and EM fungi exhibited similar declines in N concentrations, consistent with declining forest N status despite moderate levels of N deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is a crucial event regulating the structure and functioning of many ecosystems. Yet few studies have focused on how fire affects taxonomic and functional diversities of soil microbial communities, along with changes in plant communities and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics. Here, we analyze these effects in a grassland ecosystem 9 months after an experimental fire at the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment site in California, USA. Fire altered soil microbial communities considerably, with community assembly process analysis showing that environmental selection pressure was higher in burned sites. However, a small subset of highly connected taxa was able to withstand the disturbance. In addition, fire decreased the relative abundances of most functional genes associated with C degradation and N cycling, implicating a slowdown of microbial processes linked to soil C and N dynamics. In contrast, fire stimulated above‐ and belowground plant growth, likely enhancing plant–microbe competition for soil inorganic N, which was reduced by a factor of about 2. To synthesize those findings, we performed structural equation modeling, which showed that plants but not microbial communities were responsible for significantly higher soil respiration rates in burned sites. Together, our results demonstrate that fire ‘reboots’ the grassland ecosystem by differentially regulating plant and soil microbial communities, leading to significant changes in soil C and N dynamics.Fire significantly increased environmental selection pressure on soil microbial community, where a small subset of highly connected taxa was able to withstand the disturbance. Fire decreased the relative abundances of most functional genes associated with C degradation and N cycling, but stimulated above‐ and belowground plant growth, likely enhancing plant–microbe competition for soil inorganic N. Plants but not microbial communities were responsible for significantly higher soil respiration rates in burned sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nests of the yellow meadow ant (Lasius flavus) occur at high densities in grasslands worldwide. Although many studies have shown that L. flavus nests influence soil nutrient contents, little is known about their effect on soil nutrient cycling rates. The aim of this study was to examine the role of nest-mounds inhabited by L. flavus as potential 'hot spots' for soil nutrient cycling. Six pairs of nest-mounds and control soils were selected at a grassland site at the plateau of the Alter Gleisberg (Thuringia, Central Germany). L. flavus significantly modified the soil environment within the nest. In comparison to the control soils, nest-mounds were characterized by slightly higher soil temperatures during the summer months. In addition, we found that nests were related to decreased potential C mineralization rates and increased potential net N mineralization rates. Nest-mound soil exhibited lower amounts of SOC, hot-water extractable DOC and DN, and higher concentrations of leachable DOC and DN. Moreover, ants promoted the enrichment of base cations in the nest. Differences in the soil environment between nests and control soils were possibly a result of the burrowing activity of ants, soil mixing, accumulation of aphid honeydew, and decreased plant-derived nutrient inputs into the nest-mound soil. In conclusion, L. flavus nest-mounds had a significant but element dependent effect on the soil nutrient cycling and may represent cold spots for C cycling and hot spots for N cycling. Thus, L. flavus nests increase the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties and create unique micro-sites within grassland ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living roots and their rhizodeposits affect microbial activity and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) mineralization. This so-called rhizosphere priming effect (RPE) has been increasingly recognized recently. However, the magnitude of the RPE and its driving mechanisms remain elusive. Here we investigated the RPE of two plant species (soybean and sunflower) grown in two soil types (a farm or a prairie soil) and sampled at two phenological stages (vegetative and mature stages) over an 88-day period in a greenhouse experiment. We measured soil C mineralization using a continuous 13C-labeling method, and quantified gross N mineralization with a 15N-pool dilution technique. We found that living roots significantly enhanced soil C mineralization, by 27-245%. This positive RPE on soil C mineralization did not vary between the two soils or the two phenological stages, but was significantly greater in sunflower compared to soybean. The magnitude of the RPE was positively correlated with rhizosphere respiration rate across all treatments, suggesting the variation of RPE among treatments was likely caused by variations in root activity and rhizodeposit quantity. Moreover, living roots stimulated gross N mineralization rate by 36-62% in five treatments, while they had no significant impact in the other three treatments. We also quantified soil microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activity when plants were at the vegetative stage. Generally, living roots increased microbial biomass carbon by 0-28%, β-glucosidase activity by 19-56%, and oxidative enzyme activity by 0-46%. These results are consistent with the positive rhizosphere effect on soil C (45-79%) and N (10-52%) mineralization measured at the same period. We also found significant positive relationships between β-glucosidase activity and soil C mineralization rates and between oxidative enzyme activity and gross N mineralization rates across treatments. These relationships provide clear evidence for the microbial activation hypothesis of RPE. Our results demonstrate that root-soil-microbial interactions can stimulate soil C and N mineralization through rhizosphere effects. The relationships between the RPE and rhizosphere respiration rate and soil enzyme activity can be used for explicit representations of RPE in soil organic matter models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning ( BEF) experiments address ecosystem-level consequences of species loss by comparing communities of high species richness with communities from which species have been gradually eliminated. BEF experiments originally started with microcosms in the laboratory and with grassland ecosystems. A new frontier in experimental BEF research is manipulating tree diversity in forest ecosystems, compelling researchers to think big and comprehensively., We present and discuss some of the major issues to be considered in the design of BEF experiments with trees and illustrate these with a new forest biodiversity experiment established in subtropical China ( Xingangshan, Jiangxi Province) in 2009/2010. Using a pool of 40 tree species, extinction scenarios were simulated with tree richness levels of 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 species on a total of 566 plots of 25·8 × 25·8 m each., The goal of this experiment is to estimate effects of tree and shrub species richness on carbon storage and soil erosion; therefore, the experiment was established on sloped terrain. The following important design choices were made: (i) establishing many small rather than fewer larger plots, (ii) using high planting density and random mixing of species rather than lower planting density and patchwise mixing of species, (iii) establishing a map of the initial 'ecoscape' to characterize site heterogeneity before the onset of biodiversity effects and (iv) manipulating tree species richness not only in random but also in trait-oriented extinction scenarios., Data management and analysis are particularly challenging in BEF experiments with their hierarchical designs nesting individuals within-species populations within plots within-species compositions. Statistical analysis best proceeds by partitioning these random terms into fixed-term contrasts, for example, species composition into contrasts for species richness and the presence of particular functional groups, which can then be tested against the remaining random variation among compositions., We conclude that forest BEF experiments provide exciting and timely research options. They especially require careful thinking to allow multiple disciplines to measure and analyse data jointly and effectively. Achieving specific research goals and synergy with previous experiments involves trade-offs between different designs and requires manifold design decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aquatic microbiota is known to be an important factor in the sustainability of the natural water ecosystems. However, the microbial community also might include pathogens, which result in very serious waterborne diseases in humans and animals. Faecal pollution is the major cause of these diseases. Therefore, it is of immense importance to assess the potential impact of faecal pollution, originating from both anthropogenic and zoogenic sources, on the profile of microbial communities in natural water environments. To this end, the microbial taxonomic diversity of lotic ecosystems in different regions of Norway, representing urban and rural areas, exposed to various levels of faecal pollution, was investigated over the course of a 1-year period. The highest microbial diversity was found in rural water that was the least faecally polluted, while the lowest was found in urban water with the highest faecal contamination. The overall diversity of the aquatic microbial community was significantly reduced in severely polluted water. In addition, the community compositions diverged between waters where the dominant pollution sources were of anthropogenic or zoogenic origin. The results provide new insight into the understanding of how faecal water contamination, specifically that of different origins, influences the microbial diversity of natural waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is increasingly recognized that a detailed understanding of the impacts of land use on soil carbon pools and microbially mediated carbon dynamics is required in order to accurately describe terrestrial carbon budgets and improve soil carbon retention. Toward this understanding, we analyzed the levels of biomarkers including phospholipid fatty acids, amino acids, monosaccharides, amino sugars, and several indicators of labile and stabilized carbon in soil samples from a long-term agricultural field experiment. Our results imply that the composition of soil organic carbon (SOC) strongly depends on both the applied fertilization regime and the cultivated crop. In addition, our approach allowed us to identify possible mechanisms of microbial growth and contributions to soil carbon storage under different long-term agricultural management regimes. Amino acids and monosaccharides were quantitatively the most dominant biomarkers and their levels correlated strongly positively with microbial biomass. The relative contributions of the studied biomarkers to the total SOC varied only slightly among the treatments except in cases of extreme fertilization and without any fertilizer. In case of extreme fertilization and with alfalfa as crop type, we found evidence for accumulation of microbially derived monosaccharides and amino acids within the labile OC pool, probably resulting from soil C saturation. Interestingly, we also found an accumulation of microbially derived monosaccharides and amino acids in completely unfertilized plots, which we assumed to be caused by the smaller pore space volume and subsequent oxygen limitation for microbial growth. Mineral fertilization also had substantial effects on soil organic N when applied to plots containing alfalfa, a leguminous plant. Our results demonstrate that over-fertilization, fertilizer type, and the cultivated crop type can have major impacts on the turnover and composition of soil organic carbon, and should be considered when assessing management effects on soil C dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expert reviewers whom the author would like to thank for reviewing one or more manuscripts for the periodical during 2013 are mentioned.