Dataset Information

Dominant Species in Subtropical Forests Could Decrease Photosynthetic N Allocation to Carboxylation and Bioenergetics and Enhance Leaf Construction Costs during Forest Succession.

ABSTRACT: It is important to understand how eco-physiological characteristics shift in forests when elucidating the mechanisms underlying species replacement and the process of succession and stabilization. In this study, the dominant species at three typical successional stages (early-, mid-, and late-succession) in the subtropical forests of China were selected. At each stage, we compared the leaf construction costs (CC), payback time (PBT), leaf area based N content (NA), maximum CO2 assimilation rate (Pmax), specific leaf area (SLA), photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE), and leaf N allocated to carboxylation (NC), and to bioenergetics (NB). The relationships between these leaf functional traits were also determined. The results showed that the early-succession forest is characterized with significantly lower leaf CC, PBT, NA, but higher Pmax, SLA, PNUE, NC, and NB, in relation to the late-succession forest. From the early- to the late-succession forests, the relationship between Pmax and leaf CC strengthened, whereas the relationships between NB, NC, PNUE, and leaf CC weakened. Thus, the dominant species are able to decrease the allocation of the photosynthetic N fraction to carboxylation and bioenergetics during forest succession. The shift in these leaf functional traits and their linkages might represent a fundamental physiological mechanism that occurs during forest succession and stabilization.

SUBMITTER: Xiao Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5809493 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Dominant Species in Subtropical Forests Could Decrease Photosynthetic N Allocation to Carboxylation and Bioenergetics and Enhance Leaf Construction Costs during Forest Succession.

Xiao Yihua Y Liu Shirong S Tong Fuchun F Chen Bufeng B Kuang Yuanwen Y

Frontiers in plant science 20180208

It is important to understand how eco-physiological characteristics shift in forests when elucidating the mechanisms underlying species replacement and the process of succession and stabilization. In this study, the dominant species at three typical successional stages (early-, mid-, and late-succession) in the subtropical forests of China were selected. At each stage, we compared the leaf construction costs (CC), payback time (PBT), leaf area based N content (<i>N</i><sub>A</sub>), maximum CO<s ...[more]

PMID: 29472939

Similar Datasets

Project description:Nutrient addition to forest ecosystems significantly influences belowground microbial diversity, community structure, and ecosystem functioning. Nitrogen (N) addition in forests is common in China, especially in the southeast region. However, the influence of N addition on belowground soil microbial community diversity in subtropical forests remains unclear. In May 2018, we randomly selected 12 experimental plots in a Pinus taiwanensis forest within the Daiyun Mountain Nature Reserve, Fujian Province, China, and subjected them to N addition treatments for one year. We investigated the responses of the soil microbial communities and identified the major elements that influenced microbial community composition in the experimental plots. The present study included three N treatments, i.e., the control (CT), low N addition (LN, 40 kg N ha-1 yr-1), and high N addition (HN, 80 kg N ha-1 yr-1), and two depths, 0-10 cm (topsoil) and 10-20 cm (subsoil), which were all sampled in the growing season (May) of 2019. Soil microbial diversity and community composition in the topsoil and subsoil were investigated using high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rDNA genes and fungal internal transcribed spacer sequences. According to our results, 1) soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) significantly decreased after HN addition, and available nitrogen (AN) significantly declined after LN addition, 2) bacterial α-diversity in the subsoil significantly decreased with HN addition, which was affected significantly by the interaction between N addition and soil layer, and 3) soil DOC, rather than pH, was the dominant environmental factor influencing soil bacterial community composition, while AN and MBN were the best predictors of soil fungal community structure dynamics. Moreover, N addition influence both diversity and community composition of soil bacteria more than those of fungi in the subtropical forests. The results of the present study provide further evidence to support shifts in soil microbial community structure in acidic subtropical forests in response to increasing N deposition.

Project description:Forest succession is a central ecological topic, due to the importance of the associated dynamic processes for terrestrial ecosystems. However, very little is currently known about the community assembly and interaction of soil microbial communities along forest successional trajectories, particularly regarding the microbial community dynamics in contrasting seasons. To bridge these knowledge gaps, we studied soil bacterial and fungal community compositions, assemblages, and co-occurrence networks in a well-established successional gradient of Phoebe bournei-dominated forest, spanning about 65 years of forest development in a subtropical region. Illumina MiSeq sequencing of 16S and ITS genes was employed for the assessment of soil bacterial and fungal community composition and diversity, respectively. The relative abundance and α-diversity of soil bacteria and fungi showed a differential trend over forest succession. The dominant fungal phyla (Basidiomycota and Ascomycota) changed more frequently than the dominant bacterial phyla (Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, and Actinobacteriota), indicating that soil fungi have a more sensitive relationship with forest succession compared with bacteria. The soil microbial community variation induced by forest succession was significantly affected by soil total phosphorus, dissolved organic carbon content and pH. Compared to deterministic processes, stochastic processes mainly dominated the community assembly of soil microbial communities. Meanwhile, the relative importance of stochasticity in soil fungal communities increased in the later stages. In Particular, dispersal limitation and drift accounted for a large proportion of bacterial and fungal community assembly, respectively. In addition, the co-occurrence networks of soil microbial communities became more complex as succession proceeds. Soil bacteria and fungi exhibited more competition and cooperation along the forest successional gradient. Collectively, our findings suggest that forest succession improves the complexity of soil microbial interactions and the ecological stochasticity of community assembly in Phoebe bournei-dominated forests, providing key insights into the relationship between microbial communities and forest succession.

Dataset Information

Dominant Species in Subtropical Forests Could Decrease Photosynthetic N Allocation to Carboxylation and Bioenergetics and Enhance Leaf Construction Costs during Forest Succession.

Publications

Dominant Species in Subtropical Forests Could Decrease Photosynthetic N Allocation to Carboxylation and Bioenergetics and Enhance Leaf Construction Costs during Forest Succession.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets