Mechanisms of Carbon and Nitrogen transformations in Forest floors of Beech-, Spruce- and Mixed Beech-Spruce-Stands

The mechanisms of carbon and nitrogen transformation in forest ecosystems are important for the element cycling in forest ecosystems. Most forests in Germany have moder and mor humus forms which is why most of the element cycling in acid soils proceed in the forest floor. The quality of the forest floor is also assumed to be responsible for the retention of deposited nitrogen but there is a controversial discussion about the capacity of the forest floor to adsorb deposited nitrogen. Nitrogen deposition in forest ecosystems is of concern because of nitrate leaching and N2O emissions, also N2O is a greenhouse gas and has the ability to destroy the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Most forest ecosystems actually indicate a high ability to immobilize deposited nitrogen. The presented work contributes to the discussion regarding the function of the forest floor in the carbon and nitrogen transformation of forest ecosystems. Two experiments were conducted. Undisturbed cores from the forest floor of a beech (Fagus silvatica), a spruce (Picea abies) and a mixed tree forest (beech and spruce) at the Solling, Germany, were incubated at 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20°C to study the net C-mineralization, net N-mineralization, and N2O emission. In a second experiment the same forest floors were incubated with beech seeds over a period of 442 days to study the influence of trees on the carbon and nitrogen cycling.It was hypothesized:I. that the forest floors of spruce stands show a higher degree of N-saturation with higher C:N ratio, increased net N-mineralization (NNM) and losses via nitrate leaching and N2O/NO emissions. II. that N immobilization in the forest floor from atmospheric N deposition increases the NNM and N2O losses at elevated temperatures indicated by higher Q10 values compared to net C mineralization (NCM). III. based on the hypothesis of Aber et al (1998), mycorrhizal fine roots improve the N immobilization without increased CO2 emissions. IV. that the applied nitrogen in plant available forms to a lower extent is taken up directly by the plants leading to an immobilization via the litter and forest floor. V. that ammonium is preferred by microorganisms in contrast to plants, resulted in higher total retention in the soil-plant system when this N form is applied.I. A parameter to characterize the degree of N saturation of a forest ecosystem is the C/N ratio of the forest floor. A higher N deposition in spruce forests, primary resulted from a higher dry deposition, was assumed to have reduced C/N ratio in the forest floor to a larger extend than in the beech stand. Low C/N ratios in all three stands (beech, spruce, and mixed forest) indicated that high N deposition has increased the N content independent of the plant species. Moreover, all soil chemical properties of the forest floors did not show any significant difference. Net N-mineralization, studied in the first experiment, often observed to be higher in beech than in spruce forest soils, was similar and correspond with a uniform microbial biomass and ergosterol content, an indicator for fungal biomass.II. The temperature dependence of biological processes, studied in the first experiment, is generally be characterized by doubling or tripling if the temperature increases by 10°C (Q10 = 2-3). Incubation studies at 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20°C revealed a similar increase in NCM and NNM in the forest floor of the beech, spruce and mixed species forests. The higher Q10 value for NNM was not significantly different to NCM. Higher Q10 value for N2O than for NNM is well known from the literature and is rather explained by positive feed back mechanisms than by N saturation. At 20°C, a temperature which normally not affected the soils at Solling, a drastic change in the microbial community was observed. The microbial biomass was about 50% lower compared to the lower temperatures although the mineralization followed the exponential temperature increase and indicated a higher specific respiration (NCM g-1Cmic) at 20°C. Resulting from a moderate decrease in fungal biomass, which was higher at the beech stand than at the spruce stand, the decrease in microbial biomass was primary attributed to a decrease in bacterial biomass.III. N immobilization by roots was studied in the second experiment immobilization of deposited 15N labeled nitrogen by mycorrhizal roots may increase the 15N sequestration by their turnover which may be detectable in the soil organic matter. A higher 15N content in the forest floor with beech seedlings indicated that plants may have improved the N immobilization. Different forest floor material seems to have no effect on N immobilization. However, a high N stock and high spatial variability in the forest floors have prevented a statistically significant result.IV. The plant uptake of nitrogen was similar between the control and 15N-fertilized treatments and showed statistically insignificant differences in the uptake of nitrate and ammonium (second experiment). Most of the 15N taken up by the plants was used to build up the above ground seedling (one-third of total plant uptake) and the coarse roots (one-third of total plant uptake). Fine roots account for less than one-fourth. The 15N transfer to the forest floor via leaves in the second year, which were collected in autumn to prevent a 15N flux via litter fall, was less than 5% at the end of the experiment. Although this flux is of less importance annually it may be a very important pathway of deposited nitrogen to the forest floor in the long-term.V. Nitrogen immobilization by heterotrophic microorganisms in the forest floor was three times higher after ammonium than after nitrate(second experiment. The preferential heterotrophic use of ammonium resulted in a two times higher retention of deposited 15N in the forest floor compared to plants. In contrast, the nitrate immobilization in the forest floor was lower compared to plants although statistically not significantly different. In total the immobilization of ammonium in the plant-soil system was about 60% higher than for nitrate and indicated the importance of the N-forms deposition for the retention in forest ecosystems.