Effects of acetylene at low concentrations on nitrification, mineralization and microbial biomass nitrogen concentrations in forest soils

• 来源期刊: 科学通报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2009,（2）
• 页码范围: 296-303
• 页数: 8页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1007/s11434-008-0470-7

摘要

Temperate forest surface soils at the varying distances from main trunks (e.g., Pinus koraiensis and Quercus mongolica) were used to study the effects of acetylene (C2H2) at low concentrations on nitri-fication, mineralization and microbial biomass N concentrations of the soils, and to assess the contri-bution of heterotrophic nitrification to nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils. The use of acetylene at partial pressures within a range from 10 to 100 Pa C2H2 in headspace gas gave a significant decrease in N2O emission at soil moisture of c. 45% water-filled porosity space, and the decrease was almost the same in each soil after exposure of C2H2 at low concentrations. Heterotrophic nitrification could ac-count for 21%-48% of total N2O emission from each soil; the contribution would increase with in-creasing distances from the Pinus koraiensis trunks rather than from the Quercus mongolica trunks.Under the experimental conditions, the use of C2H2 at low concentrations showed no significant influ-ence on soil microbial biomass N, net N mineralization and microbial respiration. However, 100 Pa C2H2in headspace gas could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from soils. According to the rapid consumption of 10 Pa C2H2 by forest soils and convenience for laboratory incubations, 50 Pa C2H2 in headspace gas can be used to study the origin of N2O emissions from forest soils under aerobic con-ditions and the key associated driving mechanisms. The N2O and CO2 emissions from the soils at the same distances from the Quercus mongolica trunks were larger than those from the Pinus koraiensis trunks, and both emissions decreased as the distances from trunks increased. The stepwise regression analysis showed that 95% of the variability in soil CO2 emissions could be accounted for by the con-centrations of soil total C and water soluble organic C and soil pH, and that 72% of the variability in soil N2O emissions could be accounted for by the concentrations of soil total N, exchangeable NH4+-N and microbial biomass N and 25% of the variability in heterotrophic nitrification by the soil microbial bio-mass N concentration. The emissions of N2O and CO2 from forest soils after exposure of C2H2 at low concentrations were positively related to the net nitrification of the soils.