Effects of Understory Liana Trachelospermum jasminoides on Distributions of Litterfall and Soil Organic Carbon in an Oak Forest in Central China

Abstract

Liana constitutes an important structural and functional component in many forest ecosystems and has profound impacts on forest carbon (C) cycling. However, whether and how liana regulates spatial distributions of litterfall and soil organic C are still poorly understood. To address this critical knowledge gap, we investigated litterfall composition and soil physicochemical characteristics in stands with different densities of liana (Trachelospermum jasminoides (Lindl.) Lem.). Both fresh and decomposed leaf litters were greater in the stands with high density of the liana species T. jasminoides. More liana covered stands also had higher soil respiration rate, soil organic C, and total nitrogen than those with less liana. The findings demonstrate that understory liana can regulate litterfall distribution and thus soil organic C, suggesting that the influences of understory liana on belowground ecological processes should be considered while assessing the role of liana in forest ecosystems.

Stylo grass affecting soil respiration in latosol guava orchard of southern subtropical region of China

“…The seasonal difference of soil respiration rate after vegetation restoration is significant, and the average annual soil respiration rate after vegetation restoration is significantly higher than that of the untreated land in the red soil erosion area (Deng et al., 2019). It had shown that forest ecosystems covered with dense liana, contain higher soil respiration rate, soil organic C, and total nitrogen than those with less covered ones (Liu, Shang, Zhang, Zhang, & Luan, 2017). It was found that soil management and amendments mostly affect soil respiration rate during the most active spring and summer period of the ecosystem (Horel, Tóth, Gelybó, Dencső, & Potyó, 2018).…”