Plant-Induced Soil Chemical Patterns in Some Shrub-Dominated Semi-Desert Ecosystems of Utah

West, Neil E.; Charley, J. L.

doi:10.2307/2258613

Cited by 367 publications

(256 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This relatively nitrogen-rich microenvironment showed no significant difference in soil NH 4 þ as a result of the inhibition treatments. Presence of shrubs may account for high soil NH 4 þ concentrations due to high inputs of organic matter in soil (Charley and West, 1975;Schlesinger et al, 1996). Shrub islands not only have high primary production (Soriano et al, 1994) but also trap a large fraction of windblown organic material, which may be produced in other microenvironments, all of which provide organic matter with carbon and nitrogen substrate for microbial growth and nitrogen mineralization.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controls on nitrification in a water-limited ecosystem: experimental inhibition of ammonia-oxidising bacteria in the Patagonian steppe

López

Austin

Sala

et al. 2003

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

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We studied controls on nitrification in an undisturbed water-limited ecosystem by inhibiting autotrophic nitrifying bacteria in soils with varying levels of vegetative cover. The activity of nitrifying bacteria was disrupted using nitrapyrin, 2-chloro-6-(trichloromethyl)-pyridine, under field conditions in three microenvironments (underneath shrubs, next to grasses and in bare soil). Ammonia-oxidising bacteria were detected by PCR analysis of DNA in soils. The inhibition of nitrification changed the concentrations of NO 3 2 and NH 4 þ in the soil, while the microenvironment was most important in determining the response of bacteria to the inhibitor. Nitrapyrin application resulted in a significant ðp , 0:05Þ reduction in soil NO 3 2 concentration (39%) and a significant increase ðp , 0:001Þ in soil NH 4 þ concentration (41%). Untreated bare-soil microenvironments had the lowest concentrations of NH 4 þ (1.57 mg/g of dry soil) and NO 3 2 (0.49 mg/g of dry soil) when compared to the other microenvironments, and showed the highest impacts of nitrification inhibition. For example, NH 4 þ concentrations increased 288%and NO 3 2 concentrations decreased 60% in inhibited bare-soil microenvironments. In contrast, untreated microenvironments underneath shrubs had the highest levels of NH 4 þ (10.01 mg/g of dry soil) and NO 3 2 (0.69 mg/g of dry soil), but showed no significant effects of inhibition of nitrification on soil nitrogen concentrations. q

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controls on nitrification in a water-limited ecosystem: experimental inhibition of ammonia-oxidising bacteria in the Patagonian steppe

López

Austin

Sala

et al. 2003

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

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“…Soil under plants had higher total and mineralizable carbon and higher microbial biomass and mineralizable nitrogen than soil between plants. Individual plants concentrate biomass and thus carbon and nitrogen in the soil beneath their cano.ry, leading to a plant-induced "island of soil fertility" effect, often observed in arid and semiarid areas (Charley and West 1975, 1977, Barth and Klemmedson 1978, Klopatek 1987, Bolton et al 1990, 1993, Schlesinger et al 1990, Hook et al 1991. Historical addition of resources, particularly water, in many cases diminished or eliminated this plant-induced heterogeneity.…”

Section: Plant Cover Effects On Soilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions Between Individual Plant Species and Soil Nutrient Status in Shortgrass Steppe

Vinton¹,

Burke²

1995

Ecology

293

238

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Abstract. The effect of plant community structure on nutrient cycling is fundamental to our understanding of ecosystem function. We examined the importance of plant species and plant cover (i.e., plant covered microsites vs. bare soil) on nutrient cycling in shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado. We tested the effects of both plant species and cover on soils in an area of undisturbed shortgrass steppe and an area that had undergone nitrogen and water additions from 1971 to 1974, resulting in significant shifts in plant species composition.Soils under plants had consistently higher C and N mineralization rates and, in some cases, higher total and microbial C and N levels than soils without plant cover. Four native grasses, one sedge, and one shrub differed from one another in the quantity and quality of above-and belowground biomass but differences among the six species in soil nutrient cycling under their canopies were slight. However, soils under bunchgrasses tended to have higher C mineralization and microbial biomass C than soil under the rhizomatous grass, Agropyron smithii. Also, the one introduced annual in the study, Kochia scoparia, had soils with less plant-induced heterogeneity and higher rates of C and N mineralization as well as higher levels of microbial biomass C than soils associated with the other species. This species was abundant only on plots that had received water and nitrogen for a 4-yr period that ended 20 yr ago, where it has persisted in the absence of resource additions for 20 yr, suggesting a positive feedback between plant persistence and soil nutrient status.Plant cover patterns had larger effects on ecosystem scale estimates of soil properties than the attributes of a particular plant species. This result may be due to the semiarid nature of this grassland in which plant cover is discontinuous and decomposition and nutrient availability are primarily limited by water, not by plant species-mediated characteristics such as litter quality. That local plant-induced patterns in soil properties significantly affected ecosystem scale estimates of these properties indicates that consideration of structural attributes, particularly plant cover patterns, is critical to estimates of ecosystem function in shortgrass steppe.

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“…Organic matter, N and other soil chemical variables are often higher under tree and shrub canopies than in gaps in semiarid and arid zones such as African savannahs (Bernhard-Reversat 1982), Chilean matorral (Gutiérrez et al 1993) and North American grasslands and deserts (García-Moya & McKell 1970;Charley & West 1975;Barth & Klemmedson 1978;Virginia & Jarell 1983;Hook et al 1991;Halvorson et al 1994), showing that understorey soil characteristics are strongly influenced by the overstorey plants.…”

Section: Fertilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of the canopy of Retama sphaerocarpa on its understorey in a semiarid environment

et al. 1997

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Summary 1.A dense understorey of annual and perennial herbs grow under the canopy of Retama sphaerocarpa shrubs in semiarid environments of south-east Spain, influencing plant productivity and diversity at a regional scale. We investigated the facilitation by the shrub on its understorey in field and laboratory experiments with Barley designed to explore the mechanisms of interaction between both vegetation layers and their spatial variation. 2.There was a gradient of spatial heterogeneity in soil chemical fertility under the shrub canopy, with organic matter and soil nitrogen contents higher at the centre than at the edge of the canopy. Dry mass production of Barley was also higher in soils from intermediate positions, and lower in soils from both the centre and edge of the canopy. 3. In the field, pots sown with Barley placed near the centre, at an intermediate position and at the edge of the canopy of Retama shrubs showed significant differences in productivity, suggesting a mulching effect of the canopy that also affects seedling establishment. 4. Micro-climatic measurements showed significant differences in total radiation reaching the soil, mean air and soil temperatures and maximum temperature among different positions in the understorey, increasing radially from the centre to the edge of the canopy. 5. These results and field observations suggest that the optimal association of climatic factors under the canopy would combine with a high soil fertility mediated by litter decomposition to increase biomass production mid-way between the centre and the edge of the canopy. Overstorey and understorey thus interact to increase nutrient retention locally, which benefits both the shrub and the herb layer.

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Plant-Induced Soil Chemical Patterns in Some Shrub-Dominated Semi-Desert Ecosystems of Utah

Cited by 367 publications

References 14 publications

Controls on nitrification in a water-limited ecosystem: experimental inhibition of ammonia-oxidising bacteria in the Patagonian steppe

Controls on nitrification in a water-limited ecosystem: experimental inhibition of ammonia-oxidising bacteria in the Patagonian steppe

Interactions Between Individual Plant Species and Soil Nutrient Status in Shortgrass Steppe

Effect of the canopy of Retama sphaerocarpa on its understorey in a semiarid environment

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