The Response of Mesofauna to Nitrogen Deposition and Reduced Precipitation during Litter Decomposition

Author:

Zhou Shixing123ORCID,Hu Junxi12,Liu Xiong12,Zou Xingcheng12,Xiao Lin123,Cao Dongyu123,Tu Lihua12,Cui Xinglei123,Huang Congde12ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Sichuan Province Key Laboratory of Ecological Forestry Engineering on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China

2. National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China

3. National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Technology Research Center of Southwest Forest and Grassland Ecological Fire Prevention, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China

Abstract

Soil mesofauna plays an important role in decomposing organic matter, recycling nutrients, and increasing nutrient availability. The effects of nitrogen (N) deposition and reduced precipitation on the litter-dwelling mesofaunal community and how this process affects litter decomposition remain poorly understood. Herein, a two-year simulated N deposition and throughfall reduction experiment was carried out in a natural evergreen broad-leaved subtropical forest to examine the effects of N deposition and reduced precipitation on soil mesofauna during litter decomposition. Four treatments were established: control (CK), N deposition (N), reduced precipitation (RP), and combined N deposition and reduced precipitation (N + RP). We collected and identified 19,782 individuals of mesofauna in litterbags during the whole experiment. Mites (Prostigmata, Mesostigmata, and Oribatida) and Collembola comprised almost 90% of the total number of individuals collected and dominated the soil mesofauna in our study. Our results revealed the negative effects of N deposition on the density of Oribatida mites and Collembola and the total density of soil mesofauna. Reduced precipitation significantly increased the density of Collembola and Oribatida mites and the total density of mesofauna and marginally significantly increased the density of Mesostigmata mites but decreased the diversity of mesofauna. The interaction effects of N deposition and reduced precipitation significantly affected the density of Prostigmata mites, Oribatida mites, Collembola, and the diversity of mesofauna. N deposition combined with reduced precipitation significantly inhibited litter decomposition, whereas no significant interaction effects were observed. Furthermore, correlation analysis indicated that litter mass loss was significantly positively correlated with the density of Prostigmata, Mesostigmata, and Oribatida, as well as the diversity of mesofauna. Overall, during the two-year decomposition process, our results suggest that N deposition and reduced precipitation interactively affected mesofaunal diversity and that N deposition adversely affected the mesofaunal community, while reduced precipitation increased the density of some groups but decreased mesofaunal diversity, consequently cascading on the decomposition of leaf litter.

Funder

Science and Technology Project of Sichuan Province

Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province

Forest Ecosystem Improvement in the Upper Reaches of Yangtze River Basin Program of World Bank

China Scholarship Council

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Forestry

Reference59 articles.

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