Quantification of effects of season and nitrogen supply on tree below-ground carbon transfer to ectomycorrhizal fungi and other soil organisms in a boreal pine forest.
*The flux of carbon from tree photosynthesis through roots to ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi and other soil organisms is assumed to vary with season and with edaphic factors such as nitrogen availability, but these effects have not been quantified directly in the field. *To address this deficiency, we conducted high temporal-resolution tracing of (13)C from canopy photosynthesis to different groups of soil organisms in a young boreal Pinus sylvestris forest. *There was a 500% higher below-ground allocation of plant C in the late (August) season compared with the early season (June). Labelled C was primarily found in fungal fatty acid biomarkers (and rarely in bacterial biomarkers), and in Collembola, but not in Acari and Enchytraeidae. The production of sporocarps of ECM fungi was totally dependent on allocation of recent photosynthate in the late season. There was no short-term (2 wk) effect of additions of N to the soil, but after 1 yr, there was a 60% reduction of below-ground C allocation to soil biota. *Thus, organisms in forest soils, and their roles in ecosystem functions, appear highly sensitive to plant physiological responses to two major aspects of global change: changes in seasonal weather patterns and N eutrophication.
Högberg
Mona N
MN
Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
Briones
Maria J I
MJI
Departamento de Ecología y Biología Animal, Universidad de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.|Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK.
Keel
Sonja G
SG
Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
Metcalfe
Daniel B
DB
Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
Campbell
Catherine
C
Department of Plant Physiology and Umeå Plant Science Centre, University of Umeå, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
Midwood
Andrew J
AJ
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK.
Thornton
Barry
B
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK.
Hurry
Vaughan
V
Department of Plant Physiology and Umeå Plant Science Centre, University of Umeå, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
Linder
Sune
S
Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, SLU, PO Box 49, SE-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden.
Näsholm
Torgny
T
Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
Högberg
Peter
P
Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D017753:Ecosystem; D007553:Isotope Labeling; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000502:physiology*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D028223:Pinus / Q000382:microbiology*; D012621:Seasons; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013548:Sweden; D014197:Trees / Q000378:metabolism*
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
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