title: Forest type affects the coupled relationships of soil C and N mineralization in the temperate forests of northern China.
abstract: Decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM) is sensitive to vegetation and climate change. Here, we investigated the influence of changes in forest types on the mineralization of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), and their temperature sensitivity (Q10) and coupling relationships by using a laboratory soil incubation experiments. We sampled soils from four forest types, namely, a primary Quercus liaotungensis forest (QL), Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation (LP), Pinus tabulaeformis plantation (PT), and secondary shrub forest (SS) in temperate northern China. The results showed that soil C and N mineralization differed significantly among forest types. Soil C and N mineralization were closely coupled in all plots, and C:N ratios of mineralized SOM ranged from 2.54 to 4.12. Forest type significantly influenced the Q10 values of soil C and N mineralization. The activation energy (Ea) of soil C and N mineralization was negatively related to the SOM quality index in all forest types. The reverse relationships suggested that the carbon quality-temperature (CQT) hypothesis was simultaneously applicable to soil C and N mineralization. Our findings show that the coupled relationships of soil C and N mineralization can be affected by vegetation change.
authors.affiliation: 1] Resources and Environment College, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China [2] Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, CAS, Beijing 100093, China.
authors.forename: Changhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Nianpeng
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Resources and Environment College, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xuefa
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, CAS, Beijing 100093, China.
authors.forename: Hongxin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Resources and Environment College, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jingyue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xue