loading page

High nitrogen accumulation in alpine forest soils of southeastern Tibetan Plateau
  • +10
  • Chuanhong Li,
  • Siyi Liu,
  • Lin Zhang,
  • Yi Cheng,
  • Zhiming Zhang,
  • Fang He,
  • Baomin Yao,
  • LIli Han,
  • Yuan Ge,
  • Baodong Chen,
  • Guoxin Sun,
  • Congcong Shen,
  • Li-mei Zhang
Chuanhong Li
Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Siyi Liu
Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Lin Zhang
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Yi Cheng
Nanjing Normal University
Author Profile
Zhiming Zhang
Yunnan University
Author Profile
Fang He
Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Baomin Yao
Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
LIli Han
Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Yuan Ge
Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Baodong Chen
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Guoxin Sun
Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Congcong Shen
Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Li-mei Zhang
Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) deficiency has been recorded in the top surface of Tibetan Plateau. However, the variation of soil N availability across the elevational gradient in alpine forests remains poorly understood. Here, the elevational patterns and determinants of soil N composition, key N transformation processes and functional microbes across three typical mountains on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau were characterized by multiple techniques. Our results showed that soil total N and ammonium were markedly enriched in high elevation zones where a stable N release via mineralization and extremely low net nitrification were observed. Further, the increasing biological N fixation rates along the elevation driven by abiotic (i.e., high organic carbon) and biotic (i.e., key diazotrophic taxa like Bradyrhizobium, Herbaspirillum and Klebsiella) factors greatly benefited N accumulation at high elevations. Our study offers new insights into the N dynamics in alpine forests on the Tibetan Plateau under scenarios of future climate change.