Journal
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 601, Issue -, Pages 1280-1288Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.202
Keywords
N-15 tracer; Precipitation; Nitrogen deposition; Nitrogen recovery; Haloxylon ammodendron; Temperate desert
Categories
Funding
- National Program on Key Basic Research Project [2014CB954202]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [41425007, 31421092]
- BBSRC [BB/N013468/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/N013468/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Desert ecosystems are likely to change in response to global climate change and nitrogen (N) deposition. The effects of increased precipitation and N deposition on plant growth and the N cycle largely depend on N allocation and N recovery efficiency in the plant-soil ecosystem, but there is limited research on this in desert ecosystems. Here we report results using double-labeled (NH4NO3)-N-15-N-15 (30 and 60 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1)) as a tracer under ambient (no additional water addition) and enhanced precipitation (60 mm water addition) in a Haloxylon ammodendron dominated ecosystem in the Gurbantunggut Desert of Northwest China. Herbaceous plants were a significantly larger sink for added N-15 than the H. ammodendron trees, and N retention varied with water and N addition, relative to growing season precipitation. The retention of added N-15 varied within the components of H. ammodendron, with the stems retaining most, followed by the assimilation branches. Soil was the dominant sink for added N-15, in which the topsoil and subsoil respond differently to water and N addition over the two-year period. Nitrogen relative recovery percentage in the whole ecosystem ranged from 43% to 61%, lower than average recovery rate in temperate forests; N tracer recovery percentage significantly increased with water addition but decreased with enhanced N deposition. Future N cycling in central Asian deserts will depend on changes in precipitation. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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