Influence mechanisms of N addition on the concentration of soil dissolved organic matter in China

Soil dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a critical role in regulating the cycling of terrestrial biogeochemistry. However, the influence mechanisms of nitrogen (N) addition on soil DOM concentration are not well understood at the regional scale. We performed a meta-analysis of 1004 paired observations from 115 literature to explore how N addition affected the soil DOM concentration, including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON), in China. Overall, N addition markedly stimulated the soil DOC and DON concentrations by 5.2% and 33.1%, respectively. This implied that the stimulation by increased N availability than the suppression by decreased soil pH played a more important role in the soil DOM concentration under N addition. The N addition level showed a significantly positive correlation with the soil DOC and DON concentrations under N addition. The N addition influence on soil DOC concentration was decreased along with the increase in initial soil total nitrogen (TN). This demonstrated the microbial N mining theory in the low N soils and the stoichiometric decomposition theory in the high N soils at the regional scale. The mean annual precipitation (MAP) potentially facilitated the leaching out of soil DON and displayed a negative impact on the soil DON concentration under N addition. The increased soil depth and initial soil pH depressed the soil DOC concentration whereas stimulated the soil DON concentration under N addition. This indicated that DOC mostly accumulated in the top soil and DON largely leached to the deep soil. And the initial soil pH with high value perhaps promoted the uptake of DOC for microbes and the solubility of DON, and thus resulted in the opposite influences on the soil DOC and DON concentrations. Our study provided a mechanistic understanding on N addition influence on the C and N dynamics of terrestrial ecosystem at the regional scale.

Automated summary

Soil dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a critical role in regulating the cycling of terrestrial biogeochemistry. N addition significantly increased soil DOM concentration, with a greater impact on dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) than dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The level of N addition was positively correlated with soil DOC and DON concentrations, and the influence of N addition on soil DOC concentration decreased with higher initial soil total nitrogen (TN). Mean annual precipitation (MAP) facilitated the leaching out of soil DON and had a negative impact on its concentration under N addition. Increased soil depth and initial soil pH affected the soil DOC and DON concentrations, with DOC accumulating in the top soil and DON leaching to deeper soil. This study provides a mechanistic understanding of the influence of N addition on terrestrial ecosystem C and N dynamics at the regional scale.