Impacts of water and nitrogen addition on nitrogen recovery in Haloxylon ammodendron dominated desert ecosystems

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.