[Responses of soil microbial community structure and function to simulated warming in alpine forest.] / 高山森林土壤微生物群落结构和功能对模拟增温的响应.

Soil samples were collected from an alpine coniferous forest. Soil cores with soil organic layer above and mineral soil layer below were incubated in plant growth chambers during 10 weeks. Taking the annual average soil temperature in the alpine forest as the control, and other two levels of temperature were increased 2 and 4 ℃, respectively, to investigate the responses of soil microbial community and soil enzyme activity to warming. The results showed that warming significantly reduced PLFAs content of bacteria in soil organic layer and PLFAs content of G- in the mineral soil layer, whereas soil fungi was slightly influenced by warming. Warming caused the G+/G- increasing and changed the microbial community structure, but had no significant effect on soil enzymes activity, i.e., laccase (Lac), ß-1,4-glucoside (BG), acid phosphate (AP), ß-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG). There were significantly positive correlations between fungi, bacteria, G+ and G-, showing the coordinated growth trend between soil microbial communities. There was significantly negative correlation between BG and bacteria, showing the BG competing for carbon source utilization with soil microbial community. In consequence, the soil microbe types responded differently to warming. Bacteria were more sensitive to temperature than fungi, and fungi had stronger ability to tolerate warming in the alpine forest.

[Litter decomposition and soil faunal diversity of two understory plant debris in the alpine timberline ecotone of western Sichuan in a snow cover season].

In order to understand the relationship between litter decomposition and soil fauna diversity during snow cover season, litterbags with plant debris of Actinothuidium hookeri, Cystopteris montana, two representative understory plants in the alpine timberline ecotone, and their mixed litter were incubated in the dark coniferous forest, timberline and alpine meadow, respectively. After a snow cover season, the mass loss and soil fauna in litterbags were investigated. After decomposition with a snow cover season, alpine meadow showed the highest mass loss of plant debris in comparison with coniferous forest and timberline, and the mass loss of A. hookeri was more significant. The mixture of two plants debris accelerated the mass loss, especially in the timberline. A total of 968 soil invertebrates, which belonged to 5 classes, 10 orders and 35 families, were captured in litterbags. Acarina and Collembola were the dominant groups in plant debris. The numbers of individuals and groups of soil faunal communities in litter of timberline were higher than those of alpine meadow and dark coniferous forest. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that the groups of soil animals were related closely with the average temperature, and endemic species such as Isoptera and Geophilomorpha were observed only in coniferous forest, while Hemiptera and Psocoptera only in.the alpine meadow. The diversity of soil faunal community was more affected by plant debris varieties in the timberline than in the coniferous forest and alpine meadow. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the average temperature and snow depth explained 30.8% of the variation of litter mass loss rate, soil animals explained 8.3%, and altogether explained 34.1%. Snow was one of the most critical factors impacting the decomposition of A. hookeri and C. montana debris in the alpine timberline ecotone.

[Litter decomposition and lignocellulose enzyme activities of Actinothuidium hookeri and Cys- topteris montana in alpine timberline ecotone of western Sichuan, China].

The mass loss and lignocellulose enzyme activities of Actinothuidium hookeri residues and Cystopteris montana leaf litter in coniferous forest and timberline of western Sichuan, China were investigated. The results showed that both the mass loss rates of A. hookeri and C. Montana in timberline were higher than those in coniferous forest, while enzyme activities in timberline were lower than those in coniferous forest which was contrast with the hypothesis. The mass loss of two ground covers had significant differences in different seasons. The mass loss rate of A. hookeri in snow-covered season accounted for 69.8% and 83.0% of the whole year' s in timberline and coniferous forest, while that of C. montana in the growing season accounted for 82.6% and 83.4% of the whole year' s in timberline and coniferous forest, respectively. C. montana leaf litter decayed faster in the growing season, which was consistent with its higher cellulase activity in the growing season. The result illustrated that the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose might be the main driving force for the early stage of litter decomposition. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that environmental factors and initial litter quality could explain 45.8%-85.1% variation of enzyme activity. The enzyme activities of A. hookeri and C. montana in the process of decomposition were mainly affected by the freeze-thaw cycle in snow-covered season.

[Relationships between decomposition rate of leaf litter and initial quality across the alpine timberline ecotone in Western Sichuan, China].

The relationships between litter decomposition rate and their initial quality of 14 representative plants in the alpine forest ecotone of western Sichuan were investigated in this paper. The decomposition rate k of the litter ranged from 0.16 to 1.70. Woody leaf litter and moss litter decomposed much slower, and shrubby litter decomposed a little faster. Then, herbaceous litters decomposed fastest among all plant forms. There were significant linear regression relationships between the litter decomposition rate and the N content, lignin content, phenolics content, C/N, C/P and lignin/N. Lignin/N and hemicellulose content could explain 78.4% variation of the litter decomposition rate (k) by path analysis. The lignin/N could explain 69.5% variation of k alone, and the direct path coefficient of lignin/N on k was -0.913. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the contribution rate of the first sort axis to k and the decomposition time (t) reached 99.2%. Significant positive correlations existed between lignin/N, lignin content, C/N, C/P and the first sort axis, and the closest relationship existed between lignin/N and the first sort axis (r = 0.923). Lignin/N was the key quality factor affecting plant litter decomposition rate across the alpine timberline ecotone, with the higher the initial lignin/N, the lower the decomposition rate of leaf litter.

[Effects of gaps on distribution of soil aggregates and organic carbon in Pinus massoniana plantation].

The effects of forest gap size on the distribution of soil aggregates, organic carbon and labile organic carbon were investigated in a 39-year-old Pinus massoniana plantation in Yibin, Sichuan Province. The results showed that the composition of soil aggregates was dominated by particles > 2 mm, which accounted for 51.7%-78.7% of the whole soil samples under different sized forest gaps and beneath P. massoniana plantation. Soil organic carbon content and labile organic carbon content in > 5 mm aggregates were significantly positively correlated with the soil organic carbon and labile organic carbon contents. Furthermore, the amounts of organic carbon and labile organic carbon storage > 5 mm particles were higher than those in other size particles. Therefore, particles > 5 mm of aggregates dominated the soil carbon pool. Compared with those P. massoniana plantations, the contents of organic carbon in aggregates and total topsoil decreased during the formation of forest gaps, whereas the soil organic carbon storage under 1225 m2 gap was higher. In addition, the soil labile organic carbon content under 225 and 400 m2 gaps and the labile organic carbon storage under 225, 400, 900 and 1225 m2 gaps were higher than those the plantations, but were lower than under the other gaps. It was suggested that an appropriate size of forest gap would increase the accumulation of soil organic carbon and labile organic carbon content. The size of forest gap had significant effects on the distribution of soil aggregates, organic carbon and labile organic carbon. The soil sample under 1225 m2 gap had the highest organic carbon content and storage and a better aggregate proportion, and the higher labile organic carbon storage. Therefore, it was suggested that 1225 m2 gap might be an optimal logging gap size.