The combined effect of fire and nitrogen addition on biodiversity and herbaceous aboveground productivity in a coastal shrubland

Frontiers in Plant Science

Plant Science

Ning Du¹  Weihua Guo¹  Puyi Zhang¹  Wenlong Sun¹  Yixin Song¹  Luyu Qi¹  Shijie Yi²  Wei Wang²  Haifang Liu³  Zhenggang Bi³  Jing Li³ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Ecological Prewarning, Protection and Restoration of Bohai Sea, Ministry of Natural Resources, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao, China;Observation and Research Station of Bohai Strait Eco-Corridor, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao, China;Shandong Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve Management Committee, Dongying, China;

关键词: aboveground productivity;    burned;    fungus;    nitrogen addition;    Yellow River delta;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpls.2023.1240591

 received in 2023-06-15, accepted in 2023-07-25,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionFire and nitrogen (N) deposition each impact biodiversity and ecosystem productivity. However, the effect of N deposition on ecosystem recovery after fire is still far from understood, especially in coastal wetlands.MethodsWe selected a typical coastal shrubland to simulate three N deposition levels (0, 10, and 20 g N m−2 year−1) under two different burned conditions (unburned and burned) in the Yellow River Delta of North China. Soil properties, soil microbial biodiversity, shrub growth parameters, herbaceous biodiversity, and aboveground productivity were determined after experimental treatments for 1 year.ResultsWe found that fire had a stronger influence on the ecosystem than N addition. One year after the fire, shrub growth had significantly decreased, while soil pH, soil electrical conductivity, herbaceous biodiversity, soil microbial biodiversity, and herbaceous aboveground productivity significantly increased. Conversely, a single year of N addition only slightly increased herbaceous aboveground productivity. The combined effect of fire and N addition was only significant for fungus biodiversity and otherwise had minimal influence. Interestingly, we found that herbaceous aboveground productivity was positively associated with fungal community diversity under unburned conditions but not in burned shrublands. Fire showed a great impact on soil parameters and biodiversity in the coastal wetland ecosystem even after a full year of recovery.DiscussionFire may also diminish the influence of several belowground factors on herbaceous aboveground productivity, which ultimately reduces recovery and stability. Appropriate N addition may be an effective way to improve the ecosystem productivity in a wetland dominated by shrub species.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Qi, Song, Zhang, Sun, Wang, Yi, Li, Liu, Bi, Du and Guo