TY - JOUR
T1 - Experimental warming and clipping altered litter carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a tallgrass prairie
AU - Cheng, Xiaoli
AU - Luo, Yiqi
AU - Su, Bo
AU - Zhou, Xuhui
AU - Niu, Shuli
AU - Sherry, Rebecca
AU - Weng, Ensheng
AU - Zhang, Quanfa
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Dr. Shijin Hu for his insightful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this manuscript. We also thank Dr. Edwin Kessler for donating his farm for the research. This study was financially funded by internal grants from the University of Oklahoma and the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants DEB 0078325 and DEB 0743778; by the Office of Science (BER), Department of Energy, grants no. DEFG02-006ER64319.
PY - 2010/8
Y1 - 2010/8
N2 - Litter carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics are important processes in regulating C and N cycling in ecosystems. However, it is not well understood how global climate change and land use practice interactively affect litter C and N dynamics in ecosystems. We conducted a field experiment in a tallgrass prairie in Oklahoma, USA, to study effects of climate warming and clipping (as mimic of agricultural hay harvest) on litter C and N dynamics in association with litter production and decomposition of dominant species C4 grass and C3 forb. Warming did not significantly affect specific decomposition and N immobilization/mineralization rates of either species but increased C4 and decreased C3 litter production. Increased C4 litter production, together with its intrinsic low decomposition, resulted in 16-47% increase in litter mass. Warming decreased N concentrations, litter N production, litter N pool and litter N output (i.e., litter N loss). Clipping significantly increased specific decomposition rates of C4 litter but decreased litter production, litter mass and litter N contents. Our results suggest that indirect effects of climate change via shifts in plant species composition and decreases in litter quality are much more important than its direct effects on litter decomposition and subsequent C and N turnovers.
AB - Litter carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics are important processes in regulating C and N cycling in ecosystems. However, it is not well understood how global climate change and land use practice interactively affect litter C and N dynamics in ecosystems. We conducted a field experiment in a tallgrass prairie in Oklahoma, USA, to study effects of climate warming and clipping (as mimic of agricultural hay harvest) on litter C and N dynamics in association with litter production and decomposition of dominant species C4 grass and C3 forb. Warming did not significantly affect specific decomposition and N immobilization/mineralization rates of either species but increased C4 and decreased C3 litter production. Increased C4 litter production, together with its intrinsic low decomposition, resulted in 16-47% increase in litter mass. Warming decreased N concentrations, litter N production, litter N pool and litter N output (i.e., litter N loss). Clipping significantly increased specific decomposition rates of C4 litter but decreased litter production, litter mass and litter N contents. Our results suggest that indirect effects of climate change via shifts in plant species composition and decreases in litter quality are much more important than its direct effects on litter decomposition and subsequent C and N turnovers.
KW - Climate change
KW - Initial litter quality
KW - Land use practice
KW - Litter C and N dynamics
KW - Litter decomposition
KW - Soil microclimate
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U2 - 10.1016/j.agee.2010.04.019
DO - 10.1016/j.agee.2010.04.019
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77955085752
SN - 0167-8809
VL - 138
SP - 206
EP - 213
JO - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
JF - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
IS - 3-4
ER -