Journal of Soils and Sediments - Determining soil extracellular DNA decomposition dynamics is essential to assessing lateral gene transfer possibility, nutrient-cycling efficiency, and the... 相似文献
This study aimed to understand the mechanisms of the variations in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools and examine the possibility of differentiating the burning effects from seasonal and pre-existed N limitations in a native suburban forest ecosystem influenced by prescribed burning in subtropical Australia.
Materials and methods
Soil and litterfall samples were collected from two study sites from 1 to 23 months since last burnt. Soil labile C and N pools, soil C and N isotopic compositions (δ13C and δ15N), litterfall mass production (LM), and litterfall total C, total N, δ13C and δ15N were analysed. In-situ gas exchange measurements were also conducted during dry and wet seasons for Eucalyptus baileyana and E. planchoniana.
Results and discussion
The results indicated that labile C and N pools increased within the first few months after burning, with no correlations with climatic factors. Therefore, it was possible that the increase was due to the burning-induced factors such as the incorporation of ashes into the soil. The highest values of soil and litterfall δ15N, observed when the study was commenced at the experimental sites, and their high correlations with climatic factors were indicative of long-term N and water limitation. The 13C signals showed that soil N concentrations and climatic factors were also two of the main factors controlling litterfall and foliage properties mainly through the changes in photosynthetic capacity and stomatal conductance.
Conclusions
Long-term soil N availabilities and climatic factors were the two of the main driving factors of C and N cycling in the studied forest sites. Further studies are needed to compare soil and litterfall properties before and after burning to profoundly understand the effects of prescribed burning on soil labile C and N variations.
High groundwater arsenic (As) and salinity have been detected in aquifers of the Hetao Basin in Mongolia which have caused serious public health concerns. The objective of this study was to characterize the distributions of the soluble components in sediment in different lithologies and depths and to assess the relationship between soluble As in sediments and dissolved As in groundwater.
Materials and methods
One hundred and one sediment samples and 13 groundwater samples were collected from four boreholes at varied depths. In addition to total chemicals and mineralogical phases of sediments, the soluble components (including major ions and As, Fe, and Mn) in sediments and dissolved chemicals in groundwater were analyzed.
Results and discussion
Clay or silty clay had relatively higher EC values (189–805 μS cm?1) than aquifer sands (approximately 92–261 μS cm?1). The major soluble components were Na+, Ca2+, HCO3?, and SO42?, which were more variable in clay samples than fine sand samples. Soluble As concentrations ranged between 2 and 950 μS cm?1, and high contents generally occurred in clay sediments with high contents of soluble Fe and Mn. A comparison of chemicals between soluble components in sediments and dissolved species in groundwaters at matched depths showed that chemicals were preferentially partitioned into sediments at the mountain front and deep aquifers (>60 m), while partitioned into groundwater in the shallow aquifers (<60 m) of the flat plain. Arsenic was preferentially partitioned into groundwater in aquifers with relatively low dissolved SO42?.
Conclusions
Groundwater components were mostly sourced from corresponding sediments. In clay sediments, As was desorbed from the surface sites along with other soluble components. Under reducing conditions, reduction of Fe oxides with high surface sites for As adsorption led to a weak association of As with other phases (such as carbonates), and therefore resulted in high dissolved As concentrations and low As partition between sediments and groundwater in deep aquifers.
Understanding soil heterotrophic respiration in relation to microbial properties is not only fundamental to soil respiration modelling, prediction, and regulation through management, but also essential to interpreting microbial community dynamics from an ecologically meaningful perspective. This paper reviewed the recent advances in knowledge and proposed future directions for exploring the respiration-microbe relationships by means of rDNA- or rRNA-based indices (i.e. rDNA copies, rRNA copies, and rDNA- or rRNA-based community structures).
Materials and methods
We first elucidated the theoretical basis for using rDNA- or rRNA-based indices to probe into soil microbial respiration. Then, the published studies that simultaneously measured soil microbial respiration and the rDNA- or rRNA-based indices were synthesized, extracted, and analysed to further explore the respiration-microbe relationships. At last, the uncertainties and perspectives for establishing the respiration-microbe links were proposed and discussed.
Results and discussion
The rDNA- or rRNA-based indices are theoretically promising for pinpointing the relationships between soil heterotrophic respiration and microbial properties. Our systematic review suggested that the correlations between bacterial rDNA copies and microbial respiration are inconsistent across studies, while the fungal and archaeal rDNA (or ITS) copies showed moderately positive and negative correlations with soil microbial respiration, respectively. Bacterial 16S rDNA-based community structures were significantly correlated with soil microbial respiration in some studies, but not in some short-term situations. Although rRNA copies are widely used as the proxies of microbial activity, no significant correlations between rRNA copies and soil microbial respiration have been found in previous studies. Bacterial 16S rRNA-based community structures were correlated well with the short-term responses of soil microbial respiration to rewetting or labile carbon amendments and clearly outperformed other rDNA- or rRNA-based indices. As respiration-microbe relationships can be affected by many factors, such as soil physicochemical properties and even the analysis methods of microbial indices, the 69 previous studies included in this review actually provided limited information on them, and the aforementioned results still need to be further confirmed in future studies.
Conclusions and perspectives
Overall, the relationships between soil microbial respiration and rDNA- or rRNA-based indices are still far from being well established. Future research should be directed to systematically understanding the respiration-microbe links, with more attention to the fungus-, archaea- and RNA-related molecular indices. The relationships between microbial specific lineages and total respiration rates should be explored in future studies, and the effects of edaphic properties on the respiration-microbe relationships should also be evaluated.