Effect of nutrient management and soil type on stoichiometric imbalances across the Yangtze River Basin pear districts, China

Nutrition management affects soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycles, as well as their stoichiometry, causing further stoichiometric imbalances. However, research on the effect of nutrient management on soil stoichiometric imbalance is restricted to a single soil type, limiting our understanding of the interactions between these parameters. Therefore, we conducted a study comprising 212 sites throughout the Yangtze River Basin pear districts, for which nutrient management and soil properties were available under different soil types. Soil stoichiometric imbalances varied widely among the districts, with an average C:P imbalance value (C:Pim) of 6.67, higher than that of C:N imbalance (C:Nim; 6.43) and N:P imbalance (N:Pim; 2.83). Meanwhile, soil and microbial biomass stoichiometry, particularly for soil C:P and soil microbial biomass carbon and phosphorus (MBC:MBP), were significantly influenced by nutrient addition. Large N and P fertilizer inputs altered soil C:N and C:P in yellow–brown earth, while soil C:P was influenced by organic nutrient management in purplish soil. Moreover, adding organic nutrients altered the MBP, which further influenced MBC:MBP and MBN:MBP in saline–alkaline soil and yellow–brown earth. Furthermore, C:Pim increased with increasing organic nutrient input in purple soil and decreased with a large chemical fertilizer input in red soil. N:Pim and C:Nim were weakly associated with nutrient management in different soil types. In addition, nutrition management, soil type, soil properties, and microbe content collectively accounted for 45%, 32%, and 38% of the C:Pim, C:Nim, and N:Pim variation, respectively. Nutrient management also exerted a positive direct impact on C:Pim, while soil type elicited a negative direct impact on C:Nim and N:Pim. Meanwhile, all three stoichiometric imbalances were indirectly influenced by soil type. Taken together, our results indicate that soil stoichiometric imbalances, especially for C:Pim, are sensitive to nutrient management and soil type, providing novel insights into these imbalances that can inform the development of potential remedial strategies.

[1]  Davey L. Jones,et al.  Microbial community succession in soil is mainly driven by carbon and nitrogen contents rather than phosphorus and sulphur contents , 2023, Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

[2]  Qingxu Ma,et al.  Sustainable strategies related to soil fertility, economic benefit, and environmental impact on pear orchards at the farmer scale in the Yangtze River Basin, China , 2022, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[3]  F. Hagedorn,et al.  Three‐dimensional mapping of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in soil microbial biomass and their stoichiometry at the global scale , 2022, Global change biology.

[4]  Lei Wu,et al.  Stoichiometric imbalance of soil carbon and nutrients drives microbial community structure under long-term fertilization , 2021 .

[5]  D. Hui,et al.  Soil C:N:P stoichiometry in tropical forests on Hainan Island of China: Spatial and vertical variations , 2021 .

[6]  Yichao Rui,et al.  Stoichiometry of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in soil: Effects of agricultural land use and climate at a continental scale , 2021, Soil and Tillage Research.

[7]  M. Maslov,et al.  Nitrogen limitation of microbial activity in alpine tundra soils along an environmental gradient: Intra-seasonal variations and effect of rising temperature , 2021 .

[8]  Yu Luo,et al.  Resource stoichiometric and fertility in soil , 2020, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[9]  N. Katsoulas,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of Variable Rate Fertilizer Application in a Pear Orchard , 2020, Sustainability.

[10]  Xin-ping Chen,et al.  Environmental mitigation potential by improved nutrient managements in pear (Pyrus pyrifolia L.) orchards based on life cycle assessment: A case study in the North China Plain , 2020 .

[11]  E. Lamb,et al.  Nitrogen addition impacts on soil microbial stoichiometry are driven by changes in plant resource stoichiometry not by the composition of main microbial groups in an alpine meadow , 2019, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[12]  牛玉斌 NIU Yubin,et al.  Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus addition on plant community diversity and soil C: N: P ecological stoichiometry in a desert steppe of China , 2019, Acta Ecologica Sinica.

[13]  J. Elser,et al.  Linkages of stoichiometric imbalances to soil microbial respiration with increasing nitrogen addition: Evidence from a long-term grassland experiment , 2019, Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

[14]  I. Ciampitti,et al.  Change in straw decomposition rate and soil microbial community composition after straw addition in different long-term fertilization soils , 2019, Applied Soil Ecology.

[15]  Y. Kuzyakov,et al.  C/P stoichiometry of dying rice root defines the spatial distribution and dynamics of enzyme activities in root-detritusphere , 2019, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[16]  G. Guggenberger,et al.  Microbial stoichiometric flexibility regulates rice straw mineralization and its priming effect in paddy soil , 2018, Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

[17]  Jinzhi Ding,et al.  Linking microbial C:N:P stoichiometry to microbial community and abiotic factors along a 3500‐km grassland transect on the Tibetan Plateau , 2016 .

[18]  T. Wubet,et al.  Mineral vs. Organic Amendments: Microbial Community Structure, Activity and Abundance of Agriculturally Relevant Microbes Are Driven by Long-Term Fertilization Strategies , 2016, Front. Microbiol..

[19]  W. Wanek,et al.  Soil microbial carbon use efficiency and biomass turnover in a long-term fertilization experiment in a temperate grassland. , 2016 .

[20]  Ming Liu,et al.  Shifts in microbial biomass and community composition in subtropical paddy soils under a gradient of manure amendment , 2016, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[21]  J. Peñuelas,et al.  Responses of soil nutrient concentrations and stoichiometry to different human land uses in a subtropical tidal wetland. , 2014, Geoderma.

[22]  Jingyun Fang,et al.  Global patterns of soil microbial nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry in forest ecosystems , 2014 .

[23]  W. Wanek,et al.  Adjustment of microbial nitrogen use efficiency to carbon:nitrogen imbalances regulates soil nitrogen cycling , 2014, Nature Communications.

[24]  Alexander Tischer,et al.  Land-use and soil depth affect resource and microbial stoichiometry in a tropical mountain rainforest region of southern Ecuador , 2014, Oecologia.

[25]  W. Wanek,et al.  Stoichiometric imbalances between terrestrial decomposer communities and their resources: mechanisms and implications of microbial adaptations to their resources , 2014, Front. Microbiol..

[26]  Peter E. Thornton,et al.  A global analysis of soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in terrestrial ecosystems , 2013 .

[27]  Bill Shipley,et al.  Abiotic drivers and plant traits explain landscape-scale patterns in soil microbial communities. , 2012, Ecology letters.

[28]  C. Kallenbach,et al.  Controls over soil microbial biomass responses to carbon amendments in agricultural systems: A meta-analysis , 2011 .

[29]  E. K. Hall,et al.  Linking Microbial and Ecosystem Ecology Using Ecological Stoichiometry: A Synthesis of Conceptual and Empirical Approaches , 2011, Ecosystems.

[30]  Amilcare Porporato,et al.  Soil carbon and nitrogen mineralization: Theory and models across scales , 2009 .

[31]  J. Bai,et al.  Pear Responses to Split Fertigation and Band Placement of Nitrogen and Phosphorus , 2009, HortTechnology.

[32]  C. Cleveland,et al.  C:N:P stoichiometry in soil: is there a “Redfield ratio” for the microbial biomass? , 2007 .

[33]  E. Chang,et al.  Effect of different application rates of organic fertilizer on soil enzyme activity and microbial population , 2007 .

[34]  J. Elser,et al.  Ecological Stoichiometry: The Biology of Elements from Molecules to the Biosphere , 2002 .

[35]  S. Polasky,et al.  Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices , 2002, Nature.

[36]  P. Hooda,et al.  Manuring and fertilization effects on phosphorus accumulation in soils and potential environmental implications , 2001 .

[37]  J. Aber,et al.  Variation in soil net mineralization rates with dissolved organic carbon additions , 2000 .

[38]  T. Ando,et al.  Phosphorus requirements of microbial biomass in a regosol and an andosol , 1998 .

[39]  Robert W. Sterner,et al.  Modelling interactions of food quality and quantity in homeostatic consumers , 1997 .

[40]  V. Wolters,et al.  Microbial biomass phosphorus in soils of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests , 1995, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[41]  P. Legendre,et al.  Partialling out the spatial component of ecological variation , 1992 .

[42]  H. Belshaw.  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations , 1947, International Organization.

[43]  R. Joergensen,et al.  The fumigation-extraction method to estimate soil microbial biomass: Calibration of the kEC value , 1996 .

[44]  J. R. Brown,et al.  Overview of long-term agronomic research , 1991 .

[45]  P. Brookes,et al.  AN EXTRACTION METHOD FOR MEASURING SOIL MICROBIAL BIOMASS C , 1987 .

[46]  J. Stewart,et al.  Method to measure microbial phosphate in soils , 1982 .