PJB-2017-565
SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO NITROGEN AND PHOSPHOROUS FERTILIZATION IN A TEMPERATE FOREST NURSERY
Muhammad Razaq
Abstract
Nitrogen and phosphorus application to forest nursery seedlings is known to influence various above-ground growth factors, such as plant composition and productivity, and the below-ground microbial community. However, our understanding of how soil microbial communities and their functions respond to nutrient additions in the forest nursery is still limited. In this study, we added N and P to forest nursery seedlings in a temperate forest region in China to examine how nutrient additions influence the plant biomass and soil microbial community composition through phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) analysis. We applied four levels of nitrogen (0, 50, 100, or 150 g/1.3m2) and four levels of phosphorus (0, 40, 60, or 80 g g/1.3m2). The results showed that N had a significant effect on plant biomass, increasing the below-ground and the above-ground biomass, and fungal PLFAs and the ratio of fungal to bacterial PLFAs at 100 g nitrogen/1.3m2, but didn�t change or negatively affect total PLFAs, bacterial PLFAs, gram-positive and gram-negative PLFAs and the ratio G-: G+, or actinomycete PLFAs. Similarly, P increased the below-ground and above-ground biomass and fungal PLFAs and the ratio of fungal to bacterial PLFAs at 80 g phosphorous/1.3m2 but didn�t change or negatively affect total PLFAs, bacterial PLFAs, gram-positive and gram-negative PLFAs and the ratio G-: G+, or actinomycete PLFAs. Principal component analysis explains 77% and 56% of total variations in PLFA composition in N and P treatment. In conclusion, N and P improved the seedling growth without negative effect on total PLFAs.
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