Plant functional type affects nitrogen dynamics in urban park soils similarly to boreal forest soils

• Published in: Plant and soil Vol. 479; no. 1-2; pp. 573 - 587
• Main Authors: Lu, Changyi, Kotze, D. Johan, Setälä, Heikki M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.10.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accumulation; Age; Agriculture; Analysis; Biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Boreal forests; Deciduous trees; earthworms; Ecology; Emissions; Evergreen trees; Finland; Forest soils; Forests; Green infrastructure; lawns and turf; Life Sciences; Measurement; Nitrogen; Nitrous oxide; Open spaces; Parks; Parks & recreation areas; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Research Article; soil; Soil dynamics; Soil science; Soil Science & Conservation; Soils; subarctic climates; total nitrogen; Trees; Urban areas; urban parks; Urban planning; Worms; Finland; Nitrous oxide; Evergreen tree; Inorganic nitrogen; Earthworms; Ecosystem service
• ISSN: 0032-079X; 1573-5036
• DOI: 10.1007/s11104-022-05544-9

Purpose Although plant functional type can modulate soils and their processes in natural, nitrogen (N)-limited ecosystems, little is known about their ability to influence soil N dynamics in urban ecosystems that have high excess N input. We investigated whether i) plant functional type effects on soil N dynamics in urban parks follow the same pattern as those in undisturbed natural/semi-natural forests, and ii) park age influences plant functional type effects on soil N dynamics under boreal climate. Methods We selected 13 urban parks of varying ages (young: 10 to 15, old: > 70 years), and 5 undisturbed natural/semi-natural forests (> 80 years) in southern Finland. In these parks and forests, we measured soil total N concentration, availability of inorganic N, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) flux and earthworm biomass under three plant functional types (evergreen tree, deciduous tree, lawn). Results Our results showed that plant functional type influenced N dynamics also in urban greenspace soils, which may relate to the clear effect of plant functional type on earthworm biomass. Evergreen trees tended to have the highest ability to foster N accumulation and reduce N 2 O emissions in urban parks. Moreover, with increasing park age, N accumulation increased under trees but decreased under lawns, further emphasising the role of vegetation in affecting soil N dynamics in urban greenspaces. Conclusions Our results show that, similar to natural/semi-natural forests, plant functional type, irrespective of park age, can influence soil N dynamics in urban parks.