Effects of plant residues on C:N:P of soil, microbial biomass, and extracellular enzyme in an alpine mea-dow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

• Published in: Ying yong sheng tai xue bao Vol. 34; no. 1; p. 58
• Main Authors: Xiao, Xiang-Qian, Zhang, Hai-Kuo, Feng, Ya-Si, Wang, Ji-Peng, Liang, Chen-Fei, Chen, You-Chao, Zhu, Gao-di, Cai, Yan-Jiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Biomass; China; Grassland; Humans; Plants; Soil - chemistry; Tibet; Tibet; China; microbial biomass; soil extracellular enzyme; litter; stoichiometric ratio; alpine grassland
• ISSN: 1001-9332
• DOI: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202301.008

Plant residues can affect C:N:P of soil, microbial biomass, and extracellular enzyme, but the effects are still unclear. We conducted a field experiment in an alpine meadow on the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to explore the effects of removing aboveground plant or roots and adding plant residues on the C:N:P of soil, microbial biomass, and extracellular enzyme. The results showed that removing aboveground plant biomass significantly decreased soil C:N (the change was -23.7%, the same below) and C:P (-14.7%), microbial biomass C:P and N:P, while significantly increased microbial biomass C:N, and enzyme C:N:P compared with meadow without human disturbance. Removing all plant biomass (aboveground and roots) significantly reduced soil C:N (-11.6%), C:P (-24.0%), N:P (-23.3%) and microbial biomass C:N in comparison to removing aboveground plant, while significantly improved microbial biomass N:P and enzyme N:P. Adding plant residues after removing aboveground plant significantly increased microbial biomass C:N and C:P, enzyme C:N compared with removing aboveground plant, while significantly decreased enzyme N:P. Compared with removing all the plant, adding plant residues after removing whole plant significantly reduced soil C:N (-16.4%), microbial biomass C:P, N:P and enzyme N:P, while significantly increased enzyme C:N. Our results suggest that removal of plants could have a strong effect on C:N:P of soil, microbial biomass, and extracellular enzyme, and C:N:P of microbial biomass and that extracellular enzyme woule be more sensitive to plant residues. Roots could play a key role in stabilizing C:N:P of soil, microbial biomass, and extracellular enzyme under plant residues addition. Adding plant residues could be a suitable solution for restoring alpine meadows under the circumstance of intact roots, which was conducive to soil C storage, but might not be suitable for alpine meadows with serious root damage, which would increase soil CO emission.