Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Extracting and purifying a representative fraction of bacteria from soil is necessary for the application of many techniques of microbial ecology. Here the influence of different soil types on the quantitative and qualitative recovery of bacteria by soil grinding and Nycodenz density gradient centrifugation was investigated. Three soils presenting contrasted physicochemical characteristics were used for this study. For each soil, the total (AODC: acridine orange direct count) and culturable (cfu: colony-forming units) bacterial densities were measured in three distinct fractions: (i) the primary soil, (ii) the soil pellet (soil remaining after centrifugation), and (iii) the extracted cells. The automated-ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (A-RISA) was used to characterize the community structure directly from the DNA extracted from each fraction. The physicochemical characteristics of soils were found to influence both the efficiency of bacterial cell recovery and the representativeness of the extracted cells in term of community structures between the different fractions. Surprisingly, the most representative extracted cells were obtained from the soil exhibiting the lowest efficiency of cell recovery. Our results demonstrated that quantitative and qualitative cell recovery using Nycodenz density gradient centrifugation are not necessarily related and could be differentially biased according to soil type.
ISSN: 1164-5563

hal-01031904
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01031904
DOI : 10.1016/j.ejsobi.2005.08.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : We aimed to enhance understanding of the molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) by building a new global dataset targeting previously unstudied geographical areas. In total, we sampled 96 plant species from 25 sites that encompassed all continents except Antarctica. AMF in plant roots were detected by sequencing the nuclear SSU rRNA gene fragment using either cloning followed by Sanger sequencing or 454-sequencing. A total of 204 AMF phylogroups (virtual taxa, VT) were recorded, increasing the described number of Glomeromycota VT from 308 to 341 globally. Novel VT were detected from 21 sites; three novel but nevertheless widespread VT (Glomus spp. MO-G52, MO-G53, MO-G57) were recorded from six continents. The largest increases in regional VT number were recorded in previously little-studied Oceania and in the boreal and polar climatic zones - this study providing the first molecular data from the latter. Ordination revealed differences in AM fungal communities between different continents and climatic zones, suggesting that both biogeographic history and environmental conditions underlie the global variation of those communities. Our results show that a considerable proportion of Glomeromycota diversity has been recorded in many regions, though further large increases in richness can be expected in remaining unstudied areas.
ISSN: 0940-6360

hal-01190520
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01190520
DOI : 10.1007/s00572-013-0482-2
PRODINRA : 206968

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : The patterns of the distribution of fungal species and their potential interactions with trees remain understudied in Neotropical rainforests, which harbor more than 16,000 tree species, mostly dominated by endomycorrhizal trees. Our hypothesis was that tree species shape the non-mycorrhizal fungal assemblages in soil and litter and that the diversity of fungal communities in these two compartments is partly dependent on the coverage of trees in the Neotropical rainforest. In French Guiana, a long-term plantation and a natural forest were selected to test this hypothesis. Fungal ITS1 regions were sequenced from soil and litter samples from within the vicinity of tree species. A broad range of fungal taxa was found, with 42 orders and 14 classes.Significant spatial heterogeneity in the fungal communities was found without strong variation in the species richness and evenness among the tree plots. However, tree species shaped the fungal assemblages in the soil and litter, explaining up to 18 % of the variation among the communities in the natural forest.These results demonstrate that vegetation cover has an important effect on the structure of fungal assemblages inhabiting the soil and litter in Amazonian forests, illustrating the relative impact of deterministic processes on fungal community structures in these highly diverse ecosystems.
ISSN: 0095-3628

hal-01595373
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01595373
DOI : 10.1007/s00248-016-0839-0
PRODINRA : 395655
PUBMED : 27645139

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Royal Society, The
Résumé : Plant leaf litter generally decomposes faster as a group of different species than when individual species decompose alone, but underlyingmechanisms of these diversity effects remain poorly understood. Because resource C : N: P stoichiometry (i.e. the ratios of these key elements) exhibits strong control on consumers, we supposed that stoichiometric dissimilarity of litter mixtures (i.e. the divergence in C : N: P ratios among species) improves resource complementarity to decomposers leading to faster mixture decomposition. We tested this hypothesis with: (i) a wide range of leaf litter mixtures of neotropical tree species varying in C : N: P dissimilarity, and (ii) a nutrient addition experiment (C, N and P) to create stoichiometric similarity. Litter mixtures decomposed in the field using two different types of litterbags allowing or preventing access to soil fauna. Litter mixture mass loss was higher than expected from species decomposing singly, especially in presence of soil fauna. With fauna, synergistic litter mixture effects increased with increasing stoichiometric dissimilarity of litter mixtures and this positive relationship disappeared with fertilizer addition. Our results indicate that litter stoichiometric dissimilarity drives mixture effects via the nutritional requirements of soil fauna. Incorporating ecological stoichiometry in biodiversity research allows refinement of the underlying mechanisms of how changing biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning.
ISSN: 0962-8452

hal-01204222
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01204222
DOI : 10.1098/rspb.2014.1682
PRODINRA : 289918

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : Plant litter diversity effects on decomposition rates are frequently reported, but with a strong bias towards temperate ecosystems. Altered decomposition and nutrient recycling with changing litter diversity may be particularly important in tree species-rich tropical rainforests on nutrient-poor soils. Using 28 different mixtures of leaf litter from 16 Amazonian rainforest tree species, we tested the hypothesis that litter mixture effects on decomposition increase with increasing functional litter diversity. Litter mixtures and all single litter species were exposed in the field for 9 months using custom-made microcosms with soil fauna access. In order to test the hypothesis that the long-term presence of tree species contributing to the litter mixtures increases mixture effects on decomposition, microcosms were installed in a plantation at sites including the respective tree species composition and in a nearby natural forest where these tree species are absent. We found that mixture decomposition deviated from predictions based on single species, with predominantly synergistic effects. Functional litter diversity, defined as either richness, evenness, or divergence based on a wide range of chemical traits, did not explain the observed litter mixture effects. However, synergistic effects in litter mixtures increased with the long-term presence of tree species contributing to these mixtures as the home field advantage hypothesis assumes. Our data suggest that complementarity effects on mixed litter decomposition may emerge through long-term interactions between aboveground and belowground biota.
ISSN: 0029-8549

hal-01032393
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032393
DOI : 10.1007/s00442-011-1966-4

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : DNA metabarcoding on soil samples is increasingly used for large-scale and multi-taxa biodiversity studies. However, DNA extraction may be a major bottleneck for such wide uses. It should be cost/time effective and allow dealing with large sample volumes so as to maximise the representativeness of both micro- and macro-organisms diversity. Here, we compared the performances of a fast and cheap extracellular DNA extraction protocol with a total DNA extraction method in retrieving bacterial, eukaryotic and plant diversity from tropical soil samples of ca. 10 g. The total DNA extraction protocol yielded more high-quality DNA. Yet, the extracellular DNA protocol provided similar diversity assessments although it presented some differences in clades relative abundance and undersampling biases. We argue that extracellular DNA is a good compromise between cost, labor, and accuracy for high throughput DNA metabarcoding studies of soil biodiversity.
ISSN: 0038-0717

hal-01532638
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01532638
DOI : 10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.01.008
PRODINRA : 384522

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
White-sand forests are thought to host many ectomycorrhizal fungi, as demonstrated by the numerous fruiting body collections made by Rolf Singer in the lower Rio Negro in the late 1970s. Despite recognition of the importance of ectomycorrhizal fungi in white-sand forests, there has not yet been a systematic examination of diversity and taxonomic composition across white-sand forests, or more widely across lowland Amazonian forests. In an effort to broaden our view of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity and distribution on white-sand forests, we collected ectomycorrhizal fruiting bodies in 10 plots of white-sand forests in Brazil and French Guiana between 2012 and 2014. We collected 221 specimens and 62 morphospecies, from the 10 plots, confirming that all studied white-sand forests host ectomycorrhizal fungi. Additionally, we searched for taxa associated with white sands among specimens deposited in Brazilian herbaria. We report 1006 unique ectomycorrhizal specimen records in 18 Brazilian herbaria, of which 137 specimens and 64 species are reported from white-sand forests, mainly in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Russulaceae and Amanitaceae were frequent in all habitats, and Cortinarius were more frequent on white sands. Our results highlight the high diversity and heterogeneity of ectomycorrhizal communities on white-sand forests, and the wide distribution of ectomycorrhizal fungi throughout Brazil, irrespective of soil type.
Florestas em solos arenosos são consideradas como hospedeiras de muitos fungos ectomicorrízicos (EM), como demonstrado pelas numerosas coletas feitas por Rolf Singer na região do Rio Negro, Amazonas, no final dos anos 70. Apesar do reconhecimento da importância dos fungos ectomicorrízicos em florestas em solos arenosos, não houve nenhum estudo sistemático da diversidade e da composição taxonômica nas florestas em solos arenosos ou mesmo mais amplamente nas terras baixas da Floresta Amazônica. Para ter uma visão global da diversidade e da distribuição de fungos EM em florestas em solos arenosos, foram coletados basidiomas desses fungos em 10 parcelas de florestas em solos arenosos no Brasil e na Guiana Francesa entre 2012 e 2014. Além disso, uma busca foi feita por espécimes depositados em herbários brasileiros que tinham a informação de serem coletas feitas em solo arenoso. Nas 10 parcelas amostradas foram coletados 221 espécimes e 62 morfoespécies, o que confirma que todas as florestas em solos arenosos hospedam fungos EM. Recuperamos 1006 espécimes registrados em 18 herbários brasileiros, dos quais 137 espécimes e 52 espécies são registros de florestas em solos arenosos principalmente no estado do Amazonas, Brasil. Russulaceae e Amanitaceae foram frequentes em todos os habitats e Cortinarius foi o táxon mais frequente em solo arenoso. Os resultados apresentados enfatizam a alta diversidade e heterogeneidade das comunidades de EM em florestas em solos arenosos, assim como a ampla distribuição de fungos em todo o Brasil, não exclusivamente em florestas em solos arenosos.
ISSN: 0006-3606

hal-01278423
https://hal-sde.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01278423
DOI : 10.1111/btp.12297

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé :  
The maintenance in the long run of a positive carbon balance under very low irradiance is a prerequisite for survival of tree seedlings below the canopy or in small gaps in a tropical rainforest. To provide a quantitative basis for this assumption, experiments were carried out to determine whether construction cost (CC) and payback time for leaves and support structures, as well as leaf life span (i) differ among species and (ii) display an irradiance-elicited plasticity. Experiments were also conducted to determine whether leaf life span correlates to CC and payback time and is close to the optimal longevity derived from an optimization model. Saplings from 13 tropical tree species were grown under three levels of irradiance. Specific-CC was computed, as well as CC scaled to leaf area at the metamer level. Photosynthesis was recorded over the leaf life span. Payback time was derived from CC and a simple photosynthesis model. Specific-CC displayed only little interspecific variability and irradiance-elicited plasticity, in contrast to CC scaled to leaf area. Leaf life span ranged from 4 months to >26 months among species, and was longest in seedlings grown under lowest irradiance. It was always much longer than payback time, even under the lowest irradiance. Leaves were shed when their photosynthesis had reached very low values, in contrast to what was predicted by an optimality model. The species ranking for the different traits was stable across irradiance treatments. The two pioneer species always displayed the smallest CC, leaf life span, and payback time. All species displayed a similar large irradiance-elicited plasticity.
ISSN: 0022-0957

hal-01032198
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032198
DOI : 10.1093/jxb/err092

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé :  
Tree species-rich tropical rainforests are characterized by a highly variable quality of leaf litter input to the soil at small spatial scales. This diverse plant litter is a major source of energy and nutrients for soil microorganisms, particularly in rainforests developed on old and nutrient-impoverished soils. Here we tested the hypothesis that the variability in leaf litter quality produced by a highly diverse tree community determines the spatial variability of the microbial respiration process in the underlying soil. We analyzed a total of 225 litter-soil pairs from an undisturbed Amazonian rainforest in French Guiana using a hierarchical sampling design. The microbial respiration process was assessed using substrateinduced respiration (SIR) and compared to a wide range of quality parameters of the associated litter layer (litter nutrients, carbon forms, stoichiometry, litter mass and pH). The results show that the variability of both litter quality and SIR rates was more important at large than at small scales. SIR rates varied between 1.1 and 4.0 mg g_1 h_1 and were significantly correlated with litter layer quality (up to 50% of the variability explained by the best mixed linear model). Total litter P content was the individual most important factor explaining the observed spatial variation in soil SIR, with higher rates associated to high litter P. SIR rates also correlated positively with total litter N content and with increasing proportions of labile C compounds. However, contrary to our expectation, SIR rates were not related to litter stoichiometry. These data suggest that in the studied Amazonian rainforest, tree canopy composition is an important driver of the microbial respiration process via leaf litter fall, resulting in potentially strong plant-soil feedbacks. .
ISSN: 0038-0717

hal-01032139
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032139
DOI : 10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.01.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé :  
Previous studies in lowland tropical rainforests of French Guiana showed that, among non-N2-fixing trees, two groups of late successional species contrasting in their leaf 15N natural abundance coexist, suggesting two different main ways of nitrogen acquisition. Two abundant late-successional species typically co-occurring in rainforests in French Guiana, namely Eperua falcata and Dicorynia guianensis, were chosen as representative of each group. Stable isotope techniques and measurements of potentials of microbial N transformation were performed to assess to what extent leaf 15N natural abundance of these species could be related to (i) d15N signatures of soil mineral N sources and (ii) the capacity of soil to express nitrification and denitrification (both processes being directly involved in the balance between NH4 + and NO3 - ). Soil d15N-NH4 + was roughly similar to leaf d15N of D. guianensis (around 3.5%), suggesting a preferential use of NH4 +, whereas in E. falcata, leaf d15N values were closer to root d15N-NO3 _ values (0.2 and _2.0%, respectively), suggesting a preferential use of NO3 _. These differences in N source utilization were not accompanied by differences in availability in soil NO3 _ or in intensity of microbial functions responsible for soil N mineral evolution. However, (i) under both tree species, these functions showed clear spatial partitioning, with denitrification occurring potentially in soil and nitrification in the litter layer, and (ii) E. falcata fine roots colonized the litter layer much more strongly than D. guianensis fine roots. This strongly suggests that (i) the contrasted leaf d15N values found in the two late-successional species reveal distinct N acquisition strategies and (ii) the ability of roots to predominantly exploit the litter layer (E. falcata) or the soil (D. guianensis) may constitute an important explanation of the observed differences. A complementarity between tree species, based on mineral N resource partitioning (itself resulting from a spatially structured location of the microbial functions responsible for the balance between NH4 + and NO3 - ), can thus be supposed.
ISSN: 0038-0717

hal-01032035
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032035
DOI : 10.1016/j.soilbio.2007.09.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag/EDP Sciences
Résumé : International audience
Chlorophyll meters such as the SPAD-502 offer a simple, inexpensive and rapid method to estimate foliar chlorophyll content. However, values provided by SPAD-502 are unitless and require empirical calibrations between SPAD units and extracted chlorophyll values. * Leaves of 13 tree species from the tropical rain forest in French Guiana were sampled to select the most appropriate calibration model among the often-used linear, polynomial and exponential models, in addition to a novel homographic model that has a natural asymptote.* The homographic model best accurately predicted total chlorophyll content (μg cm−2) from SPAD units (R2 = 0.89). Interspecific differences in the homographic model parameters explain less than 7% of the variation in chlorophyll content in our data set. * The utility of the general homographic model for a variety of research and management applications clearly outweighs the slight loss of model accuracy due to the abandon of the species' effect.
ISSN: 1286-4560

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-00883628
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00883628
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00883628/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00883628/file/hal-00883628.pdf
DOI : 10.1051/forest/2010020

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : In the context of an ongoing monitoring study on the impacts of gold-mining activities on critical ecosystem processes, we explored the use of soil Denitrifying Enzyme Activity (DEA) and Substrate Induced Respiration (SIR) as ecosystem indicators in tropical rainforests of French Guiana. We also propose DEA/SIR ratio as ecosystem attribute able to describe the state of an ecosystem and to reflect changes in ecological processes. With this purpose, we measured SIR, DEA and DEA/SIR ratio in five gold-mining areas and five surrounding natural reference rainforests. We also measured indicators in two conditions of spontaneous regeneration of vegetation (stratified or not) and two conditions of soil rehabilitation (prior preparation of soils or not). We showed a high variability of DEA, SIR and DEA/SIR ratio in the natural reference forests. This pointed out the necessity to identify relevant reference systems - i.e. proving a close match in all relevant ecological dimensions - to compare with closed perturbed systems in order to assess the levels of alterations after disturbances. Results showed a high impact of gold mine on microbial processes with a strong decrease of DEA (10-fold lower), SIR (2-fold lower) and DEA/SIR ratio (8-fold lower) in perturbed areas in comparison with natural reference forests. The type of spontaneous vegetation (stratified or not) influenced the values of indicators as well as prior rehabilitation of soils, demonstrating the capacity of DEA. SIR and DEA/SIR ratio to respond in proportion to the perturbation (robustness) and to the different levels of restoration (sensitivity). The systematic decrease of the ratio DEA/SIR observed in the studied perturbed situations demonstrates clearly that the structure of microbial communities has been also modified. The ratio DEA/SIR proved to be robust and sensitive, and able to describe in fairly fine way changes of soil microbial communities in terms of structure and function in gold mine areas and during processes of restoration. We propose to use DEA, SIR and DEA/SIR ratio as bioindicators of both structural and functional aspects of C and N cycling in soils. Together with others bioindicators based on key supporting functions in soils, these indicators should accurately evaluate the ecological potential of natural ecosystems and the levels of degradation in case of land-use changes. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 1470-160X

hal-01190730
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01190730
DOI : 10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.01.021
PRODINRA : 213639

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : Key message Molecular markers were used for paternity recovery in a maritime pine (Pinus pinasterAit.) polycross trial, facilitating forward selection. Different breeding strategies for seed orchard establishment were evaluated by comparing genetic gains and diversity. This work opens up new perspectives in maritime pine breeding.Context Polycross mating designs are widely used in forest tree breeding to evaluate parental breeding values for backward selection. Alternatively, polycross progeny trials may be used to select the best trees on the basis of individual breeding values and molecular pedigree analysis.Aims This study aimed to test such a forward selection strategy for the maritime pine breeding program.Methods In a maritime pine polycross trial, progeny with higher breeding values for growth and stem straightness was first preselected with or without relatedness constraints. After paternity recovery, the preselected trees were ranked on the basis of their breeding values, estimated from the recovered full pedigree. Finally, the best candidates were selected with three different strategies (forward, backward, mixed) and three levels of coancestry constraints to establish a virtual clonal seed orchard.Results Complete pedigrees were successfully recovered for most of the preselected trees. There was no major difference in expected genetic gains between the two preselection strategies which differed for relatedness constraints. Genetic gains were slightly higher for forward selection than for classical backward selection.Conclusion This seminal study opens up new perspectives for using forward selection within the French maritime pine breeding program.
ISSN: 1932-6203

hal-01601804
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01601804
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0049990
PRODINRA : 391860

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : 1. Resource control over abundance, structure and functional diversity of soil microbial communities is a key determinant of soil processes and related ecosystem functioning. Copiotrophic organisms tend to be found in environments which are rich in nutrients, particularly carbon, in contrast to oligotrophs, which survive in much lower carbon concentrations. We hypothesized that microbial biomass, activity and community structure in nutrient-poor soils of an Amazonian rain forest are limited by multiple elements in interaction. We tested this hypothesis with a fertilization experiment by adding C (as cellulose), N (as urea) and P (as phosphate) in all possible combinations to a total of 40 plots of an undisturbed tropical forest in French Guiana. After 2years of fertilization, we measured a 47% higher biomass, a 21% increase in substrate-induced respiration rate and a 5-fold higher rate of decomposition of cellulose paper discs of soil microbial communities that grew in P-fertilized plots compared to plots without P fertilization. These responses were amplified with a simultaneous C fertilization suggesting P and C colimitation of soil micro-organisms at our study site. Moreover, P fertilization modified microbial community structure (PLFAs) to a more copiotrophic bacterial community indicated by a significant decrease in the Gram-positive:Gram-negative ratio. The Fungi:Bacteria ratio increased in N fertilized plots, suggesting that fungi are relatively more limited by N than bacteria. Changes in microbial community structure did not affect rates of general processes such as glucose mineralization and cellulose paper decomposition. In contrast, community level physiological profiles under P fertilization combined with either C or N fertilization or both differed strongly from all other treatments, indicating functionally different microbial communities. While P appears to be the most critical from the three major elements we manipulated, the strongest effects were observed in combination with either supplementary C or N addition in support of multiple element control on soil microbial functioning and community structure. We conclude that the soil microbial community in the studied tropical rain forest and the processes it drives is finely tuned by the relative availability in C, N and P. Any shifts in the relative abundance of these key elements may affect spatial and temporal heterogeneity in microbial community structure, their associated functions and the dynamics of C and nutrients in tropical ecosystems.
ISSN: 0269-8463

hal-01204229
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01204229
DOI : 10.1111/1365-2435.12329
PRODINRA : 311389

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé :  
Microbial-based indicators, such as C and N contents or microbial functions involved in C and N cycles, are currently used to describe the status of soils in disturbed areas. Microbial functions are more accurate indicators but their measurement for studies at the ecosystem level remains problematical because of the huge spatial variability of these processes and, consequently, of the large number of soil samples which must be analyzed. Our goal was to test the capacity of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict respiration and denitrification but also carbon and nitrogen contents of soils submitted to various procedures of restoration. To achieve this objective, we took advantage of an experiment conducted on a reforestation system established after open-cast gold mining in French Guiana. In this experimental station, plantations of various ages and various soil textures were at our disposal. Our results showed that both plantations and soil texture had a strong impact on the recovery of soil functioning: carbon and nitrogen contents, respiration and denitrification increased with age of plantation and clay content. Calibrations were performed between spectral data and microbial-based indicators using partial least squares regression (PLS). The results showed that C and N contents were accurately predicted. Microbial functions were less precisely predicted with results more accurate on clayey soils than on sandy soils. In clayey soils, perturbed or restored soils and the year of plantation were discriminated very efficiently through principal component analyses of spectral signatures (over 80% of variance explained on the first two axes). Near-infrared spectroscopy may thus be extended to the prediction of functional soil parameters, but the capacity of this method must be strengthened by expending the databases with other soils in other contexts. The possibility of using NIRS provides many opportunities for understanding both the temporal dynamics and the spatial variability of the recovery of key microbial functions during soil restoration.
ISSN: 0929-1393

hal-01032188
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032188
DOI : 10.1016/j.apsoil.2007.07.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag (Germany)
Résumé : absent
Oecologia

hal-01032392
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032392
DOI : 10.1007/s00442-011-1966-4

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : Tropical forests determine global biogeochemical cycles to a large extent, but control factors for key ecosystem processes such as decomposition remain poorly understood. With a full-factorial C (cellulose), N (urea), and P (phosphate) fertilization experiment, we tested the relative importance of C and nutrient limitation on litter decomposition in a mature lowland moist forest of French Guiana. Despite the previously demonstrated litter C quality control over decomposition and the very low soil P content (0.1 mg g(-1) of soil) at our study site, fertilization with C or P alone did not increase the decomposition of a wide range of litter types (N:P ratios between 20 and 80). Nitrogen fertilization alone also had no effect on decomposition. However, the combined fertilization with N and P resulted in up to 33.5% more initial litter mass lost, with an increasing effect with wider litter N:P ratios. Soil fauna strongly stimulated litter mass loss and enhanced nutrient fertilization effects. Moreover, nutrient effects on decomposition increased with additional C fertilization in the presence of fauna. Our results suggest that increased N availability is required for a positive P effect on decomposition in the studied P-poor tropical forest. Further stimulation of decomposition by C amendment through priming indicates energy limitation of decomposers that is co-determined by nutrient availability. The demonstrated intricate control of the key resources C, N, and P on decomposition calls for an intensified research effort on multiple resource limitation on key processes in tropical forests and how they change under multiple human impacts.
ISSN: 1432-9840

hal-01032414
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032414
DOI : 10.1007/s10021-012-9564-9