Changes in plant resource inputs lead to rapid alterations in soil dissolved organic matter composition in an old-growth tropical forest
Guoxiang Niu,
Gege Yin,
Junjian Wang,
Peng Zhang,
Yingxue Xuan,
Qinggong Mao,
Weibin Chen,
Xiankai Lu
Affiliations
Guoxiang Niu
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany and Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Plant Conservation and Utilization in Southern China, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Neutrality and Ecosystem Carbon Sink, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiujiang 332900, China
Gege Yin
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
Junjian Wang
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
Peng Zhang
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
Yingxue Xuan
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany and Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Plant Conservation and Utilization in Southern China, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Qinggong Mao
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany and Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Plant Conservation and Utilization in Southern China, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Weibin Chen
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany and Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Plant Conservation and Utilization in Southern China, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Xiankai Lu
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany and Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Plant Conservation and Utilization in Southern China, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; Corresponding author.
Alterations in plant resource inputs to soil affect soil organic matter (OM) dynamics. However, it remains unclear how to alter soil dissolved OM (DOM) composition. Here, we used UV/fluorescence spectroscopy and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry to analyze soil DOM’s optical and molecular characteristics after eight months of detritus input and removal in an old-growth tropical forest. Changes in plant inputs significantly altered soil DOM’s optical properties, and the most pronounced changes were observed in the humification index and fluorescent components. In litterfall removal and no-input plots, molecular characteristic values increased greatly, such as O/C, double-bond equivalent, aromaticity index, and proportion of carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules, while biolabile compounds decreased. The abundance of lignin-like and tannin-like compounds was more than 20 % higher in litter removal plots than in no-input plots. Our findings indicate that changes in plant resource inputs can lead to rapid alterations in soil DOM composition.
