Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The role of spring ephemerals and soil microbes in soil nutrient retention in a temperate desert

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aims

Nutrient uptake by ephemerals is a key element of nutrient retention in some hardwood forests. However, little information is available regarding the role of ephemerals and soil microbes in deserts.

Methods

Seasonal patterns of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) uptake by spring ephemerals and soil microbes were measured in 2011–2013 in a temperate desert. Seasonal dynamics of soil inorganic N and available P, nitrate leaching and soil microbial N and P were also monitored.

Results

Ephemerals exhibited a large nutrient pool in their growing season, with net N and P uptakes of 0.49–0.94 g m−2 and 0.05–0.09 g m−2, respectively, in normal precipitation years (2011 and 2013). Within 6 months of death, spring ephemerals released 35 % of litter N and 60 % of litter P. N and P microbial immobilizations were 3.6 and 4.5 times greater, respectively, than spring ephemeral uptake during normal precipitation years, but soil microbes showed a net nutrient release during the dry year (2012).

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that the relative importance of soil microbes and spring ephemerals in soil nutrient retention is related to annual precipitation, with higher nutrient retention by soil microbes in normal precipitation years and by spring ephemerals in dry year.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alon A, Steinberger Y (1999) Effect of nitrogen amendments on microbial biomass, above-ground biomass and nematode population in the Negev Desert soil. J Arid Environ 41:429–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angert AL, Huxman TE, Barron-Gafford GA, Gerst KL, Venable DL (2007) Linking growth strategies to long-term population dynamics in a guild of desert annuals. J Ecol 95:321–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Austin AT, Yahdjian L, Stark JM, Belnap J, Porporato A, Norton U, Ravetta DA, Schaeffer SM (2004) Water pulses and biogeochemical cycles in arid and semiarid ecosystems. Oecologia 141:221–235

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bell C, McIntyre N, Cox S, Tissue D, Zak J (2008) Soil microbial responses to temporal variations of moisture and temperature in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland. Microb Ecol 56:153–167

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bickelhaupt DH, White EH (1982) Laboratory manual for soil and plant tissue analysis. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings SA, Schaeffer SM, Evans RD (2004) Soil microbial activity and N availability with elevated CO2 in Mojave Desert soils. Glob Biogeoch Cycl 18, GB002137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bormann FH, Likens GE, Melillo JM (1977) Nitrogen budget for an aggrading northern hardwood forest ecosystem. Science 196:981–983

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brookes PC, Powlson DS, Jenkinson DS (1984) Phosphorus in the soil microbial biomass. Soil Biol Biochem 16:169–175

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brookes PC, Landman A, Pruden G, Jenkinson DS (1985) Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen-A rapid direct extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 17:837–842

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Castellano MJ, Lewis DB, Kaye JP (2012) Response of soil nitrogen retention to the interactive effects of soil texture, hydrology, and organic matter. J Geophysical Res: Biogeosci 118:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen BM, Wang GX, Peng SL (2009) Role of desert annuals in nutrient flow in arid area of Northwestern China: a nutrient reservoir and provider. Plant Ecol 201:401–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eickmeier W, Schussler E (1993) Responses of the spring ephemeral Claytonia virginica L. to light and nutrient manipulations and implications for the “vernal dam” hypothesis. Bull Torrey Bot Club 120:157–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan LL, Tang LS, Wu LF, Ma J, Li Y (2014) The limited role of snow water in the growth and development of ephemeral plants in a cold desert. J Veg Sci 25:681–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farnsworth E, Nunez J, Farfan J, Careaga S, Bazzaz F (1995) Phenology and growth of three temperate forest life forms in response to artificial soil warming. J Ecol 83:967–977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo QF, Brown JH (1997) Interactions between winter and summer annuals in the Chihuahuan Desert. Oecologia 111:123–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heckathorn S, Delucia E (1995) Ammonia volatilization during drought in perennial C4 grasses of tallgrass prairie. Oecologia 101:361–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang G, Li Y, Padilla FM (2015a) Ephemeral plants mediate responses of ecosystem carbon exchange to increased precipitation in a temperate desert. Agr For Met 201:141–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang G, Li Y, Su YG (2015b) Effects of increasing precipitation on soil microbial community composition and soil respiration in a temperate desert, Northwestern China. Soil Biol Biochem 83:52–56

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jack TT, Dudley JR (2003) Vernal nitrogen and phosphorus retention by forest understory vegetation and soil microbes. Plant Soil 256:443–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jandl R, Kopeszki H, Glatze1 G (1997) Effect of a dense Allium ursinum (L.) ground cover on nutrient dynamics and mesofauna of a Fagus sylvatica (L.) woodland. Plant Soil: 245–255.

  • John MK (1970) Colorimetric determination of phosphorus in soil and plant materials with ascorbic acid. Soil Sci 109:214–220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li XR (2012) Eco-hydrology of biological soil crusts in desert regions of China. Higher Education Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Li CJ, Li Y, Ma J (2011) Scale characteristics of spatial heterogeneity of soil chemical properties in Gurbantunggut Desert. J Des Res (In Chinese) 48:302–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Mabry CM, Gerken ME, Thompson JR (2008) Seasonal storage of nutrients by perennial herbaceous species in undisturbed and disturbed deciduous hardwood forests. Appl Veg Sci 11:37–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mart E, Grimm NB, Fisher S (1997) Pre- and post-flood retention efficiency of nitrogen in a Sonoran Desert stream. J N Am Benthol Soc 16:805–819

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCalley CK, Sparks JP (2009) Abiotic gas formation drives nitrogen loss from a desert ecosystem. Science 326:837–840

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan JB, Connolly EL (2013) Plant-soil interactions: nutrient uptake. Nature Education Knowledge 4:2

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller RN, Bormann FH (1976) Role of Erythronium americanum Ker. in energy flow and nutrient dynamics in the northern hardwood forest. Science 193:1126–1128

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parker L, Santos P, Phillips J, Whitford W (1984) Carbon and nitrogen dynamics during the decomposition of litter and roots of a Chihuahuan Desert annual Lepidium lasiocarpum. Ecol Monogr 54:339–360

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patten DT (1978) Productivity and production efficiency of an Upper Sonoran Desert ephemeral community. Am J Bot 65:891–895

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed SC, Coe KK, Sparks JP, Housman DC, Zelikova TZ, Belnap J (2012) Changes to dryland rainfall result in rapid moss mortality and altered soil fertility. Nat Clim Chang 2:752–755

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robert JS, Jennifer LF, Edith BA (2011) Can resource-use traits predict native vs. exotic plant success in carbon amended soils? Ecol Appl 21:1211–1224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein DE (2000) Spring ephemeral herbs and nitrogen cycling in a northern hardwood forest: an experimental test of the vernal dam hypothesis. Oecologia 124:446–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schade JD, Marti E, Welter JR, Fisher SG, Grimm NB (2002) Sources of nitrogen to the riparian zone of a desert stream: implications for riparian vegetation and nitrogen retention. Ecosystems 5:68–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimel J, Balser TC (2007) Microbial stress-response physiology and its implications for ecosystem function. Ecology 88:1386–1394

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger W, Peterjohn W (1991) Processes controlling ammonia volatilization from Chihuahuan Desert soils. Soil Biol Biochem 23:637–642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • State Environmental Protection Administration (2014) Soil quality-determination of available phosphorus-sodium hydrogen carbonate solution-Mo-Sb anti spectrophotometric method. China Environmental Science Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Su YG, Wu L, Zhou ZB, Liu YB, Zhang YM (2013) Carbon flux in deserts depends on soil cover type: a case study in the Gurbantunggute desert, North China. Soil Biol Biochem 58:332–340

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tessier JT, Raynal DJ (2003) Vernal nitrogen and phosphorus retention by forest understory vegetation and soil microbes. Plant Soil 256:443–453

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay NO, Larocque GR (2001) Seasonal dynamics of understory vegetation in four eastern Canadian forest types. Int J Plant Sci 162:271–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Reiners WA (1975) Ecosystem succession and nutrient retention: a hypothesis. BioSci 25:376–381

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang XQ, Jiang J, Wang YC, Luo WL, Song CW, Chen JJ (2006) Responses of ephemeral plant germination and growth to water and heat conditions in the southern part of Gurbantunggut Desert. Chin Sci Bull 51:110–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West NE, Skujins J (1978) Nitrogen in desert ecosystems Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross. Academic Press, Stroudsburg

    Google Scholar 

  • Zak DR, Groffman PM, Pregitzer KS, Christensen S, Tiedje JM (1990) The vernal dam: plant-microbe competition for nitrogen in northern hardwood forests. Ecol Evol 71:651–656

    Google Scholar 

  • Zechmeister-Boltenstern S, Hahn M, Meger S, Jandl R (2002) Nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching in relation to microbial biomass dynamics in a beech forest soil. Soil Biol Biochem 34:823–832

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou H, Li Y, Tang Y, Zhou B, Xu H (2009) The characteristics of the snow-cover and snowmelt water storage in Gurbantunggut Desert. Arid Zone Res 26:312–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Lan Zhong dong, Liu Yan and Wu Lin feng in the Fukang Station of Desert Ecology for their field and lab work, and professor Hans Lambers in the University of Western Australia for valuable comments on the early version of this paper. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable and helpful comments on our paper. This work was sponsored by the Chinese National Natural Scientific Foundation (31570455, 31370010 & 41371004).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Gang Huang, Li Zhu & Yan Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, South Beijing Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang, 830011, China

    Yan Gui Su

Authors
  1. Gang Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yan Gui Su
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Li Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yan Li.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Klaus Butterbach-Bahl.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Fig. S1

(DOC 317 kb)

Table S1

(DOC 43 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Huang, G., Su, Y.G., Zhu, L. et al. The role of spring ephemerals and soil microbes in soil nutrient retention in a temperate desert. Plant Soil 406, 43–54 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2861-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2861-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation