Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Soil C and N responses to woody plant expansion in a mesic grassland

  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Changes in land management and reductions in fire frequency have contributed to increased cover of woody species in grasslands worldwide. These shifts in plant community composition have the potential to alter ecosystem function, particularly through changes in soil processes and properties. In semi-arid grasslands, the invasion of shrubs and trees is often accompanied by increases in soil resources and more rapid N and C cycling. We assessed the effects of shrub encroachment in a mesic grassland in Kansas (USA) on soil CO2 flux, extractable inorganic N, and N mineralization beneath shrub communities (Cornus drummondii) and surrounding undisturbed grassland sites. In this study, a shift in plant community composition from grassland to shrubland resulted in a 16% decrease in annual soil CO2 flux(4.78 kg CO2 m−2 year−1 for shrub dominated sites versus 5.84 kg CO2 m−2 year−1 for grassland sites) with no differences in total soil C or N or inorganic N. There was considerable variability in N mineralization rates within sites, which resulted in no overall difference in cumulative N mineralized during this study (4.09 g N m−2 for grassland sites and 3.03 g N m−2 for shrub islands). These results indicate that shrub encroachment into mesic grasslands does not significantly alter N availability (at least initially), but does alter C cycling by decreasing soil CO2 flux.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrams M D 1986 Historical development of gallery forests in northeast Kansas (USA). Vegetatio 65, 29–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adams D E, Anderson R C and Collins S L 1982 Differential responses of woody and herbaceous species to summer and winter burning in an Oklahoma grassland. Southwest. Nat. 27, 55–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson J M 1991 The effects of climate change on decomposition processes in grassland and coniferous forest. Ecol. Appl. 1, 326–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer S 1994 Woody plant encroachment into southwestern grasslands and savannas: rates, patterns and proximate causes. In Ecological Implications of Livestock Herbivory in theWest. Eds. M Vavra, W A Laycock and R D Pieper. pp. 13–68. Society of Range Management, Denver, CO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer S, Boutton T W and Hibbard K A 2001 Trees in grasslands: biochemical consequences of woody plant expansion. In Global Biogeochemical Cycles in the Climate System. Eds. E D Schulze, S P Harrison, M Heimann, E A Holland, J Lloyd, I C Prentice and D Schimel. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belsky A J 1994 Influences of trees on savanna productivity: Tests of shade, nutrients, and tree-grass competition. Ecology 75, 922–932.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bragg T B and Hulbert L C 1976Woody plant invasion of unburned Kansas bluestem prairie. J. Range Manage. 29, 19–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs J M and Gibson D J 1992 Effect of fire on tree spatial patterns in a tallgrass prairie landscape. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 119, 300–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs J M and Knapp A K 1995 Interannual variability in primary production in tallgrass prairie: Climate, soil moisture, topographic position, and fire as determinants of aboveground biomass. Am. J. Bot. 82, 1024–1030.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs J M, Seastedt T R and Gibson D J 1989 Comparative analysis of temporal and spatial variability in above-ground production in a deciduous forest and prairie. Holarct Ecol. 12, 130–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs J M, Knapp A K and Brock B L 2002 Expansion of woody plants in tallgrass prairie: a 15 year study of fire and fire-grazing interactions. Am. Midl. Nat. 147, 287–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchmann N 2000 Biotic and abiotic factors controlling soil respiration rates in Picea abies stands. Soil Biol. Biochem. 32, 1625–1635.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daubenmire R 1968 Ecology of fire in grasslands. Adv. Ecol. Resour. 5, 209–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson E A, Belk E and Boone R D 1998 Soil water content and temperature as independent or confounded factors controlling soil respiration in a temperate mixed hardwood forest. Global Change Biol. 4, 217–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson E A, Verchot L V, Cattanio J H, Ackerman I L and Carvalho J E M 2000 Effects of soil water content on soil respiration in forests and cattle pastures of eastern Amazonia. Biogeochemistry 48, 53–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrenfeld J G, Kourtev P and Huang W 2001 Changes in soil functions following invasion of exotic understory plants in deciduous forests. Ecol. Appl. 11, 1287–1300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans R D, Rimer R, Sperry L and Belnap J 2001 Exotic plant invasion alters nitrogen dynamics in an arid grassland. Ecol. Appl. 11, 1301–1310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fang C and Moncrieff J B 2001 The dependence of soil CO2 efflux on temperature. Soil Biol. Biochem. 33, 155–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman C C 1998 The flora of Konza Prairie: A historical review and contemporary patterns. In Grassland Dynamics: Long-Term Ecological Research. Eds. A K Knapp, J M Briggs, D C Hartnett and S L Collins. pp. 69–80. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia F O and Rice C W 1994 Microbial biomass dynamics in tallgrass prairie. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 58, 816–823.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson P J, Wullschleger S D, Bohlman S A and Todd D E 1993 Seasonal and topographical patterns of forest floor CO2 efflux from an upland oak forest. Tree Physiol. 12, 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayden B P 1998 Regional climate and the distribution of tallgrass prairie. In Grassland Dynamics: Long-term Ecological Research in Tallgrass Prairies. Eds. A K Knapp, J B Briggs, D C Hartnett and S L Collins. pp. 19–34. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman R P 1977 Root contribution to 'total soil respiration' in a tallgrass prairie. Am. Midl. Nat. 98, 227–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobbie S E 1992 Effects of plant specie on nutrient cycling. TREE 7, 336–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoch G A and Briggs J M 1999 Expansion of eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) in the northern Flint Hills, Kansas. In Proceedings 16th North American Prairie Conference, University of Nebraska, Kearney, 1999. Ed. J T Springer. pp. 9–15.

  • Hooper D U and Vitousek P M 1998 Effects of plant composition and diversity on nutrient cycling. Ecol. Monogr. 68, 121–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulbert L C 1986 Fire effects on tallgrass prairie. In The Ninth North American Prairie Conference, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA, 1986. Ed. R H Pemble. pp. 138–142.

  • Jackson R B, Canadell J, Ehleringer J R, Mooney H A, Sala O E and Schulze E D 1996 A global analysis of root distributions for terrestrial biomes. Oecologia 108, 389–411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson R B, Banner J L, Jobbágy E G, Pockman W T and Wall D H 2002 Ecosystem carbon loss with woody plant invasion of grasslands. Nature 418, 623–626.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenny H 1930 A study on the influence of climate upon the nitrogen and organic matter content of soil. In Research Bulletin 152. Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, Columbia, MO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kieft T L, White C S, Loftin S R, Aguilar R, Craig J A and Skaar D A 1998 Temporal dynamics in soil carbon and nitrogen resources at a grassland-shrubland ecotone. Ecology 79, 671–683.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knapp A K 1986 Postfire water relations, production, and biomass allocation in the shrub, Rhus glabra, in tallgrass prairie. Bot. Gaz. 147, 90–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knapp A K and Seastedt T R 1986 Detritus accumulation limits productivity of tallgrass prairie. BioScience 36, 662–668.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knapp A K, Conard S L and Blair J M 1998 Determinants of soil CO2 flux from a sub-humid grassland: Effect of fire and fire history. Ecol. Appl. 8, 760–770.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight C L, Briggs J M and Nellis D M 1994 Expansion of gallery forest on Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, Kansas, USA. Landscape Ecol. 9, 117–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kucera C L 1960 Forest encroachment in native prairie. Iowa State J. Sci. 34, 635–640.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kucera C L and Kirkham D R 1971 Soil respiration studies in tallgrass prairie in missouri. Ecology 52, 912–915.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd J and Taylor J A 1994 On the temperature dependence of soil respiration. Funct. Ecol. 8, 315–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loehle C, Li B-L and Sundell R C 1996 Forest spread and phase transitions at forest-prairie ecotones in Kansas. Landsc. Ecol. 11, 225–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo Y, Wan S, Hui D and Wallace L L 2001 Acclimatization of soil respiration to warming in a tall grass prairie. Nature 413, 622–625.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarron J K and Knapp A K In Press C3 shrub invasion in a C4 grassland: Post-fire responses in resources and shoot growth. Am. J. Bot.

  • Mielnick P C and Dugas W A 2000 Soil CO2 flux in a tallgrass prairie. Soil Biol. Biochem. 32, 221–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mordelet P, Abbadie L and Menaut J-C 1993 Effects of tree clumps on soil characteristics in a humid savanna ofWest Africa (Lamto, Cote d'Ivoire). Plant Soil 153, 103–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naeem S, Thompson L J, Lawler S P, Lawton J H and Woodfin R M 1994 Declining biodiversity can alter the performance of ecosystems. Nature 368, 734–737.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norman J M, Garcia R and Verma S B 1992 Soil surface CO2 fluxes and the carbon budget of a grassland. J. Geophys. Res. 97, 18845–18853.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris M 2000 Biogeochmical consequences of land cover change in eastern Kansas. In Division of Biology. Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. 112 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petranka J W and McPherson J K 1979 The role of Rhus copallina in the dynamics of the forest-prairie ecotone in North-Central Oklahoma. Ecology 60, 956–965.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raich J W and Potter C S 1995 Global patterns of carbon dioxide emissions from soils. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 9, 23–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raich J W and Schlesinger W H 1992 The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to vegetation and climate. Tellus 44 B, 81–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raich J W and Tufekcioglu A 2000 Vegetation and soil respiration: correlations and controls. Biogeochemistry 48, 71–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raison R J, Connell M J and Khanna P K 1987 Methodology for studying fluxes of soil mineral nitrogen in-situ. Soil Biol. Biochem. 19, 521–530.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich P B, Peterson D W, Wedin D A and Wrage K 2001 Fire and vegetation effects on productivity and nitrogen cycling across a forest-grassland continuum. Ecology 82, 1703–1719.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rustad L E, Huntington T G and Boone R D 2000 Controls on soil respiration: Implications for climate change. Biogeochemistry 48, 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS 1989 SAS user's guide: statistics. SAS Institute, Cary, NC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger W H, Reynolds G L, Cunningham L F, Huennke W M, Jarrell W M and Virginia R A 1990 Biological feedbacks in global desertification. Science 247, 1043–1048.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scholes R J and Archer S R 1997 Tree-grass interactions in savannas. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Systematics 28, 517–544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seastedt T R 1988 Mass, nitrogen, and phosphorus dynamics in foliage and root detritus of tallgrass prairie. Ecology 69, 59–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seastedt T R and Knapp A K 1993 Consequences of nonequilibrium resource availability across multiple time scales: the transient maxima hypothesis. Am. Nat. 141, 621–633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seastedt T R and Ramundo R A 1990 The influence of fire on below-ground processes of tallgrass prairie. In Fire in North American Grasslands. Eds S L Collins and L L Wallace. pp. 99–177. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith D 2001 Changes in carbon cycling as forests expand into tallgrass prairie: Mechanisms driving low soil respiration rates in juniper forests. In Division of Biology. Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilman D, Wedin D and Knops J 1996 Productivity and sustainability influenced by biodiversity in grassland ecosystems. Nature 379, 718–720.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner C L, Blair J M, Schartz R J and Neel J C 1997 Soil N and plant responses to fire, topography, and supplemental N in tallgrass prairie. Ecology 78, 1832–1843.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek P M 1994 Beyond global warming: Ecology and Global Change. Ecology 75, 1861–1876.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver J E 1968 Prairie Plants and their Environment. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wedin D and Tilman D 1990 Species effects on nitrogen cycling: a test with perennial grasses. Oecologia 84, 433–441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson S D 1993 Belowground competition in forest and prairie. Oikos 68, 146–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson S D and Kleb H R 1996 The influence of prairie and forest vegetation on soil moisture and available nitrogen. Am. Midl. Nat. 136, 222–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zak D R, Tilman D, Parmenter R R, Rice C W, Fisher F M, Vose J M, Milchunas D and Martin C W 1994 Plant production and soil microorganisms in late-successional ecosystems: A continentalscale study. Ecology 75, 2333–2347.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, Plant Sciences Center, 4024 Throckmorton, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    James K. McCarron, Alan K. Knapp & John M. Blair

  2. Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    James K. McCarron

Authors
  1. James K. McCarron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alan K. Knapp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John M. Blair
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James K. McCarron.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McCarron, J.K., Knapp, A.K. & Blair, J.M. Soil C and N responses to woody plant expansion in a mesic grassland. Plant and Soil 257, 183–192 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026255214393

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026255214393

Search

Navigation