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Impacts of plant secondary metabolites from conifer litter on the decomposition of Populus purdomii litter

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Abstract

A decomposition experiment of Populus purdomii litter, a commonly used afforestation species in the Qinling Mountains, China, was conducted. Water extracts of five conifer litters were used to treat P. purdomii litter and its soil. The P. purdomii litter was incubated at room temperature (20–25 °C) and constant soil moisture for 6 months. During the decomposition period, the dynamics of litter mass and nutrient contents were detected to investigate the impacts of plant secondary metabolites. The results indicate that litter extracts of Pinus tabuliformis, Platycladus orientalis, Pinus armandii and Larix principis-rupprechtii significantly inhibited the overall nutrient release of P. purdomii litter, while the last three types of litter extracts simultaneously inhibited its decomposition. Conversely, the litter extracts of Picea asperata significantly accelerated the overall nutrient release of P. purdomii. Generally, most of the conifer species, whose litter released terpenoids , phenolics, steroids, and aliphatic acids, will inhibit the decomposition and/or nutrient release from P. purdomii litter. Their negative effects on the decomposers and soil enzymatic activities indicates that planting diversity should be lower when mixed planted with P. purdomii.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Yan’an University, Yan’an, 716000, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoxi Zhang

  2. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoxi Zhang

  3. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, People’s Republic of China

    Boya Wang & Zengwen Liu

  4. Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and the Agri-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, People’s Republic of China

    Zengwen Liu

Authors
  1. Xiaoxi Zhang
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  2. Boya Wang
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  3. Zengwen Liu
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Correspondence to Zengwen Liu.

Additional information

Project funding: This research was supported by the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Yan’an University (YDBK2017-26), the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (2018JQ4047), and the Young Talent fund of University Association for Science and Technology in Shaanxi, China (20170704).

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Corresponding editor: Yu Lei.

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Zhang, X., Wang, B. & Liu, Z. Impacts of plant secondary metabolites from conifer litter on the decomposition of Populus purdomii litter. J. For. Res. 30, 2237–2245 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0766-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0766-7

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