Effects of precipitation regime change and nitrogen deposition on soil nematode diversity in the grassland of northern China

doi:10.17520/biods.2023491

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims: Changes in precipitation and nitrogen deposition significantly affect ecological functions and processes. As the most important soil organisms in terrestrial ecosystems, nematodes participate in various ecological processes. However, it remains unclear how the functional and phylogenetic diversity of nematode communities respond to changes in precipitation patterns and how nitrogen deposition regulates these responses. This paper aims to explore the effects of long-term precipitation intensity changes on soil nematode diversity and how changes in precipitation patterns affect soil nematode functional and phylogenetic diversity with and without nitrogen addition.
Methods: In this study, an 8-year experimental simulation of precipitation patterns and nitrogen addition was conducted, including precipitation intensity 2 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 20 mm, 40 mm and nitrogen addition (10 g N·m^-2·yr^-1). The diversity of soil nematodes was determined through taxonomy.
Results: The results showed that larger precipitation intensity increased the functional α diversity and phylogenetic α diversity of soil nematodes, while decreasing the taxonomic β diversity and phylogenetic β diversity. Nitrogen addition decreased the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic α diversity, while increasing taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic β diversity. An increase in functional and phylogenetic diversity was observed under moderated and high precipitation intensity treatments. Soil water content and soil microbial biomass carbon content were the main factors impacting the functional and phylogenetic diversity of soil nematodes.
Conclusions: Due to global climate change, an increase in rainfall intensity in the coming decades may favor an increase in soil nematode functional and phylogenetic diversity in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. However, in areas with heavy nitrogen deposition, this positive effect may be offset by the deterioration of the soil environment caused by nitrogen deposition.

Key words: soil nematode, precipitation regime change, nitrogen deposition, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, climate change

Kexin Cao, Jingwen Wang, Guo Zheng, Pengfeng Wu, Yingbin Li, Shuyan Cui. Effects of precipitation regime change and nitrogen deposition on soil nematode diversity in the grassland of northern China[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2024, 32(3): 23491.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2023491

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2024/V32/I3/23491

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Conceptual representation of the precipitation and nitrogen addition experimental design. The numbers next to the drops represent the frequency of precipitation, each drop represents 1 mm of rainfall, and N represents nitrogen addition treatment.

Fig. 2 Effects of precipitation intensity changes and N addition on soil nutrients (a‒p), soil environment (q‒t) and vegetation properties (u‒z) (mean ± SE). N0 and N10 are treatments without and with nitrogen, respectively. Different lowercase letters for soil nutrients (A), soil environment (B), and vegetation characteristics (C) indicate that there are significant differences in different precipitation intensity treatments under N0 and N10 treatments, respectively (P < 0.05). SOC, Soil organic carbon; TN, Total soil nitrogen; TP, Total soil phosphorus; AN, Available nitrogen; NH4+-N, Ammoniacal nitrogen; NO3--N, Nitrate-nitrogen; MBC, Microbial biomass carbon; MBN, Microbial biomass nitrogen; SM, Soil moisture; AGB, Aboveground biomass; BGB, Belowground biomass.

Table 1 Results (F-values) of two-way ANOVAs on the effects of N addition (N) and precipitation intensity change (P) and their interactions (N × P) on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic nematode α and β diversity

处理 Treatments	分类α多样性 Taxonomic α diversity	分类β多样性 Taxonomic β diversity	功能α多样性 Functional α diversity	功能β多样性 Functional β diversity	系统发育α多样性 Phylogenetic α diversity	系统发育β多样性 Phylogenetic β diversity
氮添加 N	30.207***	1.938	14.385***	2.046	10.709**	0.177
水添加 P	3.395*	1.123	1.363	3.610**	0.426	4.608***
氮水交互 N × P	6.761***	3.095*	3.920**	3.469**	4.942**	4.826***

Fig. 3 Effects of precipitation intensity change and nitrogen addition on soil nematode taxonomic α and β diversity (a, d), functional α and β diversity (b, e), and phylogenetic α and β diversity (c, f). N0 and N10 are treatments without and with nitrogen, respectively. Different lowercase letters indicate that nematode diversity is significantly different between different precipitation intensities under N0 treatment; different capital letters indicate that nematode diversity is significantly different between different precipitation intensities under N10 treatment (P < 0.05). The significance of N addition on nematode diversity under the same precipitation intensity is indicated by asterisks (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01).

Table 2 Correlation analysis results of environmental factors on the α diversity of soil nematodes

环境因子 Environmental factors	分类α多样性 Taxonomic α diversity	功能α多样性 Functional α diversity	系统发育α多样性 Phylogenetic α diversity
含水量 SM (%)	0.345*	0.290*	0.286*
土壤pH值 pH	0.512**	0.402**	0.397**
土壤有机碳 SOC (g/kg)	-0.04	0.088	-0.009
土壤全氮 TN (g/kg)	-0.04	0.099	0.043
土壤全磷 TP (g/kg)	0.104	0.307*	0.098
土壤微生物量碳 MBC (mg/kg)	0.420**	0.312*	0.405**
土壤微生物量氮 MBN (mg/kg)	-0.171	0.123	0.185
碱解氮 AN (mg/kg)	-0.113	0.037	-0.149
铵态氮 NH₄⁺-N (mg/kg)	0.093	-0.093	-0.044
硝态氮 NO₃^--N (mg/kg)	-0.305*	-0.371**	-0.254
植物地上生物量 AGB (g/m²)	-0.232	-0.260	-0.155
植物地下生物量 BGB (g/m²)	-0.346*	-0.321*	-0.345*
丰富度 Richness	0.312*	0.132	0.203

Table 3 Correlation analysis results of environmental factors on the β diversity of soil nematodes

环境因子 Environmental factors	分类β多样性Taxonomic β diversity	功能β多样性 Functional β diversity	系统发育β多样性 Phylogenetic β diversity
含水量 SM (%)	-0.066	0.072	0.340**
土壤pH值 pH	0.014	-0.033	0.029
土壤有机碳 SOC (g/kg)	0.087	-0.050	-0.001
土壤全氮 TN (g/kg)	0.048	-0.047	0.049
土壤全磷 TP (g/kg)	0.026	-0.029	0.057
土壤微生物量碳 MBC (mg/kg)	0.343**	-0.302**	0.040
土壤微生物量氮 MBN (mg/kg)	-0.137	0.128	0.323**
碱解氮 AN (mg/kg)	0.025	-0.065	-0.071
铵态氮 NH₄⁺-N (mg/kg)	-0.058	0.131	0.211
硝态氮NO₃^--N (mg/kg)	-0.065	0.046	0.219
植物地上生物量 AGB (g/m²)	-0.014	-0.054	0.054
植物地下生物量 BGB (g/m²)	0.080	-0.020	-0.040
丰富度 Richness	0.013	0.050	0.008

Fig. 4 Random forest model shows the environmental that affect the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic α and β diversity of soil nematodes. SOC, Soil organic carbon; TN, Total soil nitrogen; TP, Total soil phosphorus; AN, Available nitrogen; NH4+-N, Ammoniacal nitrogen; NO3--N, Nitrate-nitrogen; MBC, Microbial biomass carbon; MBN, Microbial biomass nitrogen; SM, Soil moisture; AGB, Aboveground biomass; BGB, Belowground biomass. %IncMSE means the increase in mean squared error. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, indicating the associated factors that had significant effects on soil nematode diversity.

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