Passive and active ecological restoration strategies for abandoned farmland leads to shifts in potential soil nitrogen loss by denitrification and soil denitrifying microbes

Bibliographic Data

ID21649333
AuthorsHonglei Wang (0000-0003-2007-6048, State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dry Land Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Northwest A&F University Yangling Shaanxi PR China), Duntao Shu (0000-0002-7832-1352, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, College of Life Science Northwest A&F University Yangling Shaanxi PR China), Dong Liu (0000-0001-9090-5732, Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Kunming Yunnan PR China), Shuang Liu (0000-0002-8749-3607, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, College of Life Science Northwest A&F University Yangling Shaanxi PR China), Na Deng (0000-0002-4557-5372, State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dry Land Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Northwest A&F University Yangling Shaanxi PR China), Shaoshan An (0000-0003-3221-9288, State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dry Land Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Northwest A&F University Yangling Shaanxi PR China, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume31
Issue9
Pages1086-1098
Publication date2020-05-30
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLand Degradation and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1085-3278 • E-ISSN: 1099-145X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ldr.3523
OpenAlexW2995155999
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited52

Ecological restorations of abandoned farmland have been performed in degraded ecosystems with the goal of increasing ecosystem sustainability. The environmental benefits of ecological restoration can at least be partially neutralized by enhanced nitrogen (N) loss and potential nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions via denitrification. However, few studies have focussed on comparative analysis of the contributions of ecological restoration strategies to soil denitrifying microbes, particularly in arid and semiarid degraded ecosystems, where N is often the limiting nutrient. In this study, artificial afforestation (artificial forest sites) and natural revegetation (grassland sites) of abandoned farmland have an enhanced effect on reducing potential denitrification rates (PDR) compared with farmland sites and orchard sites, leading to lower N losses and potential N 2 O emissions. Combined analyses indicated that the greatest differences in microbial abundance, species richness, and diversity were observed among different ecological restoration strategies. The abundance, richness, and diversities of denitrifying microbes ( nirS , nirK , and nosZ genes) were decreased by natural revegetation and artificial afforestation, leading to attenuated denitrifying activity responsible for the reduced PDR. Notably, the abundance and diversity of denitrifying microbes were dominant variables that explained the changes in PDR (up to 0.96). Overall, our results contribute to a better understanding of the feedback of denitrifying microorganisms to ecological restoration strategies and how these microorganisms collaboratively contribute to N loss and potential N 2 O emissions in arid and semiarid degraded ecosystems

Afforestation · Agroforestry · Biodiversity · Biology · Denitrification · Denitrifying bacteria · Ecological succession · Ecosystem · Nitrogen · Restoration Ecology · Revegetation · Species richness · Chemistry · Environmental Science · Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology · Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions · Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics · Ecology

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