Responses of soil nitrogen fixation to Spartina alterniflora invasion and nitrogen addition in a Chinese salt marsh

Sci Rep. 2016 Feb 12:6:20384. doi: 10.1038/srep20384.

Abstract

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the major natural process of nitrogen (N) input to ecosystems. To understand how plant invasion and N enrichment affect BNF, we compared soil N-fixation rates and N-fixing microbes (NFM) of an invasive Spartina alterniflora community and a native Phragmites australis community in the Yangtze River estuary, with and without N addition. Our results indicated that plant invasion relative to N enrichment had a greater influence on BNF. At each N level, the S. alterniflora community had a higher soil N-fixation rate but a lower diversity of the nifH gene in comparison with the native community. The S. alterniflora community with N addition had the highest soil N-fixation rate and the nifH gene abundance across all treatments. Our results suggest that S. alterniflora invasion can increase soil N fixation in the high N-loading estuarine ecosystem, and thus may further mediate soil N availability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Biomass
  • China
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • Geography
  • Introduced Species*
  • Nitrogen Fixation*
  • Phylogeny
  • Poaceae / physiology*
  • Sodium Chloride / chemistry*
  • Soil*
  • Wetlands*

Substances

  • Soil
  • Sodium Chloride