TY - GEN A1 - Esperschütz, Jürgen A1 - Zimmermann, Claudia A1 - Dümig, Alexander A1 - Welzl, G. A1 - Buegger, Franz A1 - Elmer, Michael A1 - Munch, Jean Charles A1 - Schloter, Michael T1 - Dynamics of microbial communities during decomposition of litter from pioneering plants in initial soil ecosystems T2 - Biogeosciences Discussion Y1 - 2012 SN - 1810-6285 VL - 9 IS - 10 SP - 14981 EP - 15010 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Esperschütz, Jürgen A1 - Zimmermann, Claudia A1 - Dümig, Alexander A1 - Welzl, G. A1 - Buegger, Franz A1 - Elmer, Michael A1 - Munch, Jean Charles A1 - Schloter, Michael T1 - Dynamics of microbial communities during decomposition of litter from pioneering plants in initial soil ecosystems T2 - Biogeosciences N2 - In initial ecosystems, concentrations of all macro- and micronutrients can be considered as extremely low. Plant litter therefore strongly influences the development of a degrader’s food web and is an important source for C and N input into soil in such ecosystems. In the present study, a 13C litter decomposition field experiment was performed for 30 weeks in initial soils from a post-mining area near the city of Cottbus (Germany). Two of this region’s dominant but contrasting pioneering plant species (Lotus corniculatus L. and Calamagrostis epigejos L.) were chosen to investigate the effects of litter quality on the litter decomposing microbial food web in initially nutrient-poor substrates. The results clearly indicate the importance of litter quality, as indicated by its N content, its bioavailability for the degradation process and the development of microbial communities in the detritusphere and soil. The degradation of the L. corniculatus litter, which had a low C / N ratio, was fast and showed pronounced changes in the microbial community structure 1–4 weeks after litter addition. The degradation of the C. epigejos litter material was slow and microbial community changes mainly occurred between 4 and 30 weeks after litter addition to the soil. However, for both litter materials clear indication of the importance of fungi for the degradation process was observed both in terms of fungal abundance and activity (13C incorporation activity). Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-5115-2013 SN - 1726-4189 VL - 10 SP - 5115 EP - 5124 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Zönnchen, Claudia A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Esperschütz, Jürgen T1 - Effect of litter addition on element leaching in young sandy soils T2 - Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science N2 - The knowledge about element leaching and biogeochemical cycles during initial stages of soil development is very limited. Therefore, we studied the effects of parent material characteristics and plant litter addition on element leaching from young sandy soils in a microcosm experiment. Our objective was to evaluate the function of young soils as a source and/or sink for nutrients during initial pedogenesis and to identify main processes which are involved in the initial development of biogeochemical cycles. The main research questions were: (1) How do differences in parent material characteristics affect nutrient leaching?; and (2) How is nutrient leaching of young soils influenced by litter addition of different plant functional groups (e.g., legume and grass species)? Combined treatments of two minimally weathered parent materials (pure sand and loamy sand) with plant litter of two plant species (Lotus corniculatus L. and Calamagrostis epigejos L.) were investigated in a soil column experiment. In addition, control columns with parent material or plant litter only were included. Carbonate weathering as a main source for calcium leaching was induced by the moderately acidic irrigation solution used in the experiment. It was 7.5 fold greater for the loamy sand parent material compared to the pure sand despite lower carbonate contents in the loamy sand. Leaching of K was very low for both parent materials but greater for the loamy sand parent material, likely due to transfer processes from fixed to exchangeable potassium forms in the clay minerals of the loamy sand. Plant litter addition generally increased leaching losses. Carbonate dissolution was intensified by both plant litter types, especially by L. corniculatus, very likely due to H+ released during nitrification of N released from plant litter and an increase in partial pressure of CO2 from microbial respiration. In contrast, K was largely retained in the soils, probably due to fixation by clay minerals and microbial immobilization. Only the pure sand treated with L. corniculatus litter leached K, resulting in 4–6 fold greater leaching losses compared to all other treatments. Nitrogen released from L. corniculatus litter was almost completely nitrified and was nearly doubled as compared to that from C. epigejos, resulting in greater N leaching. The results of our study allow identifying the general function and processes of vegetation patches in young ecosystems formed as a result of initial parent material characteristics and invading vegetation with respect to litter decomposition, soil solution composition, nutrient retention and leaching, and effects on the soil mineral phase. These patterns are not mere additive effects of parent materials plus plant litter, but reflect differences in biogeochemical process intensities and could result in an increasing heterogeneity of soil properties, nutrient availability, and element leaching fluxes with time. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201300383 SN - 1522-2624 VL - 177 IS - 4 SP - 585 EP - 595 ER -