The rhizosphere effect on soil gross nitrogen mineralization: A meta-analysis

Highlights

• We performed a meta-analysis to synthesize the rhizosphere effect on soil gross nitrogen mineralization rate.

• It was 81% on average, being significantly higher in woody (than non-woody species) and in ECM associated species (than AM associated species).

• It was positively correlated with the rhizosphere effects on soil C mineralization rate, microbial biomass nitrogen, phenol oxidase activity and root biomass.

• Its variations were mainly controlled by soil microbial variables and plant factors rather than climatic factors.

Abstract

Rhizosphere effects play crucial roles in determining soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. However, the rhizosphere effect on soil gross nitrogen (N) mineralization (N_min) has not been quantitatively assessed on the global scale. Here we performed a meta-analysis of compiled data from 24 publications and 37 species to synthesize the rhizosphere effect on soil gross N_min and its influencing factors. We found that the rhizosphere effect significantly enhanced soil gross N_min by 81% on average. Such rhizosphere effect was significantly higher in woody species than in non-woody species, and higher in ECM (ectomycorrhizal) associated species than in AM (arbuscular mycorrhizal) associated species. Moreover, the variations of the rhizosphere effect on soil gross N_min were correlated with those on soil C mineralization, phenol oxidase activity and root biomass rather than with other plant (growth form and mycorrhizal association) and climatic (mean annual temperature and precipitation) factors. These results support the ‘microbial activation’ and ‘microbial N mining’ hypotheses of rhizosphere effects and indicate the coupling of soil C and gross N mineralization in the rhizosphere. Overall, these findings provide novel insights into the rhizosphere effect on soil gross N_min among plant growth forms and mycorrhizal associations, and improve our mechanistic understanding of soil N dynamics in the rhizosphere.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Rhizosphere effect / Carbon mineralization / Nitrogen mineralization / Microbial biomass / Mycorrhizal association / Plant-soil interaction

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31971528 and 31988102). We sincerely thank all the scientists whose data and work were included in this meta-analysis. BZ conceived and designed the study. DYG extracted the data from the literature and conducted the data analysis. DYG and BZ wrote the first draft of the paper. All authors critically commented on the draft and provided interpretation.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s42832-021-0098-y and is accessible for authorized users.

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