Gross Nitrification and Denitrification in Alpine Grassland Ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Nitrification and denitrification are key microbiological processes in the soil nitrogen cycle and are the main biological sources of N2O emissions from soils. In this work, we measured gross nitrification and denitrification rates of northern Tibet alpine grassland ecosystems during the growing season and evaluated the influence of soil environmental factors. The results showed that the soil inorganic nitrogen concentration and gross nitrification and denitrification rates of both alpine meadow and alpine steppe varied obviously across the season. During the growing season mean values of gross nitrification and denitrification rates of the alpine meadow site were 3.0 and 2.3 times greater than those of the alpine steppe site, respectively. Both gross nitrification and denitrification rates were not significantly correlated with the determined soil characteristics which include soil microbial biomass, inorganic nitrogen, and soil temperature, except that gross nitrification seemed associated with the microsite where soil moisture was higher. Our results demonstrate that soil moisture can explain partly the higher soil nitrogen (N) transformation rates in alpine meadow sites, but soil N transformation microorganisms and enzyme activities studies covering prolonged observation periods are still needed to clarify the key soil environmental factors that control gross nitrification and denitrification processes in alpine grassland ecosystems.