[Effects of forest floor litter and nitrogen addition on soil microbial biomass C and N and microbial activity in a mixed Pinus tabulaeformis and Quercus liaotungensis forest stand in Shanxi Province of China].

From September 2010 to October 2011, a field experiment with randomized block design was conducted in a mixed Pinus tabulaeformis and Quercus liaotungensis forest stand in Lingkong Mountain of Shanxi Province to study the effects of forest floor litter and nitrogen addition on the soil microbial carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) and microbial activity (MR). The litter treatments included complete litter removal, doubling of leaf litter (L), doubling of woody litter (B), and doubling of mixed leaf and woody litter (LB), and the nitrogen addition rates were 0 (N0), 5 g x m(-2) x yr(-1) (N1), and 10 g x m(-2) x yr(-1) (N2). Except that the treatment of complete litter removal without nitrogen addition decreased the soil organic carbon content significantly, all the other treatments had no significant differences in the effects on soil organic carbon. The soil MBC, MBN, and MR varied in the ranges of 262.42-873.16 mg x kg(-1), 73.55-173.85 mg x kg(-1), and 2.38-3.68 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1), respectively, and the MBC and MBN had significant positive correlations with the MR. Nitrogen addition did not show any effect on the MBC, MBN, and MR, whereas litter treatments affected the MR significantly, with the highest MR in treatment LB, followed by treatments L and B, and the lowest in treatment of complete litter removal. There were no interactive effects between litter and nitrogen addition treatments on any of the variables studied. It was suggested that short-term nitrogen addition and forest floor litter change could have limited effects on soil microbial processes.