Journal article
Tropical Rainforest Restoration Plantations Are Slow to Restore the Soil Biological and Organic Carbon Characteristics of Old Growth Rainforest
Microbial Ecology, Vol.79, pp.432-442
2020
Abstract
Widespread and continuing losses of tropical old-growth forests imperil global biodiversity and alter global carbon (C) cycling. Soil organic carbon (SOC) typically declines with land use change from old-growth forest, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Ecological restoration plantations offer an established means of restoring aboveground biomass, structure and diversity of forests, but their capacity to recover the soil microbial community and SOC is unknown due to limited empirical data and consensus on the mechanisms of SOC formation. Here, we examine soil microbial community response and SOC in tropical rainforest restoration plantings, comparing them with the original old-growth forest and the previous land use (pasture). Two decades post-reforestation, we found a statistically significant but small increase in SOC in the fast-turnover particulate C fraction. Although the δ13C signature of the more stable humic organic C (HOC) fraction indicated a significant compositional turnover in reforested soils, from C4 pasture-derived C to C3 forest-derived C, this did not translate to HOC gains compared with the pasture baseline. Matched old-growth rainforest soils had significantly higher concentrations of HOC than pasture and reforested soils, and soil microbial enzyme efficiency and the ratio of gram-positive to gram-negative bacteria followed the same pattern. Restoration plantings had unique soil microbial composition and function, distinct from baseline pasture but not converging on target old growth rainforest within the examined timeframe. Our results suggest that tropical reforestation efforts could benefit from management interventions beyond re-establishing tree cover to realize the ambition of early recovery of soil microbial communities and stable SOC.
Details
- Title
- Tropical Rainforest Restoration Plantations Are Slow to Restore the Soil Biological and Organic Carbon Characteristics of Old Growth Rainforest
- Authors
- Mark T L Bonner (Author) - University of QueenslandDiane E Allen (Author) - University of QueenslandRichard Brackin (Author) - University of QueenslandTim E Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastTom Lewis (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastLuke P Shoo (Author) - University of QueenslandSusanne Schmidt (Author) - University of Queensland
- Publication details
- Microbial Ecology, Vol.79, pp.432-442
- Publisher
- Springer New York LLC
- Date published
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00248-019-01414-7
- ISSN
- 0095-3628
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2019 The Authors. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
- Organisation Unit
- Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy; Forest Research Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450740302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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