Chinese researchers have revealed that the positive effects of nitrogen (N) deposition on nematode communities may be cancelled out by increased precipitation in temperate forest ecosystems, when elevated N deposition and increased precipitation occur simultaneously.

Elevated N deposition and increased precipitation often occur simultaneously, and have an interactive effect on terrestrial ecosystems, particularly in N-limited temperate forests. However, the effects of interactions between elevated N deposition and increased precipitation on soil communities are unclear.

In a research article recently published in the journal Soil Biology & Biochemistry, entitled “Contrasting effects of nitrogen deposition and increased precipitation on soil nematode communities in a temperate forest”, researchers from the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences studied the forest soil nematode community structure under canopy nitrogen addition and understory nitrogen addition.

They found that N deposition positively affected nematode communities by increasing the abundance of nematodes in some bacterivorous and fungivorous nematode groups. In contrast, increased precipitation suppressed bacterivorous and fungivorous nematodes, particularly of those guilds related to nutrient enrichment.

This study further revealed the responses of soil communities to the interaction between N deposition and increased precipitation, which is of great significance for understanding the maintenance mechanism of forest ecosystem biodiversity and its ecological function changes under the context of global change.