Effects of Long‐Term Nitrogen Additions on Root Traits, Microbial Activities, and Organic Carbon Pools Along Soil Depth Profiles Under Miscanthus × giganteus

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is a common management practice to enhance the growth of bioenergy crops. Increasing aboveground yield and belowground carbon (C) (e.g., root biomass, microbial biomass, and organic carbon [OC]) is a win‐win strategy to address energy and climate crises. However, it remains poorly understood how N additions affect belowground C dynamics, especially in deep soil layers where the majority of OC is stored. In this study, we investigated the effects of 12 years of N additions (0, 30, 60, 120, and 240 kg N ha−1 year−1) on Miscanthus × giganteus root traits, microbial biomass, enzyme activities, and OC pools across 0–120 cm soil depth profiles. High N additions at 120 and 240 kg N ha−1 year−1 increased root N contents and NO3−$$ {\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-} $$ leaching, but decreased root biomass along the soil depth profiles. Biomass‐specific activities of cellulose‐ and lignin‐degrading extracellular enzymes (both for C acquisition) increased, but microbial basal respiration and biomass C decreased at 120 and 240 kg N ha−1 year−1 at 0–20 cm. Despite the changes in soil N availability and microbial activities, the magnitudes of salt‐extractable OC, particulate OC, and mineral‐associated OC did not significantly vary with the N additions across the soil profiles. We only observed reductions in these soil OC pools as soil depth increased. Our findings demonstrate that increases in soil N availability and root N contents do not always translate into notable changes in belowground C storage and stability under Miscanthus × giganteus after 12 years of N additions.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  GCB Bioenergy

• Publication date

  2025-12-22

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1111/gcbb.70103
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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