Drivers of phosphorus cycling in temperate and boreal forest soils ...

• Main Author: Fetzer, Jasmin
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2021
• Subjects: infoeu-repo/classification/ddc/500; Natural sciences; FOS Natural sciences; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000542115; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/542115

Understanding the main underlying drivers of soil nutrient cycles is essential for predicting the effects of global change on them. The overall aim of this thesis was to gain insights into the mechanisms of phosphorus (P) cycling in unmanaged forest ecosystems and to study how these mechanisms are linked to soil formation and global environmental changes. The soil P cycle was studied by quantifying P pools and fluxes. The influence of several factors of soil formation on P cycling was assessed at different experimental scales, ranging from a laboratory incubation, via semi-controlled field experiments, to studies at the ecosystem scale. First, litter decomposition rates were studied to assess the magnitude and controlling factors on nutrient release and microbial functioning. Litter of differing carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (C:N:P) ratios was used and incubated in a laboratory study at 5°C and 15°C. Litter samples were taken along a natural gradient of plant growth forms in two forest-tundra ecotones in ...