AUTHOR=Wakelin Steve A. , Matson A. , Wigley K. , Waller L. , Dickie I. A. , Whitehead David , Garrett L. TITLE=High Maintenance of Rhizosphere Soil C and N Equilibrium Regardless of Plant Species or Species Traits JOURNAL=Frontiers in Soil Science VOLUME=1 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/soil-science/articles/10.3389/fsoil.2021.762510 DOI=10.3389/fsoil.2021.762510 ISSN=2673-8619 ABSTRACT=
Factors affecting the deposition of carbon and nitrogen into the rhizosphere soil have important implications for natural and managed ecosystems. These include the invasiveness of plants, extent to which ecosystems sequester soil carbon, through to regulation of N flow within and from agricultural ecosystems. This study determined if the close elemental ratios often measured in soils are evident within the highly active rhizosphere compartment, or rather potentially emerge to a conserved ratio (over time) from different initial rhizosphere states. Toward this, we assessed the rhizosphere C and N content (and C:N ratio) of 37 plant species; these were further grouped into the categories provenance (native or exotic to New Zealand), form (forb, grass, shrub, or tree), root-based nitrogen fixation symbiosis (+/– N-fixation), or mycorrhization type. Furthermore, the potential nitrification rate (PNR) among the plant rhizosphere soils was quantified to explore relationships between nitrate formation and the total C and C:N ratio. Mycorrhization status, provenance, and form had no significant influence on nutrient status nor PNR in rhizosphere soil samples (