Enhanced rock weathering boosts ecosystem multifunctionality via improving microbial networks complexity in a tropical forest plantation

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123477
• Publication Date: 2024-11-30T07:22:19Z
• Authors: Xing Wang; Guochen Li; Arshad Ali; Camelia Algora; Manuel Delgado-Ba...; Daniel S. Goll; Sara Vicca; Tongtong Xu; Boyuan Bi; Qiong Chen; Luxiang Lin; Yunting Fang; Zhanqing Hao; Zhenxin Li; Zuoqiang Yuan
• Keywords: Tropical forest

This work was supported by the the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171581, 32230067, 32301361, 32401353), the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi (2024SF-YBXM-551, 2024SF-YBXM-558), the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (2024CYBQN-0221and 22JHQ036), Research Projects of the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Biological Diversity and Ecological Environment Protection in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (KLBE202408), the Key Research and Development Program of Yunnan Province (202303AC100009), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M732864, 2023M732865, 2024M754216) and the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF (GZB20230979), the Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Shaanxi Province (2023BSHYDZZ59). Arshad Ali is currently supported by Hebei University (Special Project No. 521100221033). Daniel S Goll received support from the CALIPSO project provided by Schmidt Sciences. M.D-B. acknowledges support from TED2021-130908B-C41/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/Unión Europea Next Generation EU/PRTR and from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the I + D + i project PID2020-115813RA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.<br/>11 páginas.- 5 figuras.- referencias.- Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123477<br/>No<br/>Afforestation is expected to contribute to mitigate global change by promoting carbon stocks and multiple ecosystem services. However, the success of plantations may be limited by the availability of soil nutrients. This is especially critical for plantations in tropical ecosystems which are known to be nutrient poor ecosystems. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) represents a promising strategy for improving soil health and carbon sequestration in such ecosystems. We added wollastonite skarn, a calcium silicate rock, to soils in a rubber plantation in Yunnan, China, as part of an ERW strategy aimed at promoting soil functioning and biodiversity. Statistical significance was determined using a linear mixed-effects model, with p-values indicating the level of significance. The addition of wollastonite skarn significantly enhanced key ecosystem functions related to carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, silicon, biodiversity, and pathogen control. However, it did not significantly affect soil enzyme activity. Some of these responses to the addition of wollastonite skarn may be associated with an increase in soil pH. Microbial network complexity played a critical role in explaining the changes in ecosystem multifunctionality in response to ERW, through both direct and indirect pathways. Synthesis and applications Our findings suggest that ERW is a viable strategy for improving soil health and ecosystem resilience in tropical plantations, which are limited in nutrients. Thus, ERW has implications for carbon management and climate change mitigation.<br/>