Patterns of microbial nutrient restrictions in karst ecosystems.

Recently, Li Dejun's research team of the Institute of Subtropical Agroecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the Area of The Karst Ecosystem, made new progress in the study of soil microbial nutrient limitation in the karst ecosystem.
understanding of soil microbial nutrient limitations is critical to understanding ecosystem functions and processes and predicting ecosystem responses to global change.
karst ecosystems are widely distributed around the world and play an important role in regulating the global climate.
however, the current pattern of microbial nutrient restrictions in the karst ecosystem remains unclear. Based on this
, Chen Hao, an associate researcher of Li Dejun's research group, selected four major land use types (i.e. farmland, grassland, thickets and secondary forests) and two major rock types (i.e. dolomite and limestone) in the karst region of southwest China. Further analysis
showed that soil microbial carbon limits varied under different types of land use or rock: the highest in farmland and forests, but the lowest in grasslands, where dolomite developed soils were higher than in limestone. In addition,
, the rock controls the pattern of microbial phosphorus limitation along the secondary succession development: in the dolomite region, microbial phosphorus restriction is weakening from secondary forest to farmland, but there is no difference between the four ecosystems in the limestone region, which provides a new perspective for explaining the differences in the development of microbial nutrient limitation in different regions along the secondary succession.
the findings were recently published in The Science of The Total, based on the title Of resource of resources of soil microbes in karst ecosystems.
the research is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program and the National Natural Science Foundation.
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