Liming enhances the abundance and stability of nitrogen-cycling microbes: The buffering effect of long-term lime application

Abstract

Lime application (liming) has historically been used to ameliorate soil acidity in grasslands. Liming effectively improves soil pH, plant productivity, and soil physicochemical properties, but the long-term impact of acidity control by liming on key microbial nitrogen (N)-cycling genes in semi-natural grasslands is unknown. We investigated the effect of 65 years of liming on N-cycling processes in the limed and control plots of the Ossekampen long-term grassland experiment in the Netherlands. These plots have not received any other fertilizers for 65 years. Soil sampling and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission measurements were conducted three times in spring and four times in summer, and quantitative real-time PCR was performed to determine the abundances of N-cycling genes, including ammonia-oxidation (amoA), denitrification (nirS, nirK, nosZ), and N-fixation (nifH) genes. Long-term liming increased the abundances of nitrifiers and denitrifiers but did not increase N2O emissions. Additionally, liming had a buffering effect that stabilized the population of N-cycling microbes against seasonal variations in abundance. Our results indicate that improving soil acidity through liming facilitates microbial N-cycling processes without increasing N2O emissions. HighlightsO_LI65 years of liming increased bacterial but not archaeal and fungal community abundance. C_LIO_LILiming increased the abundance of microbial N-cycling genes. C_LIO_LIThe buffering effect of liming reduced seasonal variations in the abundance of N microbes. C_LI