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Succession of N Cycling Processes in Biological Soil Crusts on a Central European Inland Dune
(2013)
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are microbial assemblages that occur worldwide and facilitate ecosystem development by nitrogen (N) and carbon accumulation. N turnover within BSC ecosystems has been intensively studied in the past; however, shifts in the N cycle during BSC development have not been previously investigated. Our aim was to characterise N cycle development first by the abundance of the corresponding functional genes (in brackets) and second by potential enzyme activities; we focussed on the four processes: N fixation (nifH), mineralisation as proteolysis and chitinolysis (chiA), nitrification (amoA) and denitrification (nosZ). We sampled from four phases of BSC development and from a reference located in the rooting zone of Corynephorus canescens, on an inland dune in Germany. BSC development was associated with increasing amounts of chlorophyll, organic carbon and N. Potential activities increased and were highest in developed BSCs. Similarly, the abundance of functional genes increased. We propose and discuss three stages of N process succession. First, the heterotrophic stage (mobile sand without BSCs) is dominated by mineralisation activity. Second, during the transition stage (initial BSCs), N accumulates, and potential nitrification and denitrification activity increases. Third, the developed stage (established BSCs and reference) is characterised by the dominance of nitrification.
Watersheds are often insufficiently known and have to be explored indirectly e.g. by means of geophysical methods. Therefore, important parts of the system often remain 'black boxes'. In addition, natural systems are characterized by huge complexity and heterogeneity. To overcome these disadvantages artificially created watersheds may play an important role in ecosystem research. They offer the chance to investigate systems with well defined boundary conditions and inner structures. Furthermore, artificial watersheds might be an important link between lysimeter research and investigations at the landscape scale. The artificial catchment "Chicken Creek" ('Huehnerwasser') is one of the world's largest man-made catchments for scientific purposes. It was established in 2005 with an area of 6 ha (450 m x 150 m) including a small lake. The site is located in the Eastern German lignite mining district near Cottbus, about 150 km southeast of Berlin. The watershed was constructed by Vattenfall Europe Mining AG as the operator of the still active lignite open-cast mine Welzow-South. Construction work was done by means of large mining machines in co-operation with the Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus. The inner structure of this new landscape element is relatively simple: A clay layer was dumped as a barrier for seepage water overlaid by a 3 m sandy layer consisting of Quaternary substrate from Pleistocene sediments. The surface of the site has been flattened and the area was fenced to prevent disturbances. Neither amelioration nor any reclamation measures were carried out afterwards. The site has been left for an unrestricted natural succession. In 2007 the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre (SFB/TRR 38) as a joint project between 3 Universities (BTU Cottbus, TU Munich and ETH Zurich) was launched and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project group investigates the initial genesis of ecosystems with the Chicken Creek catchment as its main research site. A comprehensive monitoring programme is investigating the development of hydrological, pedological, geomorphologic and biological patterns and processes. It is planned to establish a structure and process model for this catchment to describe the initial development phase of an ecosystem in detail. Furthermore, the site will be the basis for (hydrological) model validation