Soil soluble organic nitrogen content in different forest stands in Wanmulin Nature Reserve

An investigation was made on the soil soluble organic nitrogen (SON) in two natural forests Altingia gracilies (ALG) and Castanopsis carlesii (CAC) and an adjacent 35-year-old Cunninghamia lanceolata (CUL) plantation in Wanmulin Nature Reserve in Jianou, Fujian Province. Among the three forest stands, ALG had a significantly higher content of soil SON, being 95.3, 78.3, and 72.5 mg x kg(-1) in 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, and 10-20 cm soil layers, respectively (P<0.05), while CAC and CUL had lesser differences in their soil SON content, which was 74.5, 70.1, and 65.6 mg x kg(-1) in the three soil layers for CAC, and 78.6, 68.9, and 69.1 mg x kg(-1) in the three soil layers for CUL, respectively. The proportion of SON to total soluble nitrogen (TSN) in 0-20 cm soil layer was 79.17-80.78% for CAC, 68.64%-74.51% for CUL, and 59.97%-69.66% for ALG. With increasing soil depth, the proportion of soil SON to soil TSN and total nitrogen (TN) for the three forest stands all increased. Soil SON content had a significant positive correlation with soil organic carbon (r=0.982, P<0.01), and also, had definite correlations with soil TSN, TN, NH4(+)-N, and NO3(-)-N. It also correlated with the factors such as forest type, topography, altitude, and tree age.