Soil nitrogen cycling under litter and coarse woody debris in a mixed forest in New York State

Coarse woody debris (CWD) could alter N availability and transformations in the underlying soil and therefore contribute to spatial heterogeneity and influence ecosystem loss of N. We measured soil N concentrations and transformations in soil beneath CWD and beneath a litter layer at a mixed forest in NY State. We found that total and microbial biomass N was lower and that microbial biomass C-to-N ratio was higher in soil beneath CWD. Rates of N2O production and denitrification enzyme activity were reduced beneath CWD. These results suggest that CWD is an important controller of spatial heterogeneity in N dynamics and may influence the magnitude of N loss in temperate forests.