Photodegradation accelerates ecosystem N cycling in a simulated California grassland

Photodegradation accelerates litter decay in arid grasslands where plant growth and litter decay are strongly controlled by precipitation and evapotranspiration. However, the effects of photodegradation on ecosystem C and N dynamics are not well understood. We examined the effects using an ecosystem biogeochemical model DayCent-UV with photodegradation explicitly represented and validated. The model was parameterized for a California grassland where photodegradation was documented to release CO₂ from litter. The model was parameterized with an inverse modeling approach using an extensive data set of six years of daily observed carbon and water gas exchange (gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, and evapotranspiration), soil temperature, and soil moisture. DayCent-UV correctly simulated the seasonal patterns of the observed gas exchange and closely simulated the inter-annual variation in the gas exchange and biomass production rates. The simulations suggested that the inter-annual variation is driven more by actual evapotranspiration than by precipitation because a large portion of precipitation is lost as runoff during wet years. Photodegradation in DayCent-UV accelerated C and N cycling, decreasing system C and N by 9.2% and 9.5% and C and N residence times by 9.4% and 18.2%. Accelerated N cycling made a greater fraction of system N available for plants, increasing net N mineralization and plant production for a given amount of system N. Increased net N mineralization was due to decreased immobilization by microbes in the aboveground organic matter. Photodegradation did not alter the control on plant production by evapotranspiration. These results suggest that at the ecosystem level, the central effect of photodegradation is to suppress microbial activity. We conclude that photodegradation accelerates N cycling at the expense of microbes in this grassland, making it more efficient in supporting plant growth for a given amount of N in the system.