Soil nitrogen cycling in forests invaded by the shrub Rosa multiflora: importance of soil moisture and invasion density

Invasive plants often alter ecosystem function and processes, especially soil N cycling. In eastern United States forests, the shrub Rosa multiflora (“rose”) is a dominant invader, yet potential effects on N cycling are poorly understood. Moreover, invasive plant management can impact soil N cycling by decreasing plant N uptake and disturbing the soil. The objectives of this study were to evaluate N cycling along a gradient of rose invasion (observational) and investigate potential changes to N cycling (manipulative) under four different management strategies: (1) do nothing (the control), (2) invasive plant removal, (3) removal followed by native seed mix addition, (4) removal, native seed mix, and chipped rose stem addition. We selected three forest sites experiencing a Low, Medium, or High amount of shrub invasion, and measured N cycling in the early (June) and late (September) growing seasons. We found N was immobilized in June and mineralized in September. One year after experimental management, removal alone had no effect on N cycling compared to control plots, but addition of native seed mix and chipped stems reduced early-season nitrification in our Medium invasion site. Our findings suggest that rose invasion may increase N cycling rates when soils are dry, which may occur more frequently with future climate change. In addition, N cycling responds differentially to management in the year following invasive plant removal, but most noticeably under moderate rose invasion.