Table 1.
Characteristics of substrates used in the ingrowth mesh bags in the cafeteria experiment.
| Substrate | N deposition (kg ha−1 yr−1) | At collection | After 17 months preincubation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pH | pH | Mineralised N (μg g−1 OM) | OM (%) | C/N | EMF DNA (%) | ||
| Organic, central Sweden | 5 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 2540 | 63 | 26 | 5.6 |
| Mull soil, central Sweden | 5 | 6.1 | 4.9 | 3220 | 8 | 16 | 4.5 |
| Organic, southern Sweden | 10–15 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 2090 | 66 | 25 | 0.6 |
| P‐fertilised organic, southern Sweden | 10–15 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 1340 | 71 | 29 | 3.1 |
| Sand | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | 0 |
| Sand with 1% apatite | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | 0 |
The soil was collected from mature Picea abies forests in two areas with contrasting atmospheric N deposition levels. pH was measured at the time of collection and after 17 months of preincubation. Mineralised N was calculated as the difference in inorganic N between un‐sieved, wet soils and sieved, dried soils after preincubation. Organic matter (OM) % and C/N were measured after preincubation. The proportion of ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) DNA was acquired through sequencing of ITS2 markers.