It is widely accepted that phosphorus (P) limits microbial metabolic processes and thus soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition in tropical forests. Global change factors like elevated atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition can enhance P limitation, raising concerns about the fate of SOC. However, how elevated N deposition affects the soil priming effect (PE) (i.e., fresh C inputs induced changes in SOC decomposition) in tropical forests remains unclear. We incubated soils exposed to nine years of experimental N deposition in a subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest with two types of ¹³C-labeled substrates of contrasting bioavailability (glucose and cellulose) with and without P amendments. We found that N deposition decreased soil total P and microbial biomass P, suggesting enhanced P limitation. In P unamended soils, N deposition significantly inhibited the PE. In contrast, adding P significantly increased the PE under N deposition and by a larger extent for the PE of cellulose (PE_cellu) than the PE of glucose (PE_glu). Relative to adding glucose or cellulose solely, adding P with glucose alleviated the suppression of soil microbial biomass and C-acquiring enzymes induced by N deposition, whereas adding P with cellulose attenuated the stimulation of acid phosphatase induced by N deposition. Across treatments, the PE_glu increased as C-acquiring enzyme activity increased, whereas the PE_cellu increased as acid phosphatase activity decreased. This suggests that P limitation, enhanced by N deposition, inhibits the soil PE through varying mechanisms depending on substrate bioavailability; that is, P limitation regulates the PE_glu by affecting soil microbial growth and investment in C acquisition, whereas regulates the PE_cellu by affecting microbial investment in P acquisition. These findings provide new insights for tropical forests impacted by N loading, suggesting that expected changes in C quality and P limitation can affect the long-term regulation of the soil PE.

This dataset was collected by sampling soils exposed to 9 years of manipulative N inputs in situ in a subtropical forest and then incubating them in a 30-day incubation experiment. The CO2 flux and PE were measured by NaOH trapping. Soil variables were measured at the end of incubation.

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