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As an estimate of species-level differences in the capacity to take up different forms of N, we measured plant uptake of 15N-NH4+, 15N-NO3- and 15N, [1]-13C glycine within a set of herbaceous species collected from three alpine community types. Plants grown from cuttings in the greenhouse showed similar growth responses to the three forms of N but varied in the capacity to take up NH4+, NO3- and glycine. Glycine uptake ranged from approximately 42% to greater than 100% of NH4+ uptake; however, four out of nine species showed significantly greater uptake of either NH4+ or NO3- than of glycine. Relative concentrations of exchangeable N at the sites of plant collection did not correspond with patterns of N uptake among...
1. Plant carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) inputs to soil interact with microbes and abiotic factors like climate and pH to influence soil fertility and plant productivity. Although root exudates and root litter are important factors affecting the cycling of nutrients critical to plant growth, many studies remain focused on effects of above-ground litter inputs. 2. Using two species that co-dominate alpine moist meadows as a model system (the phenolic-rich forb Geum rossii, and the fast-growing grass Deschampsia caespitosa), we asked whether C from G. rossii fine roots could reduce D. caespitosa growth. We hypothesized that root C would indirectly reduce D. caespitosa growth by stimulating soil microbes, thus restricting...
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Soils contain the largest near-surface reservoir of terrestrial carbon and so knowledge of the factors controlling soil carbon storage and turnover is essential for understanding the changing global carbon cycle. The influence of climate on decomposition of soil carbon has been well documented, but there remains considerable uncertainty in the potential response of soil carbon dynamics to the rapid global increase in reactive nitrogen (coming largely from agricultural fertilizers and fossil fuel combustion). Here, using 14C, 13C and compound-specific analyses of soil carbon from long-term nitrogen fertilization plots, we show that nitrogen additions significantly accelerate decomposition of light soil carbon fractions...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Nature
1 Phenolics are an important, biologically reactive component of the carbon (C) pool that moves from plants to soil. Once in soil, phenolics can regulate plant?soil feedbacks because of their influence on soil nitrogen biogeochemistry. 2 Roots are a largely overlooked potential source of below-ground phenolic C. We examined phenolic fluxes from plants to soil in an alpine ecosystem, where phenolics are associated with slow rates of nutrient cycling. Using a phenolic-rich forb (Acomastylis rossii) and a grass with low tissue phenolics (Deschampsia caespitosa), we asked whether leaves, leaf litter or roots are the dominant source of soil phenolics during the growing season. We also determined whether the composition...
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In order to determine the effect of increased nitrogen inputs on fluxed of N2O and CH4 from alpine soils, we measured fluxes of these gases from fertilized and unfertilized soils in wet and dry alpine meadows. In the dry meadow, the addition of nitrogen resulted in a 22-fold increase in N2O emissions, while in the wet meadow, we observed a 45-fold increase in N2O emission rates. CH4 uptake in the dry meadow was reduced 52% by fertilization; however, net CH4 production occurred in all the wet meadow plots and emission rates were not significantly affected by fertilization. Net nitrification rates in the dry meadow were higher in fertilized plots than in non-fertilized plots throughout the growing season; net mineralization...
In the western United States vast acreages of land are exposed to low levels of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, with interspersed hotspots of elevated N deposition downwind of large, expanding metropolitan centers or large agricultural operations. Biological response studies in western North America demonstrate that some aquatic and terrestrial plant and microbial communities are significantly altered by N deposition. Greater plant productivity is counterbalanced by biotic community changes and deleterious effects on sensitive organisms (lichens and phytoplankton) that respond to low inputs of N (3 to 8 kilograms N per hectare per year). Streamwater nitrate concentrations are elevated in high-elevation catchments...
    map background search result map search result map Variable effects of nitrogen additions on the stability and turnover of soil carbon Fluxes of nitrous oxide and methane from nitrogen-amended soils in a Colorado alpine ecosystem Fluxes of nitrous oxide and methane from nitrogen-amended soils in a Colorado alpine ecosystem Variable effects of nitrogen additions on the stability and turnover of soil carbon