Inorganic and organic nitrogen uptake by nine dominant subtropical tree species

doi:10.3832/ifor1502-008

Inorganic and organic nitrogen uptake by nine dominant subtropical tree species

Changcheng Li^(1-2), Qianru Li^(1-2), Na Qiao⁽³⁾, Xingliang Xu⁽¹⁾ , Qingkang Li⁽¹⁾, Huimin Wang⁽¹⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 9, Issue 2, Pages 253-258 (2015)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor1502-008
Published: Dec 02, 2015 - Copyright © 2015 SISEF

Research Articles

PDF Version

Full Text

Citation

Geo-mapping

We explored inorganic and organic N uptake patterns by dominant tree species in a subtropical plantation of southern China to improve understanding of nitrogen (N) cycling in these forests. We labeled intact roots by brief ¹⁵N exposures in field hydroponic experiments. Nine dominant tree species were examined to compare the effects of functional plant group (conifers versus broadleaves), mycorrhizal types, and forest successional stages on N uptake. All investigated species took up glycine at lower rates than other N forms, with mean values of 2.55 ± 0.36 µg N g^-1 d.w. root h^-1. Nitrate uptake rates for all species (average 5.81 ± 0.35 µg N g^-1 d.w. root h^-1) were significantly lower than ammonium (36.86 ± 5.17 µg N g^-1 d.w. root h^-1). All investigated species absorbed ammonium for more than 80% of total N uptake. Nitrate acquisition by these species was about 14% of total N uptake, with only 6% for glycine. Conifers showed significantly higher uptake rates of glycine, but lower uptake of nitrate than broadleaves. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tree species showed significant difference in nitrate uptake, with higher rates by AM tree species. Tree species at late-successional forest stages showed higher uptake rates of nitrate than those in earlier successional stages. Our findings indicate that ammonium is the dominant N source and glycine is a minor N source throughout forest succession.

Keywords

Plant Functional Group, AM Fungi, ECM Fungi, N Uptake, Subtropical Tree Species, Succession

Authors’ address

(1)

Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101 (China)

(2)

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039 (China)

(3)

Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 88 Xuefu Road, Kunming 650223, Yunnan (P.R. China)

Corresponding author

Xingliang Xu
xuxingl@hotmail.com

Citation

Li C, Li Q, Qiao N, Xu X, Li Q, Wang H (2015). Inorganic and organic nitrogen uptake by nine dominant subtropical tree species. iForest 9: 253-258. - doi: 10.3832/ifor1502-008

Academic Editor

Giustino Tonon

Paper history

Received: Nov 14, 2014
Accepted: Oct 07, 2015

First online: Dec 02, 2015
Publication Date: Apr 26, 2016
Publication Time: 1.87 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Breakdown by View Type

(Waiting for server response...)

Article Usage

Total Article Views: 47221
(from publication date up to now)

Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 39361
Abstract Page Views: 2892
PDF Downloads: 3837
Citation/Reference Downloads: 54
XML Downloads: 1077

Web Metrics
Days since publication: 3279
Overall contacts: 47221
Avg. contacts per week: 100.81

Article Citations

Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Feb 2023)

Total number of cites (since 2016): 21
Average cites per year: 2.63

(no Plumx Metrics available for this paper)

Publication Metrics

by Dimensions ^©

Articles citing this article

List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.

(1)

Andersen KM, Turner BL (2013)
Preferences or plasticity in nitrogen acquisition by understorey palms in a tropical montane forest. Journal of Ecology 101: 819-825.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(2)

Alexander I (2007)
A knight of symbiosis. New Phytologist 176: 499-510.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(3)

Bardgett RD, Steeter TC, Bol R (2003)
Soil microorganisms compete effectively with plants for organic-nitrogen inputs to temperate grasslands. Ecology 84: 1277-1387.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(4)

Bloom AJ (2015)
The increasing importance of distinguishing among plant nitrogen sources. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 25: 10-16.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(5)

Bonfante P, Anca IA (2009)
Plants, mycorrhizal fungi, and bacteria: a network of interactions. Annual Reviews of Microbiology 63: 363-383.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(6)

Britto DT, Kronzucker HJ (2013)
Ecological significance and complexity of N-source preference in plants. Annals of Botany 112 (6): 957-963.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(7)

Finlay RD (2005)
Action and interaction in the mycorrhizal hyphosphere: a re-evaluation of the role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in nutrient acquisition and plant ecology. In: “Nutrient acquisition by plants: an ecological perspective” (BassiriRad H ed). Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 221-276.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(8)

Finzi AC, Berthrong ST (2005)
The uptake of amino acids by microbes and trees in three cold-temperature forests. Ecology 86: 3345-3353.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(9)

Gao JQ, Mo Y, Zhang XW, Gao JJ, Deng ZH, Xu XL (2014)
Spatio-temporal variations alter the preference for nitrogen forms by three dominant plant species in an alpine wetlands. Plant and Soil 381: 271-278.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(10)

George E, Marschner H, Jakobsen I (1995)
Role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in uptake of phosphorus and nitrogen from the soil. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology 15: 257-270.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(11)

Harrison KA, Bol R, Bardgett RD (2007)
Preferences for different nitrogen forms by coexisting plant species and soil microbes. Ecology 88 (4): 989-999.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(12)

Hodge A, Fitter AH (2010)
Substantial nitrogen acquisition by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi from organic material has implications for N cycling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107: 13754-13759.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(13)

Hooper DU, Vitousek PM (1997)
The effects of plant composition and diversity on ecosystem processes. Science 277: 1302-1305.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(14)

Jones DL, Healey JR, Willett VB, Farrar JF, Hodge A (2005)
Dissolved organic nitrogen uptake by plants-an important N uptake pathway? Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37: 413-423.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(15)

Kou L, Guo DL, Yang H, Gao WL, Li SG (2015)
Growth, morphological traits and mycorrhizal colonization of fine roots respond differently to nitrogen addition in a slash pine plantation in subtropical China. Plant and Soil 391: 207-218.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(16)

Kuzyakov Y, Xu XL (2013)
Competition between roots and microorganisms for nitrogen: mechanisms and ecological relevance. New Phytologist 198 (3): 656-669.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(17)

LeBauer DS, Treseder KK (2008)
Nitrogen limitation of net primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems is globally distributed. Ecology 89: 371-379.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(18)

Leduc SD, Rothstein DE (2010)
Plant-available organic and mineral nitrogen shift in dominance with forest stand age. Ecology 91 (3): 708-720.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(19)

Li HM, Tao GF, Xu L, Ni LJ, Jiang XN, Zhou CQ, Yang Y, Zhang CB (2011)
Effects of plant functional group diversity on microbial biomass and nutrient retention in a constructed wetland. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer 17 (6): 1365-1371.
Online | Gscholar

(20)

Lipson D, Näsholm T (2001)
The unexpected versatility of plants: organic nitrogen use and availability in terrestrial ecosystems. Oecologia 128: 305-316.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(21)

Ma ZQ, Hartmann H, Wang HM, Li QK, Wang YD, Li SG (2014)
Carbon dynamics and stability between native Masson pine and exotic slash pine plantations in subtropical China. European Journal of Forest Research 133: 307-321.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(22)

Marschner H, Dell B (1994)
Nutrient uptake in mycorrhizal symbiosis. Plant and soil 159 (1): 89-102.
Online | Gscholar

(23)

McKane RB, Johnson LC, Shaver GR, Nadelhoffer KJ, Rastetter EB, Fry B, Giblin AE, Kielland K, Kwiatkowski BL, Laundre JA, Murray G (2002)
Resource-based niches provide a basis for plant species diversity and dominance in arctic tundra. Nature 415: 68-71.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(24)

Miransari M (2011)
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen uptake. Archive of Microbiology 193 (2): 77-81.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(25)

Näsholm T, Kielland K, Ganeteg U (2009)
Uptake of organic nitrogen by plants. New Phytologist 182 (1): 31-48.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(26)

Nordin A, Schmidt IK, Shaver GR (2004)
Nitrogen uptake by arctic soil microbes and plants in relation to soil nitrogen supply. Ecology 85 (4): 955-962.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(27)

Nye PH (1981)
Changes of pH across the rhizosphere induced by roots. Plant and Soil 61 (1-2): 7-26.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(28)

Read DJ, Perez-Moreno J (2003)
Mycorrhizas and nutrient cycling in ecosystems - a journey towards relevance? New Phytologist 157: 475-492.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(29)

Schmidt S, Mason M, Sangtiean T, Stewart GR (2003)
Do cluster roots of Hakea actities (Proteaceae) acquire complex organic nitrogen? Plant and Soil 248 (1): 157-165.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(30)

Schmidt S, Stewart GR (1997)
Waterlogging and fire impacts on nitrogen availability and utilization in a subtropical wet heathland (wallum). Plant, Cell and Environment 20: 1231-1241.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(31)

SITCAS (1989)
Management and development of red hilly area experimental study in Qianyanzhou. Scientific Investigation Team of Chinese Academy of Sciences for Southern Mountainous Areas - SITCAS, Management Office of Natural Resources, Ji’an Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, Chinese Science Press, Beijing, China, pp. 1-23.
Gscholar

(32)

Smith SE, Read DJ (2008)
Mycorrhizal symbiosis (3rd edn). Elsevier-Academic Press, London, UK, pp. 787.
Gscholar

(33)

Van Breemen N, Mulder J, Driscoll CT (1983)
Acidification and alkalinization of soils. Plant and soil 75 (3): 283-308.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(34)

Veresoglou SD, Chen B, Rillig MC (2012)
Arbuscular mycorrhiza and soil nitrogen cycling. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 46: 53-62.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(35)

Wang SQ, Liu JY, Zhang C, Yi CX, Wu WX (2011)
Effects of afforestation on soil carbon turnover in China’s subtropical region. Geographic Science 21: 118-34.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(36)

Warren CR (2006)
Potential organic and inorganic N uptake by six Eucalyptus species. Functional Plant Biology 33 (7): 653-660.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(37)

Warren CR, Adams PR (2007)
Uptake of nitrate, ammonium and glycine by plants of Tasmanian wet eucalypt forests. Tree Physiology 27 (3): 413-419.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(38)

Warren CR (2009a)
Does nitrogen concentration affect relative uptake rates of nitrate, ammonium, and glycine? Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 172: 224-229.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(39)

Warren CR (2009b)
Uptake of inorganic and amino acid nitrogen from soil by Eucalyptus regnans and Eucalyptus pauciflora seedlings. Tree Physiology 29 (3): 401-409.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(40)

Warren CR (2014)
Organic N molecules in the soil solution: what is known, what is unknown and the path forwards. Plant and Soil 375: 1-19.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(41)

Wen XF, Yu GR, Sun XM, Li QK, Liu YF, Zhang LM, Ren CY, Fu YL, Li ZQ (2006)
Soil moisture effect on the temperature dependence of ecosystem respiration in a subtropical Pinus plantation of southeastern China. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 137 (3-4): 166-175.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(42)

Xu XL, Bai JB, Ou YH (2011)
Advances in studies on organic nitrogen uptake by terrestrial plants. Journal of Natural Resources 26 (4): 715-724.
Online | Gscholar

(43)

Xu X, Ouyang H, Cao G, Pei Z, Zhou C (2004)
Uptake of organic nitrogen by eight dominant plant species in Kobresia meadows. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 69 (1): 5-10.
CrossRef | Gscholar

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry

Contents

Search

Journal Info

Journal Subjects and Fields

For Authors

For Reviewers

For Readers

SISEF Publishing

Search iForest Contents