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Ecosystem Recovery from Disturbance is Constrained by N Cycle Openness, Vegetation-Soil N Distribution, Form of N Losses, and the Balance Between Vegetation and Soil-Microbial Processes

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Abstract

We present a framework for assessing biogeochemical recovery of terrestrial ecosystems from disturbance. We identify three recovery phases. In Phase 1, nitrogen is redistributed from soil organic matter to vegetation, but the ecosystem continues to lose nitrogen because the recovering vegetation cannot take up nitrogen as fast as it is released from soil. In Phase 2, the ecosystem begins re-accumulating nitrogen and converges on a quasi-steady state in which vegetation and soil-microbial processes are in balance. In Phase 3, vegetation and soil-microbial processes remain in balance and the ecosystem slowly re-accumulates the remaining nitrogen. Phase 3 follows a balanced-accumulation trajectory along a continuum of quasi-steady states that approaches the true steady state asymptotically. We examine the effects of three ecosystem properties on recovery: openness of the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen distribution in and turnover between vegetation and soils, and the proportion of nitrogen losses that are in a refractory form. Openness exacerbates Phase 1 nitrogen losses but speeds recovery in Phases 2 and 3. A high fraction of ecosystem nitrogen in vegetation, resulting from nitrogen turnover that is slow in vegetation but fast in soil, exacerbates Phase 1 nitrogen losses but speeds recovery in Phases 2 and 3. A high proportion of nitrogen loss in refractory form mitigates Phase 1 nitrogen losses and speeds recovery in Phases 2 and 3. Application of our conceptual framework requires empirical recognition of the continuum of quasi-steady states constituting the balanced-accumulation trajectory and a distinction between the balanced-accumulation trajectory and the true steady state.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through Grants DEB-1651722, DEB-1556772, PLR-1603560, DEB-1754835, OPP-1841608, ARC-1603302, and especially the Arctic LTER DEB-1637459. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation. We would also like to thank the subject editor, Donald DeAngelis, as well as John Pastor and Pierre Quévreux for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Edward B. Rastetter & Gaius R. Shaver

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA

    George W. Kling

  3. College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331, USA

    Byron C. Crump

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, Towson, Maryland, 21252, USA

    Laura Gough

  5. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, 10964, USA

    Kevin L. Griffin

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  1. Edward B. Rastetter
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  2. George W. Kling
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Correspondence to Edward B. Rastetter.

Additional information

This work derived from the conceptual framework used to guide the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research (ARC LTER) Project titled “LTER: The Role of Biogeochemical and Community Openness in Governing Arctic Ecosystem Response to Climate Change and Disturbance.”

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All authors contributed to this conceptual framework, helped interpret the simulations, and helped write the paper.

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Rastetter, E.B., Kling, G.W., Shaver, G.R. et al. Ecosystem Recovery from Disturbance is Constrained by N Cycle Openness, Vegetation-Soil N Distribution, Form of N Losses, and the Balance Between Vegetation and Soil-Microbial Processes. Ecosystems 24, 667–685 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00542-3

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