Summary
A soil nitrogen (N) availability gradient was induced on a disturbed sagebrush site in northwestern Colorado by fertilizing with nitrogen (high available N), applying sucrose (low available N), and applying neither nitrogen nor sucrose (control). Species composition was studied for 3 years. At the end of the study, N concentration of aboveground tissue of 3 major species was determined. The rate of species replacement was most rapid on plots receiving the sucrose treatment and was slowest on plots receiving the N treatment. Early-seral dominats had greater tissue N concentrations when availability of the resource was high but lower tissue N concentrations when available soil N became limited. Midseral dominants displayed the opposite pattern. These results suggest that the supply of available soil N, and therefore the dynamics of N incorporation in perennial plant tissue, is a primary mechanism in controlling the rate of secondary succession within this semiarid ecosystem.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aerts R, Berendse F (1988) The effect of increased nutrient availability on vegetation dynamics in wet heathlands. Vegetatio 76:63–69
Bazzaz FA (1979) The physiological ecology of plant succession. Annual Rev Ecol System 10:351–371
Berendse B, Oudhof H, Bol J (1987) A comparative study on nutrient cycling in wet heathland ecosystems I. Litter production and nutrient loss from the plant. Oecologia 74:174–184
Carpenter AT, Moore JC, Redente EF, Stark JM (1990) Plant community dynamics in relation to nutrient addition following a major disturbance. Plant Soil 126:91–100
Carson WP, Barrett GW (1988) Succession in old-field plant communities: effects of contrasting types of nutrient enrichment. Ecology 69:984–994
Carson WP, Pickett STA (1990) Role of resources and disturbance in the organization of an old-field plant community. Ecology 71:226–238
Doerr RB, Redente EF, Reeves FB (1984) Effects on soil disturbance on plant succession and levels of mycorrhizal fungi in a sagebrush-grassland community. J Range Manag 37:135–139
Foster MM, Vitousek PM, Randolph PA (1980) The effects of ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) on nutrient cycling in a 1st-yr old-field. Am Midl Natural 103:106–113
Francis R, Finlay RD, Read DJ (1986) Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza in natural vegetation systems IV. Transfer of nutrients in inter- and intra-specific combinations of host plants. New Phytol 102:103–111
Grace JB (1987) The impact of preemption on the zonation of two Typha species along lakeshores. Ecol Monogr 57:283–303
Grime JP (1973) Competitive exclusion in herbaceous vegetation. Nature 242:344–347
Grime JP (1979) Plant strategies and vegetation processes. John Wiley and Sons, New York
Heil GW, Bruggink M (1987) Competition for nutrients between Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull and Molinia caerulea (L.) Moench. Oecologia 73:105–107
Heil GW, Diemont WH (1983) Raised nutrient levels change heathland into grassland. Vegetatio 53:113–120
Hetrick BAD, Wilson GWT, Owensby CE (1989) Influence of mycorrhizal fungi and fertilization on big bluestem seedling biomass. J Range Manag 42:213–216
Hunt HW, Ingham ER, Coleman DC, Elliott ET, Read CPP (1988) Nitrogen limitation of production and decomposition in prairie, mountain meadow, and pine forest. Ecology 69:1009–1016
Ingestadt T, Agren GI (1991) The influence of plant nutrition on biomass allocation. Ecol Appl 1:168–174
Iwasa Y, Roughgarden J (1984) Shoot/root balance of plants: optimal growth of a system with many vegetative organs. Theor Pop Biol 25:78–105
Lamb D (1980) Soil nitrogen mineralization in a secondary rainforest succession. Oecologia 47:257–263
Lauenroth WK, Hunt HW, Swift DM, Singh JS (1987) Estimating aboveground net primary production in grasslands: a simulation approach. Ecol Model 33:297–314
Leps J, Osbornova-Kasinova J, Rejmanek M (1982) Community stability, complexity and species life history strategies. Vegetatio 50:53–63
McGraw JB, Chapin FSIII (1989) Competitive ability and adaptation to fertile and infertile soils in two Eriophorum species. Ecology 70:736–749
McLendon T, Redente EF (1990) Succession patterns following soil disturbance in a sagebrush steppe community. Oecologia 85:293–300
McLendon T, Redente EF (1991) Nitrogen and phosphorus effects on secondary succession dynamics on a semi-arid sagebrush site. Ecology 72:2016–2024
Miller TE, Werner PA (1987) Competitive effects and responses between plant species in a first-year old-field community. Ecology 68:1201–1210
Parrish JAD, Bazzaz FA (1982) Responses of plants from three successional communities on a nutrient gradient. J Ecology 70:233–248
Peterson DL, Bazzaz FA (1978) Life cycle characteristics of Aster pilosus in early successional habitats. Ecology 58:1005–1013
Raynal DJ, Bazzaz FA (1975) Interference of winter annuals with Ambrosia artemisiifolia in early successional fields. Ecology 56:35–49
Redente EF, Cook CW, Stark JM, Simmons CL (eds) (1985) Semiarid ecosystem development as a function of resource processing and allocation. Progress Report for DOE (DE-A502-T5EY04018). Range Sci Dept, Colorado State Univ. Fort Collins 99 p
Redente EF, Friedlander JE, McLendon T (1992) Response of early and late semiarid successional species to nitrogen and phosphorus gradients. Plant Soil 140:127–135
Robertson GP (1982) Factors regulating nitrification in primary and secondary succession. Ecology 63:1561–1573
Shipley B, Peters RH (1990) A test of the Tilman model of plant strategies: relative growth rate and biomass partitioning. Am Natural 136:139–153
Snedecor GW, Cochran WG (1967) Statistical methods. Sixth Edition. Iowa State Univ Press, Ames, 593 p
Tilman GD (1982) Resource competition and community structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey 296 p
Tilman GD (1984) Plant dominance along an experimental nutrient gradient. Ecology 65:1445–1453
Tilman GD (1986) Nitrogen-limited growth in plants from different successional stages. Ecology 67:555–563
Wedin DA, Tilman D (1990) Species effects on nitrogen cycling: a test with perennial grasses. Oecologia 84:433–441
Wilson SD, Tilman D (1991) Components of plant competition along an experimental gradient of nitrogen availability. Ecology 72:1050–1065
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McLendon, T., Redente, E.F. Effects of nitrogen limitation on species replacement dynamics during early secondary succession on a semiarid sagebrush site. Oecologia 91, 312–317 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317618
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317618