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Different plant traits affect two pathways of riparian nitrogen removal in a restored freshwater wetland

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A Commentary to this article was published on 23 January 2013

Abstract

Background & aims

Plants may have dissimilar effects on ecosystem processes because they possess different attributes. Given increasing biodiversity losses, it is important to understand which plant traits are key drivers of ecosystem functions. To address this question, we studied the response of two ecosystem functions that remove nitrogen (N) from wetland soils, the accumulation of N in plant biomass and denitrification potential (DNP), to variation in plant trait composition.

Methods

Our experiment manipulated plant composition in a riparian wetland. We determined relative importance of plant traits and environmental variables as predictors of each ecosystem function.

Results

We demonstrate that Water Use Efficiency (WUE) had a strong negative effect on biomass N. Root porosity and belowground biomass were negatively correlated with DNP. Trait ordination indicated that WUE was largely orthogonal to traits that maximized DNP.

Conclusions

These results indicate that plant species with different trait values are required to maintain multiple ecosystem functions, and provide a more mechanistic, trait-based link between the recent findings that higher biodiversity is necessary for multi-functionality. While we selected plant traits based on ecological theory, several of the plant traits were not good predictors of each ecosystem function suggesting the ecological theory linking traits to function is incomplete and requires strengthening.

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Abbreviations

AGB:

aboveground biomass

AGCN:

aboveground biomass carbon to nitrogen ratio

BEF:

biodiversity and ecosystem function

BGB:

belowground biomass

BGCN:

belowground biomass carbon to nitrogen ratio

BGR:

Below-ground Rooting Ratio

C:

carbon

CO2 :

carbon dioxide

DEA:

Denitrification Enzyme Assay

DNP:

denitrification potential

N:

nitrogen

NH4-N:

extractable ammonium

NO3-N:

extractable nitrate + nitrite

POR:

root porosity

SEM:

structural equation modeling

SLA:

specific leaf area

SRL:

specific root length

WUE:

water use efficiency

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Acknowledgments

We especially wish to thank Eileen Thorsos for very helpful discussion of hypotheses and data analysis, and Jennifer Funk for comments on the manuscript. We would like to thank Paul Heine, Wes Willis, Joseph Lozier, Tracy Hamm, Amanda Ward, Sarah Eminhizer, Nate Emery, Josie Bamford, Serwaah Agyapong, Aileen Malloy, Lauren Kinsman, Amy Hammontree, Erin Brosnan, Doug Gorecki, Jocelyn Tutak, Youngeun Cho, Ahmed Farawi, and Tisha Johnson for help with sample processing. We also thank the many people who helped us with field work: Dr. Mengchi Ho, Dr. James Pahl, Mike Osland, Jen Morse, Julie DeMeester, Amani McHugh, Arlene Mendoza, Joseph Sexton, Eileen Thorsos, Dawoon Jung, and Nancy Morgans. This work was supported by NSF Grant DEB0508763, an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, an American Fellowship from the Association of University Women Educational Foundation to A.E.S., a Society of Wetland Scientist Student Research Grant, the Duke Wetlands Center Case Study Endowment, and a grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. A. E. S. was also partially supported by a Smithsonian Fellowship from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Box 90328, Durham, NC, USA

    A. E. Sutton-Grier

  2. Biology Department, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, NC, USA

    J. P. Wright

  3. Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Box 90333, Durham, NC, USA

    C. J. Richardson

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  1. A. E. Sutton-Grier
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Correspondence to A. E. Sutton-Grier.

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Responsible Editor: Jeff R. Powell.

Appendix A: Site denitrification potential (DNP) from soil samples collected in 2006

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Sutton-Grier, A.E., Wright, J.P. & Richardson, C.J. Different plant traits affect two pathways of riparian nitrogen removal in a restored freshwater wetland. Plant Soil 365, 41–57 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1113-3

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