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Site-dependent N uptake from N-form mixtures by arctic plants, soil microbes and ectomycorrhizal fungi

  • Ecosystem Ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Soil microbes constitute an important control on nitrogen (N) turnover and retention in arctic ecosystems where N availability is the main constraint on primary production. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbioses may facilitate plant competition for the specific N pools available in various arctic ecosystems. We report here our study on the N uptake patterns of coexisting plants and microbes at two tundra sites with contrasting dominance of the circumpolar ECM shrub Betula nana. We added equimolar mixtures of glycine-N, NH +4 –N and NO −3 –N, with one N form labelled with 15N at a time, and in the case of glycine, also labelled with 13C, either directly to the soil or to ECM fungal ingrowth bags. After 2 days, the vegetation contained 5.6, 7.7 and 9.1% (heath tundra) and 7.1, 14.3 and 12.5% (shrub tundra) of the glycine-, NH +4 - and NO −3 –15N, respectively, recovered in the plant–soil system, and the major part of 15N in the soil was immobilized by microbes (chloroform fumigation-extraction). In the subsequent 24 days, microbial N turnover transferred about half of the immobilized 15N to the non-extractable soil organic N pool, demonstrating that soil microbes played a major role in N turnover and retention in both tundra types. The ECM mycelial communities at the two tundras differed in N-form preferences, with a higher contribution of glycine to total N uptake at the heath tundra; however, the ECM mycelial communities at both sites strongly discriminated against NO −3 . Betula nana did not directly reflect ECM mycelial N uptake, and we conclude that N uptake by ECM plants is modulated by the N uptake patterns of both fungal and plant components of the symbiosis and by competitive interactions in the soil. Our field study furthermore showed that intact free amino acids are potentially important N sources for arctic ECM fungi and plants as well as for soil microorganisms.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the excellent facilities and logistic support provided by the Abisko Scientific Research Station (ANS). We thank Pia Nielsen, Jane Pedersen, Jette Brandt, Anders Tesgaard, Kasper Andersen and Peter Jannerup for help in the field, and Karin Larsen and Esben Nielsen for assistance with laboratory analyses. Inger Kappel Schmidt kindly provided advice on the 15N diffusion technique, and three anonymous reviewers provided valuable critique on the manuscript. This research was funded by ANS, The Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen and The Danish Natural Science Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 2D, 1353, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Karina Engelbrecht Clemmensen, Pernille Lærkedal Sorensen, Anders Michelsen & Sven Jonasson

  2. GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, 22362, Lund, Sweden

    Lena Ström

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  1. Karina Engelbrecht Clemmensen
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  2. Pernille Lærkedal Sorensen
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Correspondence to Karina Engelbrecht Clemmensen.

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Communicated by Hakan Wallander.

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Clemmensen, K.E., Sorensen, P.L., Michelsen, A. et al. Site-dependent N uptake from N-form mixtures by arctic plants, soil microbes and ectomycorrhizal fungi. Oecologia 155, 771–783 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-0962-9

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