Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rocks create nitrogen hotspots and N:P heterogeneity by funnelling rain

  • Biogeochemistry Letters
  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We postulated that soil nutrient heterogeneity arises not only through physical and biological processes in the soil, but also through emergent rocks diverting precipitation containing nutrients to the surrounding soil. To test this idea—which we call the ‘funnelling effect’ of such rocks—we placed ion-exchange resin in small boxes beside rocks and in open soil on a pristine glacial forefield site in Switzerland, and measured the amounts of NH4 +, NO3 −, NO2 − and PO4 3− that were adsorbed. We also placed resin bags beneath PVC funnels of different sizes so that we could calibrate the natural funnelling effect of rocks. We obtained strong linear relationships between nitrogen (N) adsorbed and rain-collecting area of both rocks and funnels. Although the mean rain-collecting area of rocks was only 0.02 m2, mean N adsorption was around 10 times higher within 1 cm of rocks than further away. In contrast, phosphorus (P) was not concentrated beside rocks, so that N:P stoichiometry varied spatially. Rumex scutatus and Agrostis gigantea plants that rooted beside rocks had significantly higher foliar N concentrations than those growing further away, in line with the resin data. However, the two species showed differing responses in foliar P and N:P. We propose that R. scutatus benefits from the increased N supply by increasing its uptake of soil P, while A. gigantea is unable to do so. This study clearly demonstrates that aboveground rain-funnelling structures can produce spatial heterogeneity in N supply, thereby creating a diversity of nutritional niches for plants.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Amarasekare P (2003) Competitive coexistence in spatially structured environments: a synthesis. Ecol Lett 6:1109–1122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arias M, Da Silva-Carballal J, García-Río L, Mejuto J, Núñez A (2006) Retention of phosphorus by iron and aluminum-oxides-coated quartz particles. J Colloid Interface Sci 295:65–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Augustine DJ, Frank DA (2001) Effects of migratory grazers on spatial heterogeneity of soil nitrogen properties in a grassland ecosystem. Ecology 82:3149–3162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernasconi SM, Bauder A, Bourdon B et al (2011) Chemical and biological gradients along the Damma Glacier soil chronosequence (Switzerland). Vadose Zone J 10:867–883

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bobbink R, Hicks K, Galloway J, Spranger T, Alkemade R, Ashmore M, Bustamante M, Cinderby S, Davidson E, Dentener F, Emmett B, Erisman J-W, Fenn M, Gilliam F, Nordin A, Pardo L, De Vries W (2010) Global assessment of nitrogen deposition effects on terrestrial plant diversity: a synthesis. Ecol Appl 20:30–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brankatschk R, Töwe S, Kleineidam K, Schloter M, Zeyer J (2010) Abundances and potential activities of nitrogen cycling microbial communities along a chronosequence of a glacier forefield. ISME 5:1025–1037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke IC (1989) Control of nitrogen mineralization in a sagebrush steppe landscape. Ecology 70:1115–1126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chesson P (2000) Mechanims of maintenance of species diversity. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 31:343–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darrouzet-Nardi A, Bowman WD (2011) Hot spots of inorganic nitrogen availability in an alpine-subalpine ecosystem, colorado front range. Ecosystems 14:848–863

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenn ME, Poth MA (2004) Monitoring nitrogen desposition in throughfall using ion exchange resin columns: a field test in the San Bernardino Mountains. J Env Qual 33:2007–2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher E, Thornton B, Hudson G, Edwards AC (1998) The variability in total and extractable soil phosphorus under a grazed pasture. Plant Soil 203:249–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisk MC, Schmidt SK, Seastedt TR (1998) Topographic patterns of above- and belowground production and nitrogen cycling in alpine tundra. Ecology 79:2253–2266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallardo A, Parama R, Covelo F (2005) Soil ammonium versus nitrate spatial pattern in six plant communities: simulated effect on plant populations. Plant Soil 277:207–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Göransson H, Olde Venterink H, Bååth E (2011) Soil bacterial growth and nutrient limitation along a chronosequence from a glacier fore field. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1333–1340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinsinger P (1989) How do plants acquire mineral nutrients? Chemical processes involved in the rhizosphere. Adv Agron 64:225–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffland E, Findenegg GR, Nelemans JA (1989) Solubilization of rock phosphate by rape. II Local exudation of organic acids as a response to P starvation. Plant Soil 113:161–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hook PB, Burke IC, Lanenroth WR (1991) Heterogeneity in soil N and C associated with individual plants and openings in North American shortgrass steppe. Plant Soil 138:247–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson MS, Lehmann J (2006) Double-funneling of trees: stemflow and root-induced preferential flow. Ecoscience 13:324–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jumpponen A, Väre H, Mattson KG, Ohtonen R, Trappe JM (1999) Characterization of “safe sites” for pioneers in primary succession on recently deglaciated terrain. J Ecol 87:98–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim J, Li W, Philips BL, Grey CP (2011) Phosphate adsorption on the iron oxyhydroxides goethite (α-FeOOH), akaganeite (ß-FeOOH), and lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH): a 31P NMR Study. Energy Environ Sci 4:4298–4305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kormann C (2009) Untersuchungen des Wasserhaushaltes und der Abflussdynamik eines Gletschervorfeldes. Master thesis, TU Dresden

  • Levia DF Jr, Frost EE (2003) A review and evaluation of stemflow literature in the hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles of forested and agricultural ecosystems. J Hydrol (Amst) 274:1–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li J, Okin GS, Alvaraz L, Epstein H (2008) Effects of wind erosion on the spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients in two desert grassland communities. Biogeochemistry 88:73–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liptzin D, Seastedt TR (2009) Patterns of snow, deposition, and soil nutrients at multiple spatial scales at a Rocky Mountain tree line ecotone. J Geophys Res 114:G04002

    Google Scholar 

  • Liptzin D, Sanford RL Jr, Seastedt TR (2013) Spatial patterns of total and available N and P at alpine treeline. Plant Soil 365:127–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Litaor MI, Seastedt TR, Walker MD, Carbone M, Townsend A (2005) The biogeochemistry of phosphorus across an alpine topographic/snow gradient. Geoderma 124:49–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marteinsdóttir B, Thórhallsdóttir TE, Svavarsdóttir K (2013) An experimental test of the relationship between small scale topography and seedling establishment in primary succession. Plant Ecol 214:1007–1015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mellert KH, Gensior A, Göttlein A, Kölling C, Rücker G (2008) Variation in soil nitrate concentrations in two N-saturated Norway Spruce forests (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in Southern Bavaria. Water Air Soil Pollut 187:203–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noll M, Wellinger M (2008) Changes of the soil ecosystem along a receding glacier: testing the correlation between environmental factors and bacterial community structure. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2611–2619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olde Venterink H (2011) Legumes have a higher root phosphatase activity than other forbs, particularly under low inorganic N and P supply. Plant Soil 347:137–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olde Venterink H, Pieterse NM, Belgers JDM, Wassen MJ, Ruiter PC (2002) N, P and K budgets along nutrient availability and productivity gradients in wetlands. Ecol Appl 12:1010–1026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacala SW, Tilman D (1994) Limiting similarity in mechanistic and spatial models of plant competition in heterogeneous environments. Am Nat 143:222–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons AJ, Abrahams AD, Simanton JR (1992) Microtopography and soil surface materials on semi-arid piedmont hillslopes, Southern Arizona. J Arid Env 22:107–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Penuelas J, Poulter B, Sardans J, Ciais P, van der Velde M, Bopp L, Boucher O, Godderis Y, Hinsinger P, Llusia J, Nardin E, Vicca S, Obersteiner M, Janssens IA (2013) Human-induced nitrogen–phosphorus imbalances alter natural and managed ecosystems across the globe. Nat commun. doi:10.1038/ncomms3934

    Google Scholar 

  • Rietkerk M, Van de Koppel J (2008) Regular pattern formation in real ecosystems. Trends Ecol Evol 23:169–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Raikes JA, Hartley AE, Cross AF (1996) On the spatial pattern of soil nutrients in desert ecosystems. Ecology 77:364–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seastedt TR, Bowman WD, Caine TN, McKnight D, Townsend A, Williams MW (2004) The landscape continuum: a model for high-elevation ecosystems. Bioscience 54:111–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smittenberg RH, Gierga M, Göransson H, Christl I, Farinotti D, Bernasconi SM (2012) Climate-sensitive ecosystem carbon dynamics along the soil chronosequence of the Damma glacier forefield, Switzerland. Glob Change Biol 18:1941–1955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stenger R, Priesack E, Beese F (1998) Distribution of inorganic nitrogen in agricultural soils at different dates and scales. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 50:291–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vannote R, Minshall G, Cummins K, Sedell J, Cushing C (1980) The river continuum concept. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:130–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker TW, Syers JK (1976) The fate of phosphorus during pedogenesis. Geoderma 15:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wardle DA, Walker LR, Bardgett RD (2004) Ecosystem properties and forest decline in contrasting long-term chronosequences. Sci (Wash D C) 305:509–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zumsteg A, Luster J, Göransson H, Smittenberg RH, Brunner I, Bernasconi SM, Zeyer J, Frey B (2012) Bacterial, Archaeal and Fungal Succession in the Forefield of a Receding Glacier. Microb Ecol 63:552–564

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We greatly acknowledge Iso Christl for providing the data of TDN concentrations in rain, as well as Beat Müller and Ruth Stierli for analyses of the other variables in rain, and Britta Jahn, Marilyn Gaschen and Deniz Tuerkcan for analyses of the resin samples. We thank Gerri Furrer, Johan Van de Koppel, Max Rietkerk, Martin Wassen and Hans Henrik Bruun for helpful feedback on drafts of the manuscript. Funding was provided by ETH CCES-Biglink. We thank Stefano Bernasconi for his effort in managing the Biglink project.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Hans Göransson

    Present address: Institute of Forest Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Peter-Jordanstrasse 82, 1180, Vienna, Austria

  2. Rienk H. Smittenberg

    Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden

  3. Harry Olde Venterink

    Present address: Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Hans Göransson, Peter J. Edwards, Kristel Perreijn & Harry Olde Venterink

  2. Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Sonneggstrasse 5, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Rienk H. Smittenberg

Authors
  1. Hans Göransson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter J. Edwards
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kristel Perreijn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rienk H. Smittenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Harry Olde Venterink
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harry Olde Venterink.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Matthew Wallenstein

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 124 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Göransson, H., Edwards, P.J., Perreijn, K. et al. Rocks create nitrogen hotspots and N:P heterogeneity by funnelling rain. Biogeochemistry 121, 329–338 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-0031-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-0031-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation