Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The nutrient plasticity of moss-dominated crust in the urbanized Sonoran Desert

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aims

In deserts, moss-dominated crusts may play an important role in terrestrial-aquatic and aboveground-belowground connections. Despite its importance, very little is known about moss’s role in biogeochemical cycles and how nutrient pulses (e.g., from N deposition in air pollution) will affect their functional significance as an integrator of nutrient cycling in deserts.

Methods

Moss and soil were sampled from 15 sites in the Sonoran Desert in and around Phoenix, covering the city core subject to N deposition and rural areas to the east and west. Samples were analyzed for C, N, P and micronutrient content to compare moss stoichiometry over a gradient of soil resource availability.

Results

Moss %N and %P were positively correlated with soil N and P. Thus, sites in the city core subject to N deposition tended to have higher soil N and therefore higher moss N than the sites outside the city core. Micronutrient content varied with sampling region but was not related to soil content.

Conclusions

Results suggest that moss can take up excess N,, but overall coverage of moss is lower in the city, limiting its ability to act as a N sink.

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
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ball B, Virginia R (2014) The ecological role of moss in a polar desert: implications for aboveground-belowground and terrestrial-aquatic linkages. Polar Biol 37:651–664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bates JW (2000) Mineral nutrition, substratum ecology, and pollution. In: Shaw AJ, Goffinet B (eds) Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 225–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Belnap J, Eldridge D (2001) Disturbance and recovery of biological soil crusts. In: Belnap J, Lange OL (eds) Biological soil crusts: structure, function, and management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, New York, pp 363–383

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Beraldi-Campesi H, Hartnett HE, Anbar A, Gordon GW, Garcia-Pichel F (2009) Effect of biological soil crusts on soil elemental concentrations: implications for biogeochemistry and as traceable biosignatures of ancient life on land. Geobiology 7:348–359

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown DH, Buck GW (1979) Desiccation effects and cation distribution in bryophytes. New Phytol 82:115–125

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cable J, Huxman T (2004) Precipitation pulse size effects on Sonoran Desert soil microbial crusts. Oecologia 141:317–324

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coe KK, Belnap J, Sparks JP (2012) Precipitation-driven carbon balance controls survivorship of desert biocrust mosses. Ecology 93:1626–1636

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cook E (2014) Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in a large semi-arid city is lower than expected: Findings from a methods comparison. In: Direct and indirect ecological consequences of human activities in urban and native ecosystems. Dissertation, Arizona State University

  • Coxson DS (1991) Nutrient release from epiphytic bryophytes in tropical montane rain forest (Guadeloupe). Can J Bot 69:2122–2129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elbert W, Weber B, Burrows S, Steinkamp J, Budel B, Andreae MO, Poschl U (2012) Contribution of cryptogamic covers to the global cycles of carbon and nitrogen. Nat Geosci 5:459–462

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans RD, Belnap J, Garcia-Pichel F, Phillips SL (2001) Global change and the future of biological soil crusts. In: Belnap J, Lange OL (eds) Biological soil crusts: structure, function, and management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, New York, pp 417–426

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • FCDMC (2009) Rainfall information. p. http://www.fcd.maricopa.gov/Rainfall/Raininfo/raininfo.aspx. The Flood Control District of Maricopa County, Phoenix, AZ, USA.

  • Gallo EL, Brooks PD, Lohse KA, McLain JET (2013) Temporal patterns and controls on runoff magnitude and solution chemistry of urban catchments in the semiarid southwestern United States. Hydrol Process 27:995–1010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavazov KS, Soudzilovskaia NA, van Logtestijn RSP, Braster M, Cornelissen JHC (2010) Isotopic analysis of cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation associated with subarctic lichen and bryophyte species. Plant Soil 333:507–517

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gerdol R, Bragazza L, Marchesini R, Alber R, Bonetti L, Lorenzoni G, Achilli M, Buffoni A, De Marco N, Franchi M, Pison S, Giaquinta S, Palmieri F, Spezzano P (2000) Monitoring of heavy metal deposition in Northern Italy by moss analysis. Environ Pollut 108:201–208

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hale RL, Turnbull L, Earl S, Grimm N, Riha K, Michalski G, Lohse KA, Childers D (2014) Sources and transport of nitrogen in arid urban watersheds. Envir Sci Tech 48:6211–6219

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hall SJ, Sponseller RA, Grimm NB, Huber D, Kaye JP, Clark C, Collins SL (2011) Ecosystem response to nutrient enrichment across an urban airshed in the Sonoran Desert. Ecol Appl 21:640–660

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Horswill P, O’Sullivan O, Phoenix GK, Lee JA, Leake JR (2008) Base cation depletion, eutrophication and acidification of species-rich grasslands in response to long-term simulated nitrogen deposition. Environ Pollut 155:336–349

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu R, Wang X-p, Pan Y-x, Zhang Y-f, Zhang H (2014) The response mechanisms of soil N mineralization under biological soil crusts to temperature and moisture in temperate desert regions. Eur J Soil Biol 62:66–73

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lange OL (2001) Photosynthesis of soil-crust biota as dependent on environmental factors. In: Belnap J, Lange OL (eds) Biological soil crusts: structure, function, and management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, New York, pp 217–240

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lindo Z, Gonzalez A (2010) The bryosphere: an integral and influential component of the earth’s biosphere. Ecosystems 13:612–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lohse KA, Hope D, Sponseller R, Allen JO, Grimm NB (2008) Atmospheric deposition of carbon and nutrients across an arid metropolitan area. Sci Total Environ 402:95–105

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matson P, Lohse KA, Hall SJ (2002) The globalization of nitrogen deposition: consequences for terrestrial ecosystems. AMBIO 31:113–119

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell RJ, Sutton MA, Truscott AM, Leith ID, Cape JN, Pitcairn CER, Van Dijk N (2004) Growth and tissue nitrogen of epiphytic atlantic bryophytes: effects of increased and decreased atmospheric N deposition. Funct Ecol 18:322–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phuyal M, Artz RRE, Sheppard L, Leith ID, Johnson D (2008) Long-term nitrogen deposition increases phosphorus limitation of bryophytes in an ombrotrophic bog. Plant Ecol 196:111–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitcairn CER, Fowler D, Grace J (1995) Deposition of fixed atmospheric nitrogen and foliar nitrogen content of bryophytes and Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull. Environ Pollut 88:193–205

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor MCF, Oliver MJ, Wood AJ, Alpert P, Stark LR, Cleavitt NL, Mishler BD (2007) Desiccation-tolerance in bryophytes: a review. Bryologist 110:595–621

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reed SC, Coe KK, Sparks JP, Housman DC, Zelikova TJ, Belnap J (2012) Changes to dryland rainfall result in rapid moss mortality and altered soil fertility. Nat Clim Chang 2:752–755

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds RL, Reheis M, Yount J, Lamothe P (2006) Composition of aeolian dust in natural traps on isolated surfaces of the central Mojave Desert-insights to mixing, sources, and nutrient inputs. J Arid Environ 66:42–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosentreter R, Eldridge DJ, Kaltenecker JH (2001) Monitoring and management of biological soil crusts. In: Belnap J, Lange OL (eds) Biological soil crusts: structure, function, and management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, New York, pp 457–468

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rosentreter R, Bowker M, Belnap J (2007) A Field Guide to Biological Soil Crusts of Westner U.S. Drylands: Common Lichens and Bryophytes. U.S. Government Printing Office, Denver, CO

  • Salemaa M, Derome J, Helmisaari H-S, Nieminen T, Vanha-Majamaa I (2004) Element accumulation in boreal bryophytes, lichens and vascular plants exposed to heavy metal and sulfur deposition in Finland. Sci Total Environ 324:141–160

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schröder W, Holy M, Pesch R, Harmens H, Fagerli H, Alber R, Coşkun M, De Temmerman L, Frolova M, González-Miqueo L, Jeran Z, Kubin E, Leblond S, Liiv S, Maňkovská B, Piispanen J, Santamaría JM, Simonèiè P, Suchara I, Yurukova L, Thöni L, Zechmeister HG (2010) First Europe-wide correlation analysis identifying factors best explaining the total nitrogen concentration in mosses. Atmos Environ 44:3485–3491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seager R, Ting M, Held I, Kushnir Y, Lu J, Vecchi G, Huang H-P, Harnik N, Leetmaa A, Lau N-C, Li C, Velez J, Naik N (2007) Model projections of an imminent transition to a more arid climate in southwestern North America. Science 316:1181–1184

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Solga A (2007) Seasonal variation in the nitrogen concentration and 15 N natural abundance of a pleurocarpous moss species in dependence on nitrogen deposition dynamics. Cryptogam Bryol 28:93–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (2007) Regional climate projections. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 Cambridge University Press, New York, NY,

  • Song L, Liu W-Y, Ma W-Z, Qi J-H (2012) Response of epiphytic bryophytes to simulated N deposition in a subtropical montane cloud forest in southwestern China. Oecologia 170:847–856

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stark LR, McLetchie DN, Roberts SP (2009) Gender differences and a new adult eukaryotic record for upper thermal tolerance in the desert moss Syntrichia caninervis. J Therm Biol 34:131–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stark LR, Brinda JC, McLetchie DN (2011) Effects of increased summer precipitation and N deposition on Mojave Desert populations of the biological crust moss Syntrichia caninervis. J Arid Environ 75:457–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waite M, Sack L (2011) Does global stoichiometric theory apply to bryophytes? Tests across an elevation × soil age ecosystem matrix on Mauna Loa, Hawaii. J Ecol 99:122–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zelikova T, Housman D, Grote E, Neher D, Belnap J (2012) Warming and increased precipitation frequency on the Colorado Plateau: implications for biological soil crusts and soil processes. Plant Soil 355:265–282

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zschau T, Getty S, Gries C, Ameron Y, Zambrano A, Nash Iii TH (2003) Historical and current atmospheric deposition to the epilithic lichen Xanthoparmelia in Maricopa county, Arizona. Environ Pollut 125:21–30

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology grants to the CAP-LTER (CAP3: BCS-1026865), including the CAP-LTER REU program, as well as by the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at Arizona State University. We thank students Jen Bagby, Melanie Kepler, Chelsey Tellez, Jack Ramsey, and Amber Deines for their help in the field and lab. Cathy Kochert, Roy Erickson, and Sara Ryan at the Goldwater Environmental Lab at ASU provided analytical services. Quincy Stewart and Stevan Earl provided logistical support. We thank Sharon Hall for her input on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University at the West Campus, 1407 W. Thunderbird Rd, Glendale, AZ, 85306, USA

    Becky A. Ball & Jessica Alvarez Guevara

Authors
  1. Becky A. Ball
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jessica Alvarez Guevara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Becky A. Ball.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Zucong Cai.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOCX 54 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ball, B.A., Alvarez Guevara, J. The nutrient plasticity of moss-dominated crust in the urbanized Sonoran Desert. Plant Soil 389, 225–235 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2355-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2355-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation