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Nitrogen competition between three dominant plant species and microbes in a temperate grassland

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Abstract

Background and aims

To test the hypothesis that dominant plant species could acquire different nitrogen (N) forms over a spatial scale and they also have the ability to compete for available N with microbes.

Methods

A short-term 15N labeling experiment was conducted in the temperate grassland ecosystem of North China in July of 2013. Three N forms (NO3 − , NH4 + and glycine) labeled with 15N were injected into the two soil depths (0–5 and 5–15 cm) surrounding each plant to explore N acquisition by plants and microbes. Three dominant plant species (Artemisia frigida, Cleistogenes squarrosa and Artemisia capillaris) were investigated.

Results

Two hours after 15N labeling, all three dominant plant species absorbed both organic and inorganic N, but different patterns were observed at two soil depths. Uptake of NO3 − was significantly higher at 0–5 cm than at 5–15 cm soil depth among all the dominant plant species. 15N recovery by microbes was significantly higher than plants. However, 15N recovery by plants showed different patterns over soil depths.

Conclusions

Dominant plant species in the temperate grassland have different patterns in acquisition of N added to soil in organic form and absorption of inorganic N, and microbes were more effectively than plants at competing for N in a short-term period.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the “National Key Basic Research Program of China” (Grant No. 2014CB138803), the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities (Grant No. 2014KJJCB01) and the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University (Grant No. 2009-RC-03) as well as National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470560, 41071209 and 31570468).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Human-Environment System Sustainability (CHESS), State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Haidian District, Beijing, 100875, China

    Shengnan Ouyang, Yuqiang Tian & Ruixue Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Qianyuan Liu, Li Zhang & Xingliang Xu

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  1. Shengnan Ouyang
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  2. Yuqiang Tian
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  3. Qianyuan Liu
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  4. Li Zhang
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  5. Ruixue Wang
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Correspondence to Yuqiang Tian.

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Ouyang, S., Tian, Y., Liu, Q. et al. Nitrogen competition between three dominant plant species and microbes in a temperate grassland. Plant Soil 408, 121–132 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2904-3

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