Plant and Soil

, Volume 362, Issue 1–2, pp 119–134 | Cite as

Nitrate-use traits of understory plants as potential regulators of vegetation distribution on a slope in a Japanese cedar plantation

  • Lina Koyama
  • Muneto Hirobe
  • Keisuke Koba
  • Naoko Tokuchi
Regular Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Background and aims

Plant physiological traits and their relation to soil N availability was investigated as regulators of the distribution of understory shrub species along a slope in a Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) plantation in central Japan.

Methods

At the study site, previous studies demonstrated that both net and gross soil nitrification rates are high on the lower slope and there are dramatic declines in different sections of the slope gradient. We examined the distributions of understory plant species and their nitrate (NO 3 − -N) use traits, and compared the results with the soil traits.

Results

Our results show that boundaries between different dominant understory species correspond to boundaries between different soil types. Leucosceptrum stellipilum occurs on soil with high net and gross nitrification rates. Hydrangea hirta is dominant on soil with high net and low gross nitrification rates. Pieris japonica occurs on soil with very low net and gross nitrification rates. Dominant understory species have species-specific physiological traits in their use of NO 3 − -N. Pieris japonica lacks the capacity to use NO 3 − -N as a N source, but other species do use NO 3 − -N. Lindera triloba, whose distribution is unrelated to soil NO 3 − -N availability, changes the extent to which it uses NO 3 − -N in response to soil NO 3 − -N availability.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that differences in the physiological capabilities and adaptabilities of plant species in using NO 3 − -N as a N source regulate their distribution ranges. The identity of the major form of available soil N is therefore an environmental factor that influences plant distributions.

Keywords

Nitrate (NO3−-N) Nitrate reductase activity (NRA) Soil NO3−-N availability Spatial distribution Understory 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Drs. H. Takeda, N. Osawa and T. Osono for their valuable comments, and Mr. K. Yoshida for providing us with data on soil moisture conditions. We also thank Drs. Y. Asano and M. Katsuyama for their valuable advice on HPLC analysis, and Drs. S. Nanami and K. Ishimaru and other members of the Laboratory of Forest Ecology, Kyoto University for their help in fieldwork and laboratory analysis.

Supplementary material

11104_2012_1257_MOESM1_ESM.doc (570 kb)
ESM 1 (DOC 570 kb)
11104_2012_1257_MOESM2_ESM.doc (117 kb)
ESM 2 (DOC 117 kb)

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Lina Koyama
    • 1
    • 2
  • Muneto Hirobe
    • 1
    • 3
  • Keisuke Koba
    • 1
    • 4
  • Naoko Tokuchi
    • 1
    • 5
  1. 1.Graduate School of AgricultureKyoto UniversityKyotoJapan
  2. 2.Laboratory of Biosphere Informatics, Graduate School of InformaticsKyoto UniversityKyotoJapan
  3. 3.Graduate School of Environmental and Life ScienceOkayama UniversityOkayamaJapan
  4. 4.Graduate School of AgricultureTokyo University of Agriculture and TechnologyFuchu CityJapan
  5. 5.Field Science Education and Research CenterKyoto UniversityKyotoJapan

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