Abstract
Foliage from a mature stand of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) receiving increasing doses of ammonium nitrate and urea nitrogen was assayed during the five subsequent growing seasons for total N concentration and 15N abundance. The aim of the study was to examine the potential of the δ15N technique to provide estimates on fertilizer N recovery and its fate in the ecosystem. The 15N abundance in the foliage increased in proportion to the dose of fertilizer application. This was generally owing to the fact that the δ15N of the fertilizer N was significantly higher than that in the soil inorganic-N pool, as well as in the needle biomass of the Scots pine trees on the nonfertilized plots. Due to 15N isotope discrimination occurring during N transformations in soil the relationship was however not very close. Calculations based on the principle of isotope dilution yielded only rough and, in some cases, even misleading estimates of the fraction of the fertilizer-derived nitrogen (Ndff) in the needles. This was especially the case for the urea-N, which undergoes significant isotopic fractionation during the process of ammonia volatilization and possibly microbial NH4 + assimilation in soil. Over five growing seasons, foliar total N concentration peaked at the end of the second season while the 15N abundance continued to increase. Although large methodological errors may be involved when interpreting natural 15N abundance, the measurement of δ15N seems to provide semi-quantitative information about fertilizer N accumulation and transformation processes in coniferous ecosystems. A better understanding of the tree and soil processes causing isotopic fractionation is a prerequisite for correct interpretation of 15N data.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aronsson A and Elowson S 1980 Effects of irrigation and fertilization of mineral nutrients in Scots pine needles. In Structure and Function of Northern Coniferous Forests — an Ecosystem Study. Ed. T Persson. Ecol. Bull. (Stockholm) 32, 219–228.
Bremner, J M 1965 Total nitrogen. In Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2. Agronomy 9, 1149–1178. Ed. C A Black. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
Bremner, J M and Keeney, D R 1966 Determination and isotope-ratio analysis of different forms of nitrogen in soils, 3: Exchangeable ammonium, nitrate and nitrite by extraction-distillation methods. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 30, 577–582.
Cheng, H H, Bremner, J M and Edwards, A P 1965 Variations of nitrogen-15 abundance in soils. Science 146, 1574–1575.
Delwiche, C C and Steyn, P L 1970 Nitrogen isotope fractionation in soils and microbial reactions. Environ. Sci. Technol. 4, 929–935.
Farquhar, G D, Firth, P M, Wetselaar, R and Weir, B 1980 On the gaseous exchange of ammonia between leaves and the environment: Determination of the ammonia compensation point. Plant Physiol. 66, 710–714.
Gebauer, G and Schulze, E-D 1991 Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in different compartments of a healthy and a declining Picea abies forest in the Fichtelgebirge, NE Bavaria. Oecologia 87, 198–207.
Handley, L L and Raven, J A 1992 The use of natural abundance of nitrogen isotopes in plant physiology and ecology. Plant. Cell Environ. 15, 965–985.
Hauck, R D and Bremner, J M 1976 Use of tracers for soil and fertilizer nitrogen research. Adv. Agron. 28, 219–266.
Högberg, P 1991 Development of 15N enrichment in a nitrogen-fertilized forest soil-plant system. Soil Biol. Biochem. 23, 335–338.
Högberg, P, Tamm, C-O and Högberg, M 1992 Variations in 15N abundance in a forest fertilization trial: Critical loads of N, N saturation, contamination and effects of revitalization fertilization. Plant and Soil 142, 211–219.
Jansson, S L and Persson, J 1982 Mineralization and immobilization of soil nitrogen. In Nitrogen in Agricultural Soils. Agronomy 22, 229–252. Ed. F J Stevenson. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, Madison, WI.
Jenkinson D S, Fox R H and Rayner J H 1985 Interactions between fertilizer nitrogen and soil nitrogen — the so-called ‘priming’ effect. J. Soil Sci., 425–444.
Karamanos, R E and Rennie, D A 1978 Nitrogen isotope fractionation during ammonium exchange reactions with soil clay. Can. J. Soil Sci. 58, 53–60.
Karamanos, R E and Rennie, D A 1981 Changes and significance in natural 15N abundance in residual nitrogen fertilizer studies. Can. J. Soil Sci. 61, 553–559.
Kirshenbaum, I, Smith, J S, Crowell, T, Graff, J and McKee, R 1947 Separation of the nitrogen isotopes by the exchange reaction between ammonia and solutions of ammonium nitrate. J. Chem. Phys. 15, 440–446.
Kohl, D H, Shearer, G B and Commoner, B 1973 Variation of 15N in corn and soil following application of fertilizer nitrogen. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 37, 888–892.
Kreitler, C W 1975 Determining the source of nitrate in ground water by nitrogen isotope studies. Bureau of Economic Geology. Report of Investigations. No. 83, University of Texas, Austin, 57 p.
Ledyard, S F, Freney, J R and Simpson, J R 1984 Variations in natural enrichment of 15N in the profiles of some Australian pasture soils. Aust. J. Soil Res. 22, 155–164.
Mahendrappa, M K and Ogden, E D 1973 Patterns of ammonia volatilization from a forest soil. Plant and Soil 38, 257–265.
Mariotti, A 1983 Atmospheric nitrogen is a reliable 15N standard for natural 15N abundance measurements. Nature 303, 685–687.
Mariotti, A, Germon, J C, Hubert, P, Kaiser, P, Letolle, R, Tardieux, A and Tardieux, P 1981 Experimental determination of nitrogen kinetic isotope fractionation: some principles; illustration for the denitrification and nitrification processes. Plant and Soil 62, 413–430.
Malm, D and Möller, G 1975 Differences in volume growth increase after fertilization with urea and ammonium nitrate fertilizer. In Föreningen Skogsträdsförädling, Årsbok 1974. pp 61–62. Institutet för Skogsförbättring, Uppsala, Sweden. (Swedish, English summary).
Meints, V W, Shearer, G, Kohl, D H and Kurtz, L T 1975 A comparison of unenriched versus 15N-enriched fertilizer as a tracer for N fertilizer uptake. Soil Sci. 119, 421–425.
Melander, L and Saunders, W HJr 1980 Reaction Rates of Isotopic Molecules. John Wiley, New York. pp 2 and 22.
Melin J 1986. Omsättning och fördelning av gödselkväve i tre barrskogsekosystem i mellansverige. Reports in Forest Ecology and Forest Soils, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, No. 55. 122 p. (English summary).
Meyer, M W 1973 Absorption and release of ammonia from and to the atmosphere by plants. PhD. Thesis. University of Maryland, College Park MD.
Nason, G E, Pluth, D J and McGill, W B 1988 Volatilization and foliar recapture of ammonia following spring and fall application of nitrogen-15 urea to a Douglas-fir ecosystem. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 52, 821–828.
Nadelhoffer, K J and Fry, B 1988 Controls on natural nitrogen-15 and carbon-13 abundances in forest soil organic matter. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 52, 1633–1640.
Nelson, D W 1982 Gaseous losses of nitrogen other than through denitrification. In Nitrogen in Agricultural Soils. Agronomy 22, 327–363. Ed. F J Stevenson. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, Madison, WI.
Näsholm, T and Ericsson, A 1990 Seasonal changes in amino acids, protein and total nitrogen in needles of fertilized Scots pine trees. Tree Physiol. 6, 267–281.
Nômmik, H 1980 The balance sheet for fertilizer nitrogen in a forest ecosystem. Kungliga Skogs- och Lantbruksakademien, Stockholm, Report No. 1, pp 19–35 (Swedish, English summary).
Nômmik, H 1990 The application of 15N as a tracer in the movement of nitrogen in forest ecosystems. In Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems: Field Methods, Application, and Interpretation. Eds. A F Harrison, PIneson and O WHeal. pp 276–290. Elsevier Applied Science, New York.
Nômmik, H and Larsson, K 1989 Measurement of denitrification rate in undisturbed soil cores under different temperature and moisture conditions using 15N tracer technique. 1. Experimental. Swedish J. Agric. Res. 19, 35–44.
Nômmik, H and Möller, G 1981 Nitrogen recovery in soil and needle biomass after fertilization of a Scots pine stand, and growth responses obtained. Studia Forestalia Suecica 159. 37 p.
Nyman, B F 1992 Fractionated extraction and speciation of macronutrients from Scots pine and Norway spruce needles of different ages. Trees 7, 33–39.
Pate, J S, Stewart, G R and Unkovich 1983 Characteristics of inorganic nitrogen assimilation of plants in fire-prone Mediterranean-type vegetation. Plant Cell Environ. 16, 351–363.
Rennie, D A, Paul, E A and Johns, I E 1976 Natural nitrogen-15 abundance of soil and plant samples. Can. J. Soil Sci. 56, 43–50.
Riga, A, van Praag, H J and Brigode, N 1971 Rapport isotopique naturel de l'azote dans quelques sols forestiers et agricoles de Belgique soumis à divers traitements culturaux. Geoderma 6, 213–222.
Roubelakis, K A and Kliewer, W M 1978 Enzymes of Krebs-Henseleit cycle in Vitis vinifera L. III. In vivo and In vitro studies of arginase. Plant Physiol. 62, 344–347.
Shearer, G and Kohl, D H 1986 N2-fixation in field settings: estimations based on natural 15N abundance (a review). Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 13, 699–756.
Shearer, G and Legg, J O 1975 Variations in the natural abundance of 15N of wheat plants in relation to fertilizer nitrogen applications. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 39, 896–901.
Wetzel, S, Demmers, C and Greenwood, J S 1991 Protein-storing vacuoles in inner bark and leaves of softwoods. Trees 5, 196–202.
Yoneyama, T, Omata, T, Nakata, S and Yazaki, S 1991 Fractionation of nitrogen isotopes during the uptake and assimilation of ammonia by plants. Plant Cell Physiol. 32, 1211–1217.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nômmik, H., Pluth, D.J., Larsson, K. et al. Isotopic fractionation accompanying fertilizer nitrogen transformations in soil and trees of a Scots spine ecosystem. Plant Soil 158, 169–182 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009492
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009492