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Host Identity as a Driver of Moss-Associated N2 Fixation Rates in Alaska

Ecosystems volume 24, pages 530–547 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Moss-associated N2 fixation provides a substantial but heterogeneous input of new N to nutrient-limited ecosystems at high latitudes. In spite of the broad diversity of mosses found in boreal and Arctic ecosystems, the extent to which host moss identity drives variation in N2 fixation rates remains largely undetermined. We used 15N2 incubations to quantify the fixation rates associated with 34 moss species from 24 sites ranging from 60° to 68° N in Alaska, USA. Remarkably, all sampled moss genera fixed N2, including well-studied feather and peat mosses and genera such as Tomentypnum, Dicranum, and Polytrichum. The total moss-associated N2 fixation rates ranged from almost zero to 3.2 mg N m−2 d−1, with an average of 0.8 mg N m−2 d−1, based on abundance-weighted averages of all mosses summed for each site. Random forest models indicated that moss taxonomic family was a better predictor of rate variation across Alaska than any of the measured environmental factors, including site, pH, tree density, and mean annual precipitation and temperature. Consistent with this finding, mixed models showed that trends in N2 fixation rates among moss genera were consistent across biomes. We also found “hotspots” of high fixation rates in one-fourth of sampled sites. Our results demonstrated the importance of moss identity in influencing N2 fixation rates. This in turn indicates the potential utility of moss identity when making ecosystem N input predictions and exploring other sources of process rate variation.

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Data Availability

The data was published by the Arctic Data Center. The link to the publicly available dataset is https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A2QV3C475.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology Award 1542586. Further graduate student support was provided by the ARCS Scholarship Award and Northern Arizona University. Thanks to the Bonanza Creek LTER, Arctic LTER, and Toolik Field Station for their assistance and facilities. Additional thanks to Dakshina Marlier, Haley Dunleavy, Briana Jasinski, Henry Grover, Matthew Bowker, George Koch, and Ted Schuur for assistance with field work, coding, and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ecosystem Science and Society and Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

    Julia E. M. Stuart, Samantha N. Miller & Michelle C. Mack

  2. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Hannah Holland-Moritz & Noah Fierer

  3. Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Lily R. Lewis, Stuart F. McDaniel & José Miguel Ponciano

  4. Department of Forestry, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada

    Mélanie Jean

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  1. Julia E. M. Stuart
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Correspondence to Julia E. M. Stuart.

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Author Contributions

SFM, NF, JMP, and MCM conceived of the study, JEMS, HHM, LRL, MJ, SNM, SFD, NF, JMP, and MCM performed research, JEMS and MCM analyzed data, JEMS wrote the manuscript with HHM, MJ, SNM, SFM, NF, JMP, and MCM contributing to the manuscript.

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Stuart, J.E.M., Holland-Moritz, H., Lewis, L.R. et al. Host Identity as a Driver of Moss-Associated N2 Fixation Rates in Alaska. Ecosystems 24, 530–547 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00534-3

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Keywords

  • N2 fixation
  • Alaska
  • Bryophytes
  • Boreal forest
  • Arctic tundra
  • Hotspots