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Mg and Ca root uptake and vertical transfer in soils assessed by an in situ ecosystem-scale multi-isotopic (26Mg & 44Ca) tracing experiment in a beech stand (Breuil-Chenue, France)

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Abstract

Background and aims

The sustainability of forest ecosystems may be at stake especially in forests on base-poor soils due to reduced nutrient deposition and intensified silvicultural practices. Understanding nutrient availability and cycling is therefore essential to manage forest soil fertility. This study aims to assess in a beech plot Mg and Ca vertical transfer in soil and root uptake using an isotopic tracing experiment.

Methods

A simulated rainfall containing a small amount (960 g Mg.ha−1; 530 g Ca.ha−1) of highly enriched 26Mg and 44Ca was sprayed on the forest floor of a 35-yr-old beech plot. The isotopic composition of fine roots and of the soil exchangeable Mg and Ca pool was monitored during 1 year. A pool and flux model (IsoMod) was developed to predict the labeling of the soil and vertical transfer of tracers.

Results

Tracers (44Ca and 26Mg) were immediately retained in the thin litter layer. During the following year, Mg and to a lesser extent Ca were progressively released. After 1 year, the exchangeable Mg and Ca pools of the upper mineral layer (0–5 cm) were strongly labeled (~660 ‰, representing ~55 % of the tracer input and ~370 ‰, ~41 % of the tracer input respectively). A significant proportion (~8 % 26Mg, ~2 % 44Ca) of tracer was leached through the soil, below 10 cm. This amount was much larger than what was predicted using a simple mixing model. The Ca and Mg isotopic composition of fine roots at all depths was close or lower than that of exchangeable Ca and Mg respectively.

Conclusions

An in situ ecosystem-scale 26Mg and 44Ca isotopic tracing experiment was successfully carried out. Tracers were at first strongly retained in the litter layer, then progressively transferred to soil horizons below. Nutrient cycling of Mg and Ca were proven to be very different. Mg had a higher mobility in the soil than Ca, and nutrient uptake sources were proven to be different.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the following institutions: Région Lorraine and the European Fund for Regional Development (FEDER), GIPECOFOR and the Zone Atelier Moselle (ZAM) for funding the present study. We would also like to thank l’Office National des Forêts, Dominique Gelhaye, Pascal Bonnaud and Serge Didier for their contribution to the Breuil-Chenue site management, sampling and analysis over the years.

We are also grateful to Dr Andrew Weatherall for providing some of the isotopically enriched biomass material used in this study. We also acknowledge the Scottish Government’s Research and Science Division for supporting the work conducted at The James Hutton Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UR 1138 Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes Forestiers, INRA de Nancy, Route d’Amance, 54 280, Champenoux, France

    Gregory van der Heijden, Arnaud Legout, Benoît Pollier & Jacques Ranger

  2. The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, Scotland, UK

    Andrew J. Midwood & Carol-Ann Craig

  3. INRA-Université de Savoie, UMR CARRTEL, 73376, Le Bourget du Lac, France

    Etienne Dambrine

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  1. Gregory van der Heijden
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  2. Arnaud Legout
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  5. Benoît Pollier
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  6. Jacques Ranger
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  7. Etienne Dambrine
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Correspondence to Gregory van der Heijden.

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van der Heijden, G., Legout, A., Midwood, A.J. et al. Mg and Ca root uptake and vertical transfer in soils assessed by an in situ ecosystem-scale multi-isotopic (26Mg & 44Ca) tracing experiment in a beech stand (Breuil-Chenue, France). Plant Soil 369, 33–45 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1542-7

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