Abstract
Background and aims
Niche complementarity arising from divergence in resource use is an important mechanism underlying species coexistence. We hypothesized fertilization with different N forms would generate plastic divergence among species with regard to their N form uptake and preference.
Methods
In the eighth year of a long-term N fertilization experiment in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan plateau, we labeled 11 common plant species with ammonium-15N or nitate-15N in subplots without fertilization (control) or fertilized with 7.5 g N m−2 yr−1 in the form of ammonium, nitrate, or ammonium nitrate to trace N form uptake.
Results
Depending on species, fertilization with nitrate or ammonium nitrate had positive, negative or neutral effects on NO3-N uptake rate, although ammonium fertilization showed little impact. By contrast, fertilization with any N form had little impact on NH4-N uptake rate. Consequently, effects of nitrate fertilization and ammonium nitrate fertilization on relative N form preference diverged among the species and the functional groups (grasses, sedges, legumes and forbs).
Conclusions
Alpine plant species can diverge in N form uptake and preference in response to long-term N fertilization, and such divergence may contribute to species coexistence after long-term fertilization.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Prof. Robert D. Guy from Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada for his help with English improvement. The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31270503), and an Excellent Scientists grant from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2011RC101).
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Song, MH., Zheng, LL., Suding, K.N. et al. Plasticity in nitrogen form uptake and preference in response to long-term nitrogen fertilization. Plant Soil 394, 215–224 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2532-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2532-3