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Plant uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus among grassland species affected by drought along a soil available phosphorus gradient

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Abstract

Aims

Here we assessed N and P uptake of four grassland species grown together in response to a short-term drought event along a soil P gradient.

Methods

We used 15N and 32P tracers to examine uptake of N and P by the grasses Bothriochloa macra, Themeda triandra, Lolium perenne and Microlaena stipoides grown together in pots with initial available P levels of 3, 8, 12, 20 mg P kg−1 soil. Soil moisture in half the pots was reduced from 60 to 30% water holding capacity during a 7-day period to simulate drought.

Results

Plant P uptake was strongly reduced by drought in all species across all P levels, much more so than N uptake, indicating decoupling in N and P uptake. Soil available P (Bray method) was not affected by drought, suggesting that the reduced P uptake with drought was due to reduced soil P mobility. Plant competition for N and P changed with drought and soil P levels, where relatively more N and P was taken up with drought by M. stipoides at the lowest soil P level.

Conclusions

We showed that greater reductions in P than in N uptake and shifts in N and P uptake among species caused by a short-term drought have strong consequences for plant growth.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by an Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Award (ALNGRA15209) awarded to FAD in 2015. PM was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (n°P300P3_154648).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sydney Institute of Agriculture, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, 380 Werombi Rd, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia

    Pierre Mariotte, Claudia Keitel & Feike A. Dijkstra

  2. Agroscope, Grazing Systems Group, Route de Duillier 50, 1260, Nyon, Switzerland

    Pierre Mariotte

  3. Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, New Illawarra Road, Lucas Heights, NSW, 2234, Australia

    Tom Cresswell, Mathew P. Johansen & Jennifer J. Harrison

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  1. Pierre Mariotte
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  2. Tom Cresswell
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  3. Mathew P. Johansen
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  4. Jennifer J. Harrison
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  5. Claudia Keitel
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  6. Feike A. Dijkstra
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Correspondence to Pierre Mariotte.

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Mariotte, P., Cresswell, T., Johansen, M.P. et al. Plant uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus among grassland species affected by drought along a soil available phosphorus gradient. Plant Soil 448, 121–132 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04407-0

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