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Recently absorbed nitrogen incorporates into new and old tissues: evidence from a 15 N-labelling experiment in deciduous oaks

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Abstract

We quantified the distribution of nitrogen (N), dry-matter (biomass) and of soil-applied 15 N in tree and soil compartments in five naturally-growing 20-year-old oak trees. After applying 15 N solution to soil at the base of the trees in spring, all the trees were felled in the fall, their root system excavated, biomass, nitrogen and 15 N content measured in all compartments. Xylem rings-compartment contains most biomass (47%) while branches and coarse-root contains most nitrogen (29% and 14% respectively). The labelled 15 N absorbed throughout the vegetation season, was found in all compartments except the heartwood. The majority of recovered 15 N was in the leaves (24%). Some often overlooked compartments (coarse root, stump, xylem and other branches) together recovered 45% of the 15 N. 15 N was found in all the sapwood rings, from the ring formed in the current year up to 10 year-old rings, marking the limit of the heartwood. More 15 N was found in the younger rings compared to older rings. The 15 N allocated to ancient rings can originate from different, non-mutually exclusive, sources: whether directly from the soil via the 15 N uptake throughout the vegetation season and transport in the xylem sap, from the autumnal resorption of 15 N first allocated to the leaves, or from the 15 N mobility once allocated to the forming ring to older rings through ray parenchyma. With about 6% of the initial 15 N retrieved in the microbial biomass at the end of the growing season, we confirmed the role of microbial biomass as forest nitrogen sink.

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Abbreviations

DBH:

Diameter at Breast Height

DOY:

Day of the Year

Stump:

The tree's pivot that is inside the soil

AG:

Aboveground

BG:

Belowground

EP:

Experimental plot

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution and the Institut Diversité Ecologie et Evolution du Vivant through the financing of the TIP-TOP project. The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of Caroline Mauve, Marlène Sibold-Lamothe, Françoise Gilard, Gregory Mouille for their contribution in the TIP-TOP project, as well as Daniel Berveiller, Patricia Le Thuault, Michèle Viel, Lionel Saunois, Sandrine Fontaine, Alain Sévéré, Liliana Pinek and Baptiste Laffont for data collection, field work, and technical assistance. We are grateful to the French National Forest Office (ONF) for allowing us to carry out these experiments at the Fontainebleau-Barbeau forest. This work benefited from the French state aid managed by the ANR under the "Investissements d'avenir" programme with the reference ANR-16-CONV-0003 through the financial support provided by CLAND to Mubarak MAHMUD during the period of writing this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ecologie Systématique et Evolution, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Mubarak Mahmud, Tania L. Maxwell, Sixtine Cueff, Romain Schroeder, Stéphane Bazot, Nicolas Delpierre, Gaëlle Vincent & Laure Barthes

  2. Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Nigeria

    Mubarak Mahmud

  3. INRAE, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, ISPA, 33140, Villenave d’Ornon, France

    Tania L. Maxwell

  4. Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France

    Nicolas Delpierre

  5. Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, INRAE-AgroParisTech, 78000, Versailles, France

    Anne Marmagne

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  1. Mubarak Mahmud
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Mahmud, M., Maxwell, T.L., Cueff, S. et al. Recently absorbed nitrogen incorporates into new and old tissues: evidence from a 15 N-labelling experiment in deciduous oaks. Plant Soil 480, 407–421 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05589-w

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