Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nitrogen resorption from senescing leaves of three salt marsh plant species

  • Published:
Plant Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Seasonalvariation in leaf nitrogen of mature green and senescent leaves and nitrogenresorption efficiency in three plants (Spartina maritima, Halimioneportulacoides and Arthrocnemum perenne) of aTagus estuary salt marsh are reported. Total nitrogen concentrations in greenand senescent leaves were higher during winter (December and March). Soilinorganic nitrogen availability showed an opposite pattern with higherconcentrations during summer (June and September) when total leaf biomass washigher. Nitrogen resorption efficiency ranged between 31 and 76% andH. portulacoides was the plant that better minimizednitrogen loss by this process. Nitrogen resorption occurred mainly from thesoluble protein pool, although other fractions must have been broken down duringthe resorption process. No significant seasonal variation in nitrogen resorptionefficiency and no relation to leaf total nitrogen or soil nitrogen availabilitywere found. This suggests that the efficiency of the resorption process is notdetermined by the plant nitrogen status nor by the availability of the nutrientin the soil. Nevertheless, resorption from senescing leaves may play animportant role in the nitrogen dynamics of salt marsh plants and reduce thenitrogen requirements for plant growth.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aerts R. 1996. Nutrient resorption from senescing leaves of perennials: are there general patterns? Journal of Ecology 84: 597–608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford M.M. 1976. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Analytical Biochemistry 72: 248–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan-Wollaston V. 1997. The molecular biology of leaf senescence. Journal of Experimental Botany 48: 181–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buresh R.J., DeLaune R.D. and Patrick W.H. 1980. Nitrogen and phosphorus distribution and utilization by Spartina alterniflora in a Louisiana Gulf Coast marsh. Estuaries 3: 111–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartaxana P., Caçador I., Vale C., Falcão M. and Catarino F. 1999. Seasonal variation of inorganic nitrogen and net mineralization in a salt marsh ecosystem. Mangroves and Salt Marshes 3: 127–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin F.S. 1980. The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11: 233–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin F.S. and Kedrowski R.A. 1983. Seasonal changes in nitrogen and phosphorus fractions and autumn retranslocation in evergreen and deciduous taiga trees. Ecology 64: 376–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin F.S. and Moilanen L. 1991. Nutritional controls over nitrogen and phosphorus resorption from Alaskan birch leaves. Ecology 72: 709–715.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark F.E. 1977. Internal cycling of 15N in shortgrass prairie. Ecology 58: 1322–1333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Arco J.M., Escudero A. and Garrido M.V. 1991. Effects of site characteristics on nitrogen translocation from senescing leaves. Ecology 72: 701–708.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans J.R. 1983. Photosynthesis and nitrogen partitioning in leaves of Triticum aestivum and related species.

  • Hopkinson C.S. and Schubauer J.P. 1984. Static and dynamic aspects of nitrogen cycling in the salt marsh graminoid Spartina alterniflora. Ecology 65: 961–969.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jonasson S. and Chapin F.S. 1985. Significance of sequential leaf development for nutrient balance in the cottonsedge Eriophorum vaginatum L. Oecologia 67: 511–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang S.M. and Titus J.S. 1980. Quantitative and qualitative changes in nitrogenous compounds in senescing leaf and bark tissue of the apple. Physiologia Plantarum 50: 285–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Killinbeck K.T. 1996. Nutrients in senesced leaves: keys to the search for potential resorption and resorption proficiency. Ecology 77: 1716–1727.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ku M.S.B., Schmitt M.R. and Edwards G.E. 1979. Quantitative determination of RUBP carboxylase/oxygenase protein in leaves of C3 and C4 plants. Journal of Experimental Botany 30: 89–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lajtha K. 1987. Nutrient resorption efficiency and the response to phosphorus fertilization in the desert shrub Larrea tridentata (DC) Cov. Biogeochemistry 4: 265–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lajtha K. and Whitford W.G. 1989. The effect of water and nitrogen amendments on photosynthesis, leaf demography, and resource-use efficiency in Larrea tridentata, a desert evergreen shrub. Oecologia 80: 341–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendelssohn I.A. 1979. The influence of nitrogen level, form and application method on the growth response of Spartina alterniflora in North Carolina. Estuaries 2: 106–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millard P. and Thomson C.M. 1989. The effect of the autumn senescence of leaves on the internal cycling of nitrogen for the spring growth of apple trees. Journal of Experimental Botany 40: 1285–1289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osgood D.T. and Zieman J.C. 1993. Factors controlling above-ground Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) tissue element composition and production in different-age barrier island marshes. Estuaries 16: 815–826.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pugnaire F.I. and Chapin F.S. 1992. Environmental and physiological factors governing nutrient resorption efficiency in barley. Oecologia 90: 120–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pugnaire F.I. and Chapin F.S. 1993. Controls over nutrient resorption from leaves of evergreen Mediterranean species. Ecology 74: 124–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver G.R. and Melillo J.M. 1984. Nutrient budgets of marsh plants: efficiency concepts and relation to availability. Ecology 65: 1491–1510.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal R.R. and Rohlf F.J. 1995. Biometry. Freeman, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner J. 1977. Effects of nitrogen availability on nitrogen cycling in a Douglas-fir stand. Forest Science 23: 307–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek P. 1982. Nutrient cycling and nutrient use efficiency. American Naturalist 119: 553–572.

    Google Scholar 

  • White D.S. and Howes B.L. 1994a. Translocation, remineralization, and turnover of nitrogen in the roots and rhizomes of Spartina alterniflora (Gramineae). American Journal of Botany 81: 1225–1234.

    Google Scholar 

  • White D.S. and Howes B.L. 1994b. Long-term 15N-nitrogen retention in the vegetated sediments of a New England salt marsh. Limnology and Oceanography 39: 1878–1892.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodwell G.M. 1974. Variation in the nutrient content of leaves of Quercus alba, Quercus coccinea, and Pinus rigida in the Brookhaven Forest from bud-break to abcission. American Journal of Botany 61: 749–753.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

    P. Cartaxana & F. Catarino

Authors
  1. P. Cartaxana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. Catarino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cartaxana, P., Catarino, F. Nitrogen resorption from senescing leaves of three salt marsh plant species. Plant Ecology 159, 95–102 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015595430010

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015595430010

Search

Navigation