Summary
The spatial pattern of soil nitrogen was analyzed for a patchy vegetation formed by the colonization of Polygonum cuspidatum in a volcanic “desert” on Mt. Fuji. Soils were sampled radially from the bare ground to the center of the patch, and analyses were done for bulk density, water content, soil acidity, organic matter, organic nitrogen, and ammonium and nitrate nitrogen. The soils matured with succession from the bare ground through P. cuspidatum to Miscanthus oligostachyus and Aster ageratoides sites: bulk density decreased, and water content, organic matter, organic nitrogen, and ammonium nitrogen increased. Nitrate nitrogen showed the highest values at the P. cuspidatum site. Application of principal component analysis to the soil data discriminated two component factors which control the variation of soil characteristics: the first factor is related to soil formation and the second factor to nitrogen mineralization and nitrification. The effect of soil formation on nitrogen mineralization and nitrification was analyzed with a first-order kinetic model. The decreasing trends with soil formation in the ratios of mineral to organic nitrogen and of nitrate to ammonium nitrogen could be accounted for by the higher activity of immobilization by microorganisms and uptake by plants in the more mature ecosystem.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander M (1977) Introduction to soil microbiology. 2nd ed. Wiley, New York
Barth RC, Klemmedson JO (1978) Shrub-induced spatial patterns of dry matter, nitrogen, and organic carbon. Soil Sci Soc Amer J 42:804–809
Bormann FH, Likens GE (1979) Pattern and process in a forested ecosystem. Springer, New York
Bremner JM (1965) Total nitrogen. In: Black CC (ed), Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Amer Soc Agron, Madison, Wisconsin. pp 1149–1178
Chapin III FS (1980) The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 11:233–260
Charley JL, West NE (1975) Plant-induced soil chemical patterns in some shrub-dominated semi-desert ecosystems of Utah. J Ecol 63:945–963
Crocker RL, Major J (1955) Soil development in relation to vegetation and surface age at Glacier Bay, Alaska. J Ecol 43:427–448
Ellenberg H (1971) Nitrogen content, mineralization and cycling. In: Duvigneaud P (ed), Productivity of forest ecosystems, Proc Brussels Symp UNESCO, Paris. pp 509–514
Garcia-Moya E, McKell CM (1970) Contribution of shrubs to the nitrogen economy of a desert-wash plant community. Ecology 51:81–88
Gorham E, Vitousek PM, Reiners WA (1979) The regulation of chemical budgets over the course of terrestrial ecosystem succession. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 10:53–84
Granhall U (1981) Biological nitrogen fixation in relation to environmental factors and functioning of natural ecosystems. In: Clark FE, Rosswall T (eds), Terrestrial nitrogen cycles. Ecol Bull (Stockholm) 33:131–144
Haines BL (1977) Nitrogen uptake: Apparent pattern during old field succession in southeastern U.S. Oecologia (Berlin) 26:295–303
Huzimura I (1971) The climate and weather of Mt. Fuji. In: Fujisan (Mt. Fuji), Fuji-Kyuko Co, Tokyo. pp 211–345 (in Japanese with English summary)
Jenny H (1941) Factors of soil formation. McGraw-Hill, New York
Jenny H (1980) The soil resource, Springer, New York
Jones JM, Richards BN (1977) Effect of reforestation on turnover of 15N-labelled nitrate and ammonium in relation to changes in soil microflora. Soil Biol Biochem 9:383–392
Lamb D (1980) Soil nitrogen mineralisation in a secondary rainforest succession. Oecologia (Berlin) 47:257–263
Maruta E (1981) Size structure in Polygonum cuspidatum on Mt. Fuji. Jap J Ecol 31:441–445 (in Japanese with English summary)
Montes RA, Christensen NL (1979) Nitrification and succession in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Forest Sci 25:287–297
Paul EA, Juma NG (1981) Mineralization and immobilization of soil nitrogen by microorganisms. In: Clark FE, Rosswall T (eds) Terrestrial nitrogen cycles. Ecol Bull (Stockholm) 33. pp 179–195
Purchase BS (1974) The influence of phosphate deficiency on nitrification. Plant Soil 41:541–547
Rice EL, Pancholy SK (1973) Inhibition of nitrification by climax vegetation. Amer J Bot 59:1033–1040
Rice EL, Pancholy SK (1973) Inhibition of nitrification by climax ecosystems. II. Additional evidence and possible role of tannins. Amer J Bot 60:691–702
Robertson GP, Vitousek PM (1981) Nitrification potentials in primary and secondary succession. Ecology 62:376–386
Skujins J (1981) Nitrogen cycling in arid ecosystems. In: Clark FE, Rosswall T (eds) Terrestial nitrogen cycles. Ecol Bull (Stockholm) 33. pp 477–491
Sprent JI (1979) The biology of nitrogen-fixing organisms. McGraw-Hill, London
Stevens PR, Walker TW (1970) The chronosequence concept and soil formation. Quar Rev Biol 45:333–350
Tanji KK, Gupta SK (1978) Computer simulation modeling for nitrogen in irrigated croplands. In: Nielsen DR, MacDonald JG (eds) Nitrogen in the environment. Vol 1. Nitrogen behavior in field soil. Academic Press, New York. pp 79–130
Technicon (1971) Nitrate and nitrite in water and waste water. Technicon Auto-Analyzer II industrial method. no 100. Technicon, Inc, New York
Technicon (1976) Individual/simultaneous determination of nitrogen and/or phosphorus in BD acid digests Technicon Auto-Analyzer II industrial method. no 329. Technicon, Inc, New York
Tiedemann AR, Klemmedson JO (1973) Nutrient availability in desert grassland soils under mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) trees and adjacent open areas. Soil Sci Soc Amer Proc 37:107–111
Tsuya H (1971) Topography and geology of volcano Mt Fuji. In: Fujisan (Mt. Fuji). Fuji-Kyuko Co, Inc, Tokyo (in Japanese with English summary). pp 1–149
Vasek FC, Lund LJ (1980) Soil characteristics associated with a primary plant succession on a Mojave desert dry lake. Ecology 61:1013–1018
Verstraete W (1981) Nitrification. In: Clark FE, Rosswall T (eds) Terrestrial nitrogen cycles. Ecol Bull (Stockholm) 33. pp 303–314
Vitousek PM (1981) Clear-cutting and the nitrogen cycle. In: Clark FE, Rosswall T (eds) Terrestrial nitrogen cycles. Ecol Bull (Stockholm) 33. pp 631–642
Vitousek PM, Mellilo JM (1979) Nitrate losses from disturbed forests: Patterns and mechanisms. Forest Sci 25:605–619
Vitousek PM Reiners WA (1975) Ecosystem succession and nutrient retention: A hypothesis. Bio Science 25:376–381
Woldendorp JW (1978) The rhizosphere as part of the plant-soil system. In: Freysen AHJ, Woldendorp JW (eds) Structure and functioning of plant populations. North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam. pp 237–267
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hirose, T., Tateno, M. Soil nitrogen patterns induced by colonization of Polygonum cuspidatum on Mt. Fuji. Oecologia 61, 218–223 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396764
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396764