Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry and nitrogen cycling rates in streams

  • Ecosystem Ecology
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Stoichiometric analyses can be used to investigate the linkages between N and C cycles and how these linkages influence biogeochemistry at many scales, from components of individual ecosystems up to the biosphere. N-specific NH4 + uptake rates were measured in eight streams using short-term 15N tracer additions, and C to N ratios (C:N) were determined from living and non-living organic matter collected from ten streams. These data were also compared to previously published data compiled from studies of lakes, ponds, wetlands, forests, and tundra. There was a significant negative relationship between C:N and N-specific uptake rate; C:N could account for 41% of the variance in N-specific uptake rate across all streams, and the relationship held in five of eight streams. Most of the variation in N-specific uptake rate was contributed by detrital and primary producer compartments with large values of C:N and small values for N-specific uptake rate. In streams, particulate materials are not as likely to move downstream as dissolved N, so if N is cycling in a particulate compartment, N retention is likely to be greater. Together, these data suggest that N retention may depend in part on C:N of living and non-living organic matter in streams. Factors that alter C:N of stream ecosystem compartments, such as removal of riparian vegetation or N fertilization, may influence the amount of retention attributed to these ecosystem compartments by causing shifts in stoichiometry. Our analysis suggests that C:N of ecosystem compartments can be used to link N-cycling models across streams.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aber JD, Melillo JM (1980) Litter decomposition: measuring relative contributions of organic matter and nitrogen to forest soils. Can J Bot 58:416–421

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aber JD, Melillo JM (2001) Terrestrial ecosystems, 2nd edn. Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. 

  • Aber J, McDowell W, Nadelhoffer K, Magill A, Berntson G, Kamakea M, McNulty S, Currie W, Rustad L, Fernandez I (1998) Nitrogen saturation in temperate forest ecosystems. BioScience 48:921–934

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander RB, Smith RA, Schwarz GE (2000) Effect of stream channel size on the delivery of nitrogen to the Gulf of Mexico. Nature 403:758–761

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aufdenkampe AK, Hedges JI, Richey JE, Krusche AV, Llerna CA (2001) Sorptive fractionation of dissolved organic nitrogen and amino acids onto fine sediments within the Amazon Basin. Limnol Oceanogr 46:1921–1935

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bosatta E, Ågren GI (1991) Dynamics of carbon and nitrogen in the organic matter of the soil: A generic theory. Am Nat 138:227–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burkholder JM, Glasgow HB (1997) Pfiesteria piscida and other Pfiesteria like dinoflagellates: behavior, impacts, and environmental controls. Limnol Oceanogr 42:1052–1075

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Miller PC, Billings WD, Coyne PI (1980) Carbon and nutrient budget and their control in coastal tundra. In: Brown J, Miller PC, Tieszen LL, Bunnell FL (eds) An arctic ecosystem. The coastal tundra at Barrow, Alaska. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pa., pp 458–482

  • Currie WS (1999) The responsive C and N biogeochemistry of the temperate forest floor. Trees 14:316–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodds WK, Castenholz RW (1988) The nitrogen budget of an oligotrophic cold water pond. Arch Hydrobiol [Suppl] 79:343–362

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodds WK, Priscu JC, Ellis BK (1991) Seasonal uptake and regeneration of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in a large oligotrophic lake: size fractionation and antibiotic treatment. J Plankton Res 13:1339–1358

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dodds WK, Blair JM, Henebry GM, Koelliker JK, Ramundo R, Tate CM (1996) Nitrogen transport from tallgrass prairie by streams. J Environ Qual 25:973–981

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dodds WK, Evans-White MA, Gerlanc N, Gray L, Gudder DA, Kemp MJ, López, AL, Stagliano D, Strauss E, Tank JL, Whiles MR, Wollheim W (2000) Quantification of the nitrogen cycle in a prairie stream. Ecosystems 3:574–589

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dodds WK, Smith VH, Lohman K (2002) Nitrogen and phosphorus relationships to benthic algal biomass in temperate streams. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 59:865–874

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egli T (1991) On multiple-nutrient-limited growth of microorganisms, with special reference to dual limitation by carbon and nitrogen substrates. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek J Microbiol Serol 60:225–234

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elser JJ, Urabe J (1999) The stoichiometry of consumer-driven nutrient recycling: theory, observations, and consequences. Ecology 80:735–751

    Google Scholar 

  • Elser JJ, Marzolf ER, Goldman CR (1990) Phosphorus and nitrogen limitation of phytoplankton growth in the freshwaters of North America: a review and critique of experimental enrichments. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 47:1468–1477

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elser JJ, Sterner RW, Gorokhova E, Fagan WF, Markow TA, Cotner JB, Harrison JF, Hobbie SE, Odell GM, Weider LJ (2000) Biological stoichiometry from genes to ecosystems. Ecol Lett 3:540–550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenchel T, King GM, Blackburn TH (1998) Bacterial biogeochemistry: the ecophysiology of mineral cycling. Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. 

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenn ME, Poth MA, Aber JD, Baron JS, Bormann BT, Johnson DW, Lemly AD, McNulty SG, Ryan DS, Stottlemyer R (1998) Nitrogen excess in North American ecosystems: predisposing factors, ecosystem responses, and management strategies. Ecol Appl 8:706–733

    Google Scholar 

  • Findlay S, Tank J, Dye S, Vallett HM, Mulholland P, McDowell WH, Johnson S, Hamilton SK, Edmonds J, Dodds WK, Bowden WB (2002) A cross-system comparison of bacterial and fungal biomass in detritus pools of headwater streams. Microb Ecol 43:55–66

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Francez A-J (1995) Dynamique du carbone et de l’azote chez le Carex rostrata, l’ Eriophorum vaginatum et le Calluna vulgaris dans une tourbière à sphaignes des monts du Fores (France). Can J Bot 73:121–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Garvey JE, Marschall AE, Wright RA (1998) From star charts to stoneflies; detecting relationships in concinuous bivariate data. Ecology 79:442–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman JC, Caron DA, Dennett MR (1987) Regulation of gross growth efficiency and ammonium regeneration in bacteria by substrate C:N ratio. Limnol Oceanogr 32:1239–1252

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm NB, Fisher SG (1986) Nitrogen limitation potential of Arizona streams and rivers. J Ariz-Nev Acad Sci 21:31–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall RW Jr, Peterson BJ, Meyer J (1998) Testing a nitrogen-cycling model of a forest stream by using a nitrogen-15 tracer addition. Ecosystems 1:283–298

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton SK, Tank JL, Raikow DF, Wollheim WM, Peterson BJ, Webster JR (2001) Nitrogen uptake and transformation in a midwestern US stream: a stable isotope enrichment study. Biogeochemistry 54:297–340

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hecky RE, Campbell P, Hendzel LL (1993) The stoichiometry of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in particulate matter of lakes and oceans. Limnol Oceanogr 38:709–724

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laws E (1984) Isotope dilution models and the mystery of vanishing 15N. Limol Oceanogr 29:379–386

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Loehr RC (1974) Characteristics and comparative magnitude of on-point sources. J Water Pollut Contr Fed 46:1849–1872

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Magill AH, Aber JD, Hendricks JJ, Bowden RD, Melillo J, Steudler PA (1997) Biogeochemical response of forest ecosystems to simulated chronic nitrogen deposition. Ecol Appl 7:402–415

    Google Scholar 

  • McClaugherty CA, Pastor J, Aber JD (1985) Forest litter decomposition in relation to soil nitrogen dynamics and litter quality. Ecology 66:266–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Merriam JL, McDowell WH, Tank JL, Wollheim WM, Crenshaw CC, Johnson SL (2002) Characterizing nitrogen dynamics, retention and transport in a tropical rainforest stream using an in situ 15 N addition. Freshwater Biol 47:143–160

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meybeck M (1982) Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus transport by world rivers. Am J Sci 282:401–450

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mulholland PJ, Tank JL, Sanzone DM, Wollheim WM, Peterson BJ, Webster JR, Meyer JL (2000) Nitrogen cycling in a deciduous forest stream determined from a tracer 15N addition experiment in Walker Branch, Tennessee. Ecol Monogr 70:471–493

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulholland PJ, Tank JL, Sanzone DM, Webster JR, Wollheim WM, Peterson BJ, Meyer JL (2001) Ammonium and nitrate uptake lengths in a small forested stream determined by 15N tracer and short −term nutrient enrichment experiments. Verh Int Ver Theor Angew Limnol 27:1320–1325

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulholland PJ, Tank JL, Webster JR, Bowden WB, Dodds WK, Gregory SV, Grimm NB, Hamilton SK, Johnson SL, Martí E, McDowell WH, Merriam J, Meyer JL, Peterson BJ, Valett HM, Wollheim WM (2002) Can uptake length in streams be determined by nutrient addition experiments? Results from an inter-biome comparison study. J North Am Benthol Soc 21:544–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadelhoffer KJ, Downs MR, Fry B (1999) Sinks for 15N-enriched additions to an oak forest and a red pine plantation. Ecol Appl 9:72–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Neill C, Deegan LA, Thomas SM, Cerri CC (2001) Deforestation for pasture alters nitrogen and phosphorus in small Amazonian streams. Ecol Appl 11:1817–1828

    Google Scholar 

  • Newbold JD, Elwood JW, O’Neil RV, Van Winkle W (1981) Measuring nutrient spiraling in streams. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 38:860–863

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson BJ, Wollheim W, Mulholland PJ, Webster JR, Meyer JL, Tank JL, Grimm NB, Bowden WB, Vallet HM, Hershey AE, McDowell WB, Dodds WK, Hamilton SK, Gregory S, D’Angelo DJ (2001) Stream processes alter the amount and form of nitrogen exported from small watersheds. Science 292:86–90

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rabalais NN, Turner RE, Wiseman WJ, Dortch Q (1998) Consequences of the 1993 Mississippi River flood in the Gulf of Mexico. Reg Rivers Res Manage 14:161–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redfield AC (1958) The biological control of chemical factors in the environment. Am Sci 46:205–22

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robles MD, Burke IC (1997) Legume, grass, and conservation reserve program effects on soil organic matter recovery. Ecol Appl 7:345–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Schimel DS (1995) Terrestrial ecosystems and the carbon cycle. Global Change Biol 1:77–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterner RW (1995) Elemental stoichiometry of species in ecosystems. In: Jones C, Lawton J (eds) Linking species and ecosystems. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp 240–251

  • Sterner RW, Elser JJ (2002) Ecological stoichiometry: the biology of elements from molecules to biosphere. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takamura N, Iwakuma T (1991) Nitrogen uptake and C:N:P ratio of epiphytic algae in the littoral zone of Lake Kasumigaura. Arch Hydrobiol 121:161–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Tank J, Dodds WK (2003) Responses of heterotrophic and autotrophic biofilms to nutrients in ten streams. Freshwater Biol 48:1031–1049

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tank JL, Meyer JL, Sanzone DM, Mulholland PJ, Webster JR, Peterson BJ, Leonard NE (2000) Analysis of nitrogen cycling in a forest stream during autumn using a 15N tracer addition. Limnol Oceanogr 45:1013–1029

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tate CM, Gurtz ME (1986) Comparison of mass loss, nutrients, and invertebrates associated with elm leaf litter decomposition in perennial and intermittent reaches of tallgrass prairie streams. Southwest Nat 31:511–520

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner RE (2002) Element ratios and aquatic food webs. Estuaries 25:694–703

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Howarth RW (1991) Nitrogen limitation on land and in the sea: how can it occur? Biogeochemistry 13:87–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Aber J, Howarth RW, Likens GE, Matson PA, Schindler DW, Schlesinger WH, Tilman GD (1997) Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle: causes and consequences. Iss Ecol 1:2–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster JR, Patten BC (1979) Effects of watershed perturbation on stream potassium and calcium dynamics. Ecol Monogr 49:51–72

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Webster JR, Benfield F, Ehrman TP, Schaeffer MA, Tank JL, Hutchens JJ, D’Angelo DJ (1999) What happens to allochthonous material that falls into streams? A synthesis of new and published information from Coweeta. Freshwater Biol 41:677–705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webster JR, Tank JL, Wallace JB, Meyer JL, Eggert SL, Ehrman TP, Ward BR, Bennett BL, Wagner BF, McTammany ME (2000) Effects of litter exclusion and wood removal on phosphorus and nitrogen retention in a forest stream. Verh Int Verein Limnol 27:1337–1340

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Webster JR, Mulholland PJ, Tank JL, Valett HM, Dodds WK, Peterson BJ, Bowden WB, Dahm CN, Findlay S, Gregory SV, Grimm NB, Hamilton SK, Johnson SL, Martí E, McDowell WH, Meyer JL, Morrall DD, Thomas SA, Wollheim WM (2003) Factors affecting ammonium uptake in streams—an inter-biome perspective. Freshwater Biol 48:1329–1352

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wollheim WM, Peterson BJ, Deegan LA, Bahr M, Hobbie JE, Jones D, Bowden WB, Hershey AE, Kling GW, Miller MC (1999) A coupled field and modeling approach for the analysis of nitrogen cycling in streams. J North Am Benthol Soc 18:199–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Zheng DW, Ågren GI, Bengtsson J (1999) How do soil organisms affect total organic nitrogen storage and substrate nitrogen to carbon ratio in soils? A theoretical analysis. Oikos 86:430–442

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank D. Gudder for technical assistance, as well as the participation of all the Lotic Intersite Nitrogen eXperiment grant (LINX) project workers. Thanks to Linda Ashkenas and Jeff Merriam for data and Ed Rastetter for modeling the expected slope of the N-uptake vs. C:N relationship. The research was supported by the United States National Science Foundation, LINX and the Konza Long-Term Ecological Research grant. This is publication 01-147-J from the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Walter K. Dodds

  2. Centre d’ Estudis Avancats deBlanes, Cami de Sta. Barabra s/n, 17300 Blances, Girona, Spain

    Eugenia Martí

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556-0396, USA

    Jennifer L. Tank

  4. Department of Statistics, Dickens Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Jeffrey Pontius

  5. Kellogg Biological Station, 3700 E. Gull Lake Dr, Hickory Corners, MI, 49060, USA

    Stephen K. Hamilton

  6. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA

    Nancy B. Grimm

  7. School of Natural Resources, University of Vermont Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    William B. Bowden

  8. Department of Natural Resources, James Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    William H. McDowell

  9. Marine Biological Laboratory, Ecosystems Center, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Bruce J. Peterson

  10. Department of Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VI, 24061, USA

    H. Maurice Valett & Jackson R. Webster

  11. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Stan Gregory

Authors
  1. Walter K. Dodds
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eugenia Martí
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jennifer L. Tank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jeffrey Pontius
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stephen K. Hamilton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Nancy B. Grimm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. William B. Bowden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. William H. McDowell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Bruce J. Peterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. H. Maurice Valett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Jackson R. Webster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Stan Gregory
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Walter K. Dodds.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dodds, W.K., Martí, E., Tank, J.L. et al. Carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry and nitrogen cycling rates in streams. Oecologia 140, 458–467 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1599-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1599-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation