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Foliar 15N natural abundance indicates phosphorus limitation of bog species

  • Stable Isotopes Issue
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Abstract

Foliar δ15N, %N and %P in the dominant woody and herbaceous species across nutrient gradients in New Zealand restiad (family Restionaceae) raised bogs revealed marked differences in plant δ15N correlations with P. The two heath shrubs, Leptospermum scoparium (Myrtaceae) and Dracophyllum scoparium (Epacridaceae), showed considerable isotopic variation (−2.03 to −15.55‰, and −0.39 to −12.06‰, respectively) across the bogs, with foliar δ15N strongly and positively correlated with P concentrations in foliage and peat, and negatively correlated with foliar N:P ratios. For L. scoparium, the isotopic gradient was not linked to ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fractionation as ECMs occurred only on higher nutrient marginal peats where 15N depletion was least. In strong contrast, restiad species (Empodisma minus Sporadanthus ferrugineus, S. traversii) showed little isotopic variation across the same nutrient gradients. Empodisma minus and S. traversii had δ15N levels consistently around 0‰ (means of −0.12‰ and +0.15‰ respectively), and S. ferrugineus, which co-habited with E. minus, was more depleted (mean −4.97‰). The isotopic differences between heath shrubs and restiads were similar in floristically dissimilar bogs and may be linked to contrasting nutrient demands, acquisition mechanisms, and root morphology. Leptospermum scoparium shrubs on low nutrient peats were stunted, with low tissue P concentrations, and high N:P ratios, suggesting they were P-limited, which was probably exacerbated by markedly reduced mycorrhizal colonisations. The coupling of δ15N depletion and %P in heath shrubs suggests that N fractionation is promoted by P limitation. In contrast, the constancy in δ15N of the restiad species through the N and P gradients suggests that these are not suffering from P limitation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Neil Fitzgerald and Corinne Watts for field assistance, Maja Vojvodic-Vukovic for technical expertise, and Anjana Rajendram, Waikato Stable Isotope Unit, for stable isotope analysis. Bruce Clarkson, Bill Lee and two anonymous referees provided useful comments on the manuscript. This research was partly funded by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (contract C09X0205).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Landcare Research, Private Bag 3127, Hamilton, 2001, New Zealand

    Beverley R. Clarkson & Louis A. Schipper

  2.  , 4 Place Ste Veronique, 4000, Liege, Belgium

    Bernard Moyersoen

  3. Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology Research, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, 2001, New Zealand

    Warwick B. Silvester

Authors
  1. Beverley R. Clarkson
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  2. Louis A. Schipper
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  3. Bernard Moyersoen
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  4. Warwick B. Silvester
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Correspondence to Beverley R. Clarkson.

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Communicated by Jim Ehleringer

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Clarkson, B.R., Schipper, L.A., Moyersoen, B. et al. Foliar 15N natural abundance indicates phosphorus limitation of bog species. Oecologia 144, 550–557 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0033-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0033-4

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