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Nitrogen fixation in mixed Hylocomium splendens moss communities

  • Ecosystem Ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

The pleurocarpus feather moss, Hylocomium splendens, is one of two co-dominant moss species in boreal forest ecosystems and one of the most common mosses on earth, yet little is known regarding its capacity to host cyanobacterial associates and thus contribute total ecosystem N. In these studies, we evaluated the N-fixation potential of the H. splendens–cyanobacteria association and contrasted the N-fixation activity with that of the putative N-fixing moss–cyanobacteria association of Pleurozium schreberi. Studies were conducted to: quantify N-fixation in H. splendens and P. schreberi in sites ranging from southern to northern Fennoscandia; assess N and P availability as drivers of N-fixation rates; contrast season-long N-fixation rates for both mosses; and characterize the cyanobacteria that colonize shoots of H. splendens. Nitrogen-fixation rates were generally low at southern latitudes and higher at northern latitudes (64–69°N) potentially related to anthropogenic N deposition across this gradient. Nitrogen fixation in H. splendens appeared to be less sensitive to N deposition than P. schreberi. The season-long assessment of N-fixation rates at a mixed feather moss site in northern Sweden showed that H. splendens fixed a substantial quantity of N, but about 50% less total N compared to the contribution from P. schreberi. In total, both species provided 1.6 kg fixed N ha−1 year−1. Interestingly, H. splendens demonstrated somewhat higher N-fixation rates at high fertility sites compared to P. schreberi. Nostoc spp. and Stigonema spp. were the primary cyanobacteria found to colonize H. splendens and P. schreberi. These results suggest that H. splendens with associated Nostoc or Stigonema communities contributes a significant quantity of N to boreal forest ecosystems, but the contribution is subordinate to that of P. schreberi at northern latitudes. Epiphytic cyanobacteria are likely a key factor determining the co-dominant presence of these two feather mosses across the boreal biome.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Swedish Research Foundation, Formas for partially supporting this work. Thanks also to Marie-Charlotte Nilsson for her comments on this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, 901 83, Sweden

    O. Zackrisson, T. H. DeLuca & A. Jäderlund

  2. Ecology and Economics Research Department, The Wilderness Society, 503 West Mendenhall, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA

    T. H. DeLuca

  3. Umeå Plant Science Center, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    F. Gentili & A. Sellstedt

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  1. O. Zackrisson
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  2. T. H. DeLuca
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  5. A. Jäderlund
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Correspondence to T. H. DeLuca.

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Communicated by Hakan Wallander.

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Zackrisson, O., DeLuca, T.H., Gentili, F. et al. Nitrogen fixation in mixed Hylocomium splendens moss communities. Oecologia 160, 309–319 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1299-8

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