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Spartina alterniflora invasion increases soil inorganic nitrogen pools through interactions with tidal subsidies in the Yangtze Estuary, China

  • Ecosystem ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Invasive alien plants increase both plant N and soil inorganic N pools in many terrestrial ecosystems. This is believed to be the result of altered plant–soil–microbe feedbacks that accelerate N cycling. However, it may also be due to the greater ability of invasive species to uptake lateral N subsidies that can modify ecosystem N dynamics. We conducted manipulative field experiments to determine the impact of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) invasion on the N cycling of salt marsh ecosystems in the Yangtze Estuary, China. The results showed that the aboveground plant N and soil inorganic N pools in S. alterniflora marshes, 14.39 and 3.16 g N m−2, were significantly higher than those in native common reed (Phragmites australis) marshes, 11.61 and 2.29 g N m−2. These increases after invasion were explained by a significantly higher uptake of dissolved inorganic N (DIN) from tidal subsidies in S. alterniflora marshes (6.59 g N m−2) than from those in P. australis marshes (1.61 g N m−2), and not by soil organic N mineralization, which was not significantly different between S. alterniflora (6.45 g N m−2) and P. australis marshes (6.84 g N m−2) during the growing season. Our study indicated that the ecosystem engineering effects of S. alterniflora, which increases the interception of external N input, can be an alternative mechanism that increases plant N and soil inorganic N pools—especially in ecosystems with ample anthropogenic N subsidies, such as the coastal wetlands of China.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Naishun Bu, Meng Lu, Chenghuan Wang, Long Tang and Jinqing Wang for their assistance, and Martin Wattenbach, Chengzhang Liao, Qing Wang, and Guanghui Lin for constructive comments on the earlier versions of this paper. This work was financially supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2009CB119201), National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30930019) and Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai (Grant Nos. 07JC14002, 07DZ12038 and 10JC1400700).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, The Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Rong Hao Peng, Chang Ming Fang, Bo Li & Jia Kuan Chen

  2. Center for Watershed Ecology, Institute of Life Science and Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Bo Li & Jia Kuan Chen

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  1. Rong Hao Peng
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Correspondence to Jia Kuan Chen.

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Communicated by Pascal Niklaus.

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Peng, R.H., Fang, C.M., Li, B. et al. Spartina alterniflora invasion increases soil inorganic nitrogen pools through interactions with tidal subsidies in the Yangtze Estuary, China. Oecologia 165, 797–807 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1887-7

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