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Size of Precipitation Pulses Controls Nitrogen Transformation and Losses in an Arid Patagonian Ecosystem

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Abstract

Arid ecosystems receive precipitation pulses of different sizes that may differentially affect nitrogen (N) losses and N turnover during the growing season. We designed a rainfall manipulation experiment in the Patagonian steppe, southern Argentina, where we simulated different precipitation patterns by adding the same amount of water in evenly spaced three-small rainfall events or in one-single large rainfall event, three times during a growing season. We measured the effect of the size of rainfall pulses on N mineralization and N losses by denitrification, ammonia volatilization, and nitrate and ammonia leaching. Irrigation pulses stimulated N mineralization (P < 0.05), with small and frequent pulses showing higher responses than large pulses (P < 0.10). Irrigation effects were transient and did not result in changes in seasonal net N mineralization suggesting a long-term substrate limitation. Water pulses stimulated gaseous N losses by denitrification, with large pulses showing higher responses than small pulses (P < 0.05), but did not stimulate ammonia volatilization. Nitrate leaching also was higher after large than after small precipitation events (P < 0.05). Small events produced higher N transformations and lower N losses by denitrification and nitrate leaching than large events, which would produce higher N availability for plant growth. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme precipitation events and the proportion of large to small rainfall events. Our results suggest that these changes would result in reduced N availability and a competitive advantage for deep-rooted species that prefer nitrate over ammonia. Similarly, the ammonium:nitrate ratio might decrease because large events foster nitrate losses but not ammonium losses.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 11298, and PICT 32548), Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (CRN-012), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), and the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBACyT G440). Institutional support was provided by the Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA), Brown University, and at the field site by the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) that gave permission to use facilities at Río Mayo Experimental Field Station, Chubut. We are grateful for comments on the experimental design from Amy Austin and Enrique Chaneton, and for the special assistance in the field of L. Gherardi and P. Araujo. Also, we would like to thank J. Arraiga, E. Díaz Falú, H. Dieguez, G. Durán, R. Gambarte, A. González Arzac, A. Grasso, N. Morandeira, E. Rasevich, M. Roldán, I. Romero, F. Spirito, J. Vrsalovic, G. Wies, and Felipe Cabrera for field assistance, and Paula Rojas and Veronica Feuring for laboratory assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Agronomy, Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA), University of Buenos Aires, CONICET, Av. San Martín 4453, C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Laura Yahdjian

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Box G-W, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA

    Osvaldo E. Sala

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  1. Laura Yahdjian
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Correspondence to Laura Yahdjian.

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Conceived of or designed study: LY, OES; Performed research: LY; Analyzed data: LY; Contributed new methods or models: LY; Wrote the paper: LY, OES.

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Yahdjian, L., Sala, O.E. Size of Precipitation Pulses Controls Nitrogen Transformation and Losses in an Arid Patagonian Ecosystem. Ecosystems 13, 575–585 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9341-6

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