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The Effects of Snow, Soil Microenvironment, and Soil Organic Matter Quality on N Availability in Three Alaskan Arctic Plant Communities

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Abstract

Climate warming in The Arctic may lead to a shift from graminoid to shrub dominance, which may, in turn, alter the structure and function of the ecosystem through shrub influences on the abiotic and/or biotic controls over biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). In Arctic tundra, near Toolik Lake, Alaska, we quantified net N-mineralization rates under ambient and manipulated snow treatments at three different plant communities that varied in abundance of deciduous shrubs. Our objective was twofold: (1) to test whether the amount of snow that can accumulate around Arctic deciduous shrubs maintains winter soil temperatures high enough to stimulate microbial activity and increase soil N levels (effect of soil microclimate) and (2) to compare the relative effects of snow versus shrubs on N availability via effects on the main drivers of N-mineralization: SOM quality versus microclimate. Winter snow addition had a positive effect on summer, but not winter, N-mineralization rates. Soil organic matter quality had a nine times larger effect on N-mineralization than did soil microclimate in the summer season and only SOM quality had a detectable effect on N-mineralization in the winter. Here we conclude that on a short time scale, shrub interactions with snow may play a role in increasing plant available N, primarily through effects on the summer soil microenvironment. In addition, differences in SOM quality can drive larger differences in net N-mineralization than changes in soil microclimate of the magnitude of what we saw across our three sites.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Charmagne Wasykowski, Grace Crummer, Yi Wei Cheng, Leslie Boby, Faye Belshe, Hanna Lee, Caitlin Hicks, Mark Burton, numerous volunteer pluckers who assisted with the biomass harvest, and many undergraduates at the University of Florida for their assistance in the field and in the lab. We also thank Martin Lavoie for comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. This research was supported by NSF grants DEB-0516041, DEB-0516509 and the Arctic LTER (DEB-0423385).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Florida, 220 Bartram Hall, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA

    Jennie DeMarco & Michelle C. Mack

  2. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, 902 N. Koyukuk Dr., Fairbanks, Alaska, 99775, USA

    M. Syndonia Bret-Harte

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  1. Jennie DeMarco
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  2. Michelle C. Mack
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  3. M. Syndonia Bret-Harte
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Correspondence to Jennie DeMarco.

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Author Contributions

JD, MM, and MSB conceived and designed the study and performed the research. JD and MM analyzed the data and wrote the paper.

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DeMarco, J., Mack, M.C. & Bret-Harte, M.S. The Effects of Snow, Soil Microenvironment, and Soil Organic Matter Quality on N Availability in Three Alaskan Arctic Plant Communities. Ecosystems 14, 804–817 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9447-5

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