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Plant Colonizers Shape Early N-dynamics in Gopher-mounds

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Abstract

Disturbances by fossorial mammals are extremely common in many ecosystems, including the California annual grassland. We compared the impact of juveniles of four common plant colonizers (Aegilops triuncialis, Cerastium glomeratum, Aphanes occidentalis and Lupinus bicolor) on the pools and fluxes of N in mounds created by pocket gophers (Thomomys bottae Mewa). The mechanisms and magnitude of biotic N retention differed among plant species. In mounds colonized by Cerastium, Aphanes and Lupinus, the microbial N pool was significantly larger than the plant N pool, as is typical in California grasslands in the early spring, whereas in mounds colonized by Aegilops, there was a more equal distribution of biotic N between plant and microbial pools. A 1-day 15N pulse field experiment demonstrated that plant species significantly differed in their effects on the distribution of isotopic N, with the N-fixing Lupinus leaving most (82%) 15N as inorganic N in soil, whereas more 15N was immobilized in plants or otherwise removed from the available soil pool in mounds colonized by other species. The impacts of early colonizers on N dynamics suggest that the identity of plant species that initially colonize gopher mounds may have important consequences on the dynamics of the overall grassland community.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Rosa M. Canals, Valerie T. Eviner & Donald J. Herman

  2. Department of Producción Agraria, Universidad Pública de Navarra, Campus Arrosadia s/n. 31006, Pamplona, Spain

    Rosa M. Canals

  3. Institute of Ecosystem Studies, PO Box AB, 12545, Millbrook, NY, USA

    Valerie T. Eviner

  4. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    F. Stuart Chapin III

Authors
  1. Rosa M. Canals
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  2. Valerie T. Eviner
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  3. Donald J. Herman
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  4. F. Stuart Chapin III
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Correspondence to Rosa M. Canals.

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Canals, R.M., Eviner, V.T., Herman, D.J. et al. Plant Colonizers Shape Early N-dynamics in Gopher-mounds. Plant Soil 276, 327–334 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-005-5086-y

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