Abstract
Physiological and growth measurements were made on forbs and graminoids following additions of water and N+water in a graminoid-dominated dry meadow and a forb-dominated moist meadow, to determine if the community-level response was related to differential responses between the growth forms. Graminoids had higher photosynthetic rates and lower transpiration rates and foliar N concentrations than forbs, and consequently maintained higher photosynthetic N- and water-use efficiencies. Photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rates increased significantly only in response to N fertilization and only in moist meadow species. The increase in photosynthetic rates was unrelated to variation in foliar N concentration, but instead correlated with variation in stomatal conductance. Growth based N-use efficiency was higher in moist meadow graminoids than in moist meadow forbs, but did not differ between the growth forms in the dry meadow. The moist meadow community had higher biomass and N standing crops, but the relative increase in these factors in response to N fertilization was greater in the dry meadow. Graminoids had a greater relative increase in biomass and N accumulation than forbs following N fertilization, but moist meadow graminoids exhibited a greater response than dry meadow graminoids. The difference in the growth response between the dry meadow and moist meadow graminoids to N fertilization was correlated with more conservative leaf gas exchange responses in dry meadow species, presumably related to a higher frequency of soil water deficits in this community. Community-level response to the resource additions was therefore mediated by the plant growth form response, corresponding with differences between the growth forms in physiological factors related to resource acquisition and use.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Aerts R (1990) Nutrient use efficiency in evergreen and deciduous species from heathlands. Oecologia 84: 391–397
Aerts R, Boot RGA, Aart PJM van der (1991) The relation between above- and belowground biomass allocation patterns and competitive ability. Oecologia 87: 551–559
Bigger CM, Oechel WC (1982) Nutrient effect on maximum photosynthesis in arctic plants. Holarct Ecol 5: 158–163
Billings WD (1988) Alpine vegetation. In: Barbour MG, Billings WD (eds) North American terrestrial vegetation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 391–420
Bowman WD (1994) Accumulation and use of nitrogen and phosphorus by following fertilization in two alpine tundra communities. Oikos 70: 261–270
Bowman WD, Conant RT (1994) Shoot growth dynamics and photosynthetic response to increased nitrogen availability in the alpine willow Salix glauca. Oecologia 97:93–99
Bowman WD, Theodose TA, Schardt JC, Conant RT (1993) Constraints of nutrient availability on primary production in two alpine tundra communities. Ecology 74:2085–2097
Cain SA (1950) Life forms and phytoclimate. Bot Rev 16:1–32
Caldwell MM, Johnson DA, Fareed M (1978) Constraints on productivity: Photosynthetic capacity in relation to solar radiation, utilization and water stress in arctic and alpine tundras. In: Tieszen LL (ed) Vegetation and production ecology of an Alaskan arctic tundra. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 323–342
Chapin FS III (1980) The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 11:233–260
Chapin FS III (1991) Integrated responses of plants to stress. BioScience 41: 29–36
Chapin FS III, Shaver GR (1985) Individualistic growth reponse of tundra plant species to environmental manipulation in the field. Ecology 66: 564–576
Chapin FS III, Shaver GR (1989) Differences in growth and nutrient use among arctic growth forms. Funct Ecol 3: 73–80
Cody ML (1991) Niche theory and plant growth form. Vegetatio 97:39–55
DiStephano JF, Gholz HL (1986) A proposed use of ion exchange resins to measure nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in intact soil cores. Comm Soil Sci Plant Anal 17:989–998
Ehleringer J, Miller PC (1975) Water relations of selected plant species in the alpine tundra, Colorado. Ecology 56: 370–380
Ehleringer JR, Rundel PW (1989) Stable isotopes: history, units, and instrumentation. In: Ehleringer JR, Nagy KA (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology (Ecological Studies vol 68). Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 1–16
Enquist BJ, Ebersole JJ (1994) Effects of added water on photosynthesis of Bistorta vivipara: the importance of water relations and leaf nitrogen in two alpine communities, Pikes Peak, Colorado, USA. Arct Alp Res 26: 29–34
Farquhar GD, Hubick KT, Condon AG, Richards RA (1989) Carbon isotope fractionation and plant water-use efficiency. In: Ehleringer JR, Nagy KA (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology (Ecological Studies vol 68). Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 21–40
Field C, Mooney HA (1986) The photosynthesis-nitrogen relationship in wild plants. In: Givinish TJ (ed) On the economy of form and function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 25–55
Field C, Merino J, Mooney HA (1983) Compromises between water-use efficiency and nitrogen-use efficiency in five species of California evergreens. Oecologia 60: 384–389
Fisk MC, Schmidt SK (in press) Nitrogen mineralization and microbial biomass N dynamics in 3 alpine tundra communities (Soc Soil Sci Am J)
Gerloff GC (1976) Plant efficiencies in the use of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. In: Wright MJ (ed) Plant adaptation to mineral stress in problem soils. Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, New York, pp 161–169
Greenland D (1989) The climate of Niwot Ridge, Front Range, Colorado U.S.A. Arct Alp Res 21: 380–391
Greenland D, Caine N, Pollak O (1984) The summer water budget and its importance in the alpine tundra of Colorado. Phys Geog 5: 221–239
Hobbie SE (1992) Effects of plant species on nutrient cycling. Trends Ecol Evol 7: 336–339
Isard SA (1986) Factors influencing soil moisture and plant community distribution on Niwot Ridge, Colorado, USA. Arct Alp Res 18: 83–96
Johnson DA, Caldwell MM (1975) Gas exchange of four arctic and alpine tundra plant species in relation to atmospheric and soil moisture stress. Oecologia 21: 93–108
Körner Ch (1989) The nutritional status of plants from high altitudes. Oecologia 81: 379–391
Körner Ch, Menendez-Riedl SP (1989) The significance of developmental aspects in plant growth analysis. In: Lambers H, Cambridge ML, Konings H, Pons TL (eds) Variation in growth rate and productivity of higher plants. SPB Academic, The Hague, pp 141–157
Lajtha K, Whitford WG (1989) The effect of water and nitrogen amendments on photosynthesis, leaf demography, and resource-use efficiency in Larrea tridentata, a desert evergreen shrub. Oecologia 80: 341–348
Lambers H, Poorter H (1992) Inherent variation in growth rate between higher plants: a search for physiological causes and ecological consequences. Adv Ecol Res 23: 187–261
Lewis WM Jr, Grant MC (1980) Evidence for acid precipitation in the western U.S. Science 207: 176–177
May DE, Webber PJ (1982) Spatial and temporal variation of vegetation and its productivity on Niwot Ridge, Colorado. In: Halfpenny J (ed) Ecological studies in the Colorado alpine, a festschrift for John W. Marr (Occasional paper no. 37). Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, pp 35–62
Miller PC (1982) Environmental and vegetational variation across a snow accumulation area in montane tundra of central Alaska. Holarct Ecol 5: 85–98
Oberbauer S, Billings WD (1981) Drought tolerance and water use by plants along an alpine topographic gradient. Oecologia 50: 325–331
Parrish DD, Norton RB, Bollinger MJ, Liu SC, Murphy PC, Albritton DL, Fehsenfeld FC (1986) Measurement of HNO3 and NONO −3 at a rural site in the Colorado mountains. J Geophys Res 91: 5379–5393
Peterson KM, Billings WD (1982) Growth of alpine plants under controlled drought. Arct Alp Res 14: 189–194
Poorter H (1989) Interspecific variation in relative growth rate: on ecological causes and physiological consequences. In: Lambers H, Cambridge ML, Konings H, Pons TL (eds) Variation in growth rate and productivity of higher plants. SPB Academic, The Hague, pp 45–68
Radin JW, Parker LL, Guinn G (1982) Water relations of cotton plants under nitrogen deficiency. V. Environmental control of abscisic acid accumulation and stomatal sensitivity to abscisic acid. Plant Physiol 70: 1066–1070
Raunkiaer C (1934) The life form of plants and statistical plant geography. Clarendon, Oxford
Roelofs JGM, Boxman AW, Dijk HFG van (1987) Effects of airborne ammonium on natural vegetation and forests. In: Asman WAH, Diederen HSMA (eds) Ammonia and acidification. Eurosap Symposium Proceedings, Bilthoven (The Netherlands), pp 266–276
Schimel DS, Kittel TGF, Knapp AK, Seastedt TR, Parton WJ, Brown VB (1991) Physiological interactions along resource gradients in a tallgrass prairie. Ecology 72: 672–684
Schimper AFW (1903) Plant geography upon a physiological basis. Clarendon, Oxford
Shaver GR, Chapin FS III (1980) Response to fertilization by various growth forms in an Alaskan tundra: nutrient accumulation and growth. Ecology 61: 662–675
Shaver GR, Chapin FS III (1986) Effect of NPK fertilization on production and biomass of Alaskan tussock tundra. Arct Alp Res 18: 261–268
Shaver GR, Chapin FS III (1991) Production:biomass relationships and element cycling in contrasting arctic vegetation types. Ecol Monogr 61:1–31
Sievering H, Burton D, Caine N (1992) Atmospheric loading to Rocky Mountain alpine tundra and a subalpine coniferous forest. Global Biogeochem Cycles 6:339–345
Tamm CO (1991) Nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Taylor RV, Seastedt TR (1994) Short- and long-term patterns of soil moisture in alpine tundra. Arct Alp Res 26: 29–34
Tilman D (1986) Resources, competition and the dynamics of plant communities, In: Crawley MJ (ed) Plant ecology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 51–75
Tilman D, Wedin DA (1991) Plant traits and resource reduction for five grasses growing along a nitrogen gradient. Ecology 72: 685–700
Walker DA, Halfpenny JC, Walker MD, Wessman CA (1993) Long-term studies of snow-vegetation interactions. BioScience 43: 287–301
Walker MD, Webber PJ, Arnold EH, May DE (1994) Effects of interannual climate variation on aboveground phytomass in alpine vegetation. Ecology 75: 393–408
Webber PJ (1978) Spatial and temporal variation of the vegetation and its productivity, Barrow, Alaska. In: Tieszen LL (ed) Vegetation and production ecology of an Alaskan arctic tundra. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 36–112
Wedin D, Tilman D (1990) Species effects on nitrogen cycling: a test with perennial grasses. Oecologia 84: 433–441
Wilkinson L (1990) SYSTAT: The system for statistics. SYSTAT, Evanston
Williams MW, Caine N, Baron J, Sommerfeld R, Sanford RL (1993) Regional assessment of nitrogen saturation in the Rocky Mountains. Eos 74: 257
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bowman, W.D., Theodose, T.A. & Fisk, M.C. Physiological and production responses of plant growth forms to increases in limiting resources in alpine tundra: implications for differential community response to environmental change. Oecologia 101, 217–227 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317287
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317287