Abstract
15N abundances of soils and a grass species (Deschampsia flexuosa (L.) Trin.) were analysed in a forest fertilization experiment 10 years after the last fertilization. Nitrogen had been given as urea, at seven doses, ranging from 0 to 2400 kg N ha-1. Previously, we have shown that plants in systems experiencing large losses of N become enriched with 15N. This was explained by the fact that processes leading to loss of N, e.g. ammonia volatilization, nitrification followed by leaching or denitrification and denitrification itself, tend to fractionate against 15N. In this experiment, 15N abundance increased with dose of N applied in both grass and soil total-N, but more so in the grass. This was interpreted to be due to the grass sampling small but active pools of N subject to losses. In contrast, soil total-N largely consists of inactive N that does not immediately exchange with pools of N from which fractionating losses occur. Hence, soil total-N shows a large pretreatment 15N memory effect, and is, therefore, and integrator of the long-term N balance. When short-term changes (years, decades) in N balances are monitored using variations in 15N abundance, plants are more suitable indicators of such change than is soil total-N.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Aber JD, Nadelhoffer KJ, Steudler P, Melillo JM (1989) Nitrogen saturation in northern forest ecosystems. BioScience 39: 378–386
Davidson EA, Hart SC, Firestone MK (1992) Internal cycling of nitrate in soils of a mature coniferous forest. Ecology 73: 1148–1156
Foster NW, Beauchamp EG, Corke CT (1985) Immobilization of nitrogen-15-labelled urea in a Jack pine forest floor. Soil Sci Soc Am J 49:448–452
Gebauer G, Schulze E-D (1991) Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in different compartments of a healthy and a declining Picea abies forest in the Fichtelgebirge, NE Bavaria. Oecologia 87: 198–207
Gebauer G, Rehder H, Wollenweber B (1988) Nitrate, nitrate reduction and organic nitrogen in plants from different ecological and taxonomical groups of Europe. Oecologia 75: 371–385
Gigon A, Rorison IH (1972) The response of some ecologically distinct plant species to nitrate- and to ammonium-nitrogen. J Ecol 60: 93–102
Handley LL, Raven JA (1992) The use of natural abundance of nitrogen isotopes in plant physiology and ecology. Plant Cell Environ 15: 965–985
Haystead A (1983) Analysis of nitrogen isotope ratios by mass spectrometry. In: Smith KA (ed) Soil Analysis: Instrumental Techniques and Related Procedures. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 377–406
Högberg P (1990a) 15N natural abundance as a possible marker of the ectomycorrhizal habit of trees in mixed African woodlands. New Phytol 115: 483–486
Högberg P (1990b) Forests losing large quantities of nitrogen have elevated 15N: 14N ratios. Oecologia 84: 229–231
Högberg P (1991) Development of 15N enrichment in a nitrogen-fertilized forest soil-plant system. Soil Biol Biochem 23: 335–338
Högberg P, Johannisson C (1993) 15N abundance of forests is correlated with losses of nitrogen. Plant Soil 157: 147–150
Högberg P, Granström A, Johansson T, Lundmark-Thelin A, Näsholm T (1986) Plant nitrate reductase activity as an indicator of availability of nitrate in forest soils. Can J For Res 16: 1165–1169
Högberg P, Johannisson C, Nicklasson H, Högbom L (1990) Shoot nitrate activities of field-layer species in different forest types I. Scand J For Res 5: 449–456
Ingestad I (1973) Mineral nutrient requirement of Vaccinium vitisidea and V. myrtillus. Physiol Plant 29: 239–246
Jansson SL (1958) Tracer studies on nitrogen transformation in soil with special attention to mineralization-immobilization relationships. Ann Roy Agr Coll Sweden 24: 101–361
Kellner O (1993) Effects on associated flora of sylvicultural nitrogen fertilization repeated at long intervals. J Appl Ecol 30: 563–574
Kohl DH, Shearer GB, Commoner B (1973) Variation of 15N in corn and soil following application of fertilizer nitrogen. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 37: 888–892
Lee JA, Stewart GR (1978) Ecological aspects of nitrogen metabolism. Adv Bot Res 6: 1–43
Mariotti A (1983) Atmospheric nitrogen is a reliable standard for natural 15N abundance measurements. Nature 303: 685–687
Marschner H, Häussling M, George E (1991) Ammonium and nitrate uptake rates and rhizosphere pH in non-mycorrhizal roots of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L) Karst.). Trees 5: 14–21
Nason GE, Pluth DJ, McGill WB (1988) Volatilization and foliar recapture of ammonia following spring and fall application of nitrogen-15 urea to a Doublas-fir ecosystem. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52: 821–828
Nordgren A (1992) A method for determining microbially available N and P in an organic soil. Biol Fertil Soils 13: 195–199
Pate JS, Stewart GR, Unkovich M (1993) 15N natural abundance of plant and soil components of a Banksia woodland ecosystem in relation to nitrate utilization, life form, mycorrhizal status and N2-fixing abilities of component species. Plant Cell Environ 16: 365–373
Paul EA, Clark FE (1988) Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry. Academic Press, San Diego
Paul EA, Juma NG (1981) Mineralization and immobilization of soil nitrogen by microorganisms. Ecol Bull 33: 179–195
Quade D (1989) Partial correlation. In: Kotz S, Johnson NL (eds) Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences. John Wiley, New York, pp 117–120
Schulze E-D (1989) Air pollution and forest decline in a spruce (Picea abies) forest. Science 244: 776–783
Shearer GB, Kohl DH (1986) N2-fixation in field settings: estimations based on natural 15N abundance. Aust J Plant Physiol 13: 699–757
Sutherland RA, Kessel C van, Farrell RE, Pennock DJ (1993) Landscape-scale variations in plant and soil nitrogen-15 natural abundance. Soil Sci Soc Am J 57: 169–178
Tamm C-Q (1991) Nitrogen in Terrestrial Ecosystems (Ecological Studies 81). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, p 15 and p 75
Virginia RA, Delwiche CC (1982) Natural 15N abundance of presumed N2-fixing and non-N2-fixing plants from selected ecosystems. Oecologia 54: 317–325
Vitousek PM, Shearer G, Kohl DH (1989) Foliar 15N natural abundance in Hawaiian rainforest: patterns and possible mechanisms. Oecologia 78: 383–388
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Johannisson, C., Högberg, P. 15N abundance of soils and plants along an experimentally induced forest nitrogen supply gradient. Oecologia 97, 322–325 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317321
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317321