Short-term fate of nitrogen fixed by moss-cyanobacteria associations under different rainfall regimes
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Standard
Short-term fate of nitrogen fixed by moss-cyanobacteria associations under different rainfall regimes. / Guo, Song; Clasen, Lina Avila; Rousk, Kathrin.
I: Basic and Applied Ecology, Bind 79, 2024, s. 9-16.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Short-term fate of nitrogen fixed by moss-cyanobacteria associations under different rainfall regimes
AU - Guo, Song
AU - Clasen, Lina Avila
AU - Rousk, Kathrin
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Nitrogen (N) fixation by moss-cyanobacteria associations has been recognized as an important N input pathway in many ecosystems from arctic tundra to tropical forests. However, the transfer of fixed N2 from mosses to the soil as well as the effects of rainfall frequency and volume on this N transfer has hardly been studied – even though mosses can leach nutrients upon rewetting. In this study, we investigated the transfer of fixed N2 by moss-cyanobacteria associations in one month under four watering regimes with a combination of high and low volume and frequency. For this, we used two morphologically similar moss species collected from ecosystems with different climate and N availability (subarctic - Hylocomium splendens; and tropical - Thuidium delicatulum). Acetylene reduction assays were conducted as a measure of N2 fixation rates in mosses, and 15N-N2 tracing was used to follow the fixed N2 from moss to the underlying substrate. Nitrogen fixation rates were higher in T. delicatulum than in H. splendens, but rainfall volume and frequency did not show strong effects on N2 fixation rates. Nonetheless, the extent of N leached from mosses was more sensitive to an increase in rainfall volume than to an increase in frequency, and more N was lost from T. delicatulum under high volume precipitation than from H. splendens. Both total nitrogen and 15N enrichment results demonstrate that the fixed N2 was mostly stored in moss tissues with less than 1 % leached to the substrate. Our results show that both moss species retain almost all fixed N2 within their tissues under small rainfall disturbances within one month, while increased N availability under higher precipitation volume renders some moss species an important N source for the soil.
AB - Nitrogen (N) fixation by moss-cyanobacteria associations has been recognized as an important N input pathway in many ecosystems from arctic tundra to tropical forests. However, the transfer of fixed N2 from mosses to the soil as well as the effects of rainfall frequency and volume on this N transfer has hardly been studied – even though mosses can leach nutrients upon rewetting. In this study, we investigated the transfer of fixed N2 by moss-cyanobacteria associations in one month under four watering regimes with a combination of high and low volume and frequency. For this, we used two morphologically similar moss species collected from ecosystems with different climate and N availability (subarctic - Hylocomium splendens; and tropical - Thuidium delicatulum). Acetylene reduction assays were conducted as a measure of N2 fixation rates in mosses, and 15N-N2 tracing was used to follow the fixed N2 from moss to the underlying substrate. Nitrogen fixation rates were higher in T. delicatulum than in H. splendens, but rainfall volume and frequency did not show strong effects on N2 fixation rates. Nonetheless, the extent of N leached from mosses was more sensitive to an increase in rainfall volume than to an increase in frequency, and more N was lost from T. delicatulum under high volume precipitation than from H. splendens. Both total nitrogen and 15N enrichment results demonstrate that the fixed N2 was mostly stored in moss tissues with less than 1 % leached to the substrate. Our results show that both moss species retain almost all fixed N2 within their tissues under small rainfall disturbances within one month, while increased N availability under higher precipitation volume renders some moss species an important N source for the soil.
KW - N labeling
KW - Cyanobacteria
KW - Mosses
KW - N transfer
KW - N fixation
KW - Nutrient leaching
KW - Precipitation
U2 - 10.1016/j.baae.2024.04.009
DO - 10.1016/j.baae.2024.04.009
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85194919940
VL - 79
SP - 9
EP - 16
JO - Basic and Applied Ecology
JF - Basic and Applied Ecology
SN - 1439-1791
ER -
ID: 394479363