1
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Menge DNL, Wolf AA, Funk JL, Perakis SS, Carreras Pereira KA. Nitrogen fixation and fertilization have similar effects on biomass allocation in nitrogen-fixing plants. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e70309. [PMID: 39290663 PMCID: PMC11407827 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2024] [Revised: 08/26/2024] [Accepted: 09/02/2024] [Indexed: 09/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Plants adjust their allocation to different organs based on nutrient supply. In some plant species, symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in root nodules provide an alternate pathway for nitrogen acquisition. Does access to nitrogen-fixing bacteria modify plants' biomass allocation? We hypothesized that access to nitrogen-fixing bacteria would have the same effect on allocation to aboveground versus belowground tissues as access to plentiful soil nitrogen. To test this hypothesis and related hypotheses about allocation to stems versus leaves and roots versus nodules, we conducted experiments with 15 species of nitrogen-fixing plants in two separate greenhouses. In each, we grew seedlings with and without access to symbiotic bacteria across a wide gradient of soil nitrogen supply. As is common, uninoculated plants allocated relatively less biomass belowground when they had more soil nitrogen. As we hypothesized, nitrogen fixation had a similar effect as the highest level of fertilization on allocation aboveground versus belowground. Both nitrogen fixation and high fertilization led to ~10% less biomass allocated belowground (~10% more aboveground) than the uninoculated, lowest fertilization treatment. Fertilization reduced allocation to nodules relative to roots. The responses for allocation of aboveground tissues to leaves versus stems were not as consistent across greenhouses or species as the other allocation trends, though more nitrogen fixation consistently led to relatively more allocation to leaves when soil nitrogen supply was low. Synthesis: Our results suggest that symbiotic nitrogen fixation causes seedlings to allocate relatively less biomass belowground, with potential implications for competition and carbon storage in early forest development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duncan N. L. Menge
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental BiologyColumbia UniversityNew York CityNew YorkUSA
| | - Amelia A. Wolf
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTexasUSA
| | - Jennifer L. Funk
- Department of Plant SciencesUniversity of California, DavisDavisCaliforniaUSA
| | - Steven S. Perakis
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science CenterCorvallisOregonUSA
| | - K. A. Carreras Pereira
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental BiologyColumbia UniversityNew York CityNew YorkUSA
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2
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Harrison TL, Parshuram ZA, Frederickson ME, Stinchcombe JR. Is there a latitudinal diversity gradient for symbiotic microbes? A case study with sensitive partridge peas. Mol Ecol 2024; 33:e17191. [PMID: 37941312 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
Mutualism is thought to be more prevalent in the tropics than temperate zones and may therefore play an important role in generating and maintaining high species richness found at lower latitudes. However, results on the impact of mutualism on latitudinal diversity gradients are mixed, and few empirical studies sample both temperate and tropical regions. We investigated whether a latitudinal diversity gradient exists in the symbiotic microbial community associated with the legume Chamaecrista nictitans. We sampled bacteria DNA from nodules and the surrounding soil of plant roots across a latitudinal gradient (38.64-8.68 °N). Using 16S rRNA sequence data, we identified many non-rhizobial species within C. nictitans nodules that cannot form nodules or fix nitrogen. Species richness increased towards lower latitudes in the non-rhizobial portion of the nodule community but not in the rhizobial community. The microbe community in the soil did not effectively predict the non-rhizobia community inside nodules, indicating that host selection is important for structuring non-rhizobia communities in nodules. We next factorially manipulated the presence of three non-rhizobia strains in greenhouse experiments and found that co-inoculations of non-rhizobia strains with rhizobia had a marginal effect on nodule number and no effect on plant growth. Our results suggest that these non-rhizobia bacteria are likely commensals-species that benefit from associating with a host but are neutral for host fitness. Overall, our study suggests that temperate C. nictitans plants are more selective in their associations with the non-rhizobia community, potentially due to differences in soil nitrogen across latitude.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tia L Harrison
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Zoe A Parshuram
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Megan E Frederickson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - John R Stinchcombe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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3
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Sepp SK, Vasar M, Davison J, Oja J, Anslan S, Al-Quraishy S, Bahram M, Bueno CG, Cantero JJ, Fabiano EC, Decocq G, Drenkhan R, Fraser L, Garibay Oriel R, Hiiesalu I, Koorem K, Kõljalg U, Moora M, Mucina L, Öpik M, Põlme S, Pärtel M, Phosri C, Semchenko M, Vahter T, Vasco Palacios AM, Tedersoo L, Zobel M. Global diversity and distribution of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1100235. [PMID: 36743494 PMCID: PMC9895822 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1100235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Our knowledge of microbial biogeography has advanced in recent years, yet we lack knowledge of the global diversity of some important functional groups. Here, we used environmental DNA from 327 globally collected soil samples to investigate the biodiversity patterns of nitrogen-fixing bacteria by focusing on the nifH gene but also amplifying the general prokaryotic 16S SSU region. Globally, N-fixing prokaryotic communities are driven mainly by climatic conditions, with most groups being positively correlated with stable hot or seasonally humid climates. Among soil parameters, pH, but also soil N content were most often shown to correlate with the diversity of N-fixer groups. However, specific groups of N-fixing prokaryotes show contrasting responses to the same variables, notably in Cyanobacteria that were negatively correlated with stable hot climates, and showed a U-shaped correlation with soil pH, contrary to other N-fixers. Also, the non-N-fixing prokaryotic community composition was differentially correlated with the diversity and abundance of N-fixer groups, showing the often-neglected impact of biotic interactions among bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siim-Kaarel Sepp
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Martti Vasar
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - John Davison
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Jane Oja
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Sten Anslan
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Saleh Al-Quraishy
- Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammad Bahram
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - C. Guillermo Bueno
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Juan José Cantero
- Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Córdoba, Argentina
- Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Departamento de Biología Agrícola, Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria, Córdoba, Argentina
| | | | - Guillaume Decocq
- Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés (EDYSAN, UMR CNRS 7058), Jules Verne University of Picardie, Amiens, France
| | - Rein Drenkhan
- Institute of Forestry and Engineering, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Lauchlan Fraser
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada
| | - Roberto Garibay Oriel
- Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Inga Hiiesalu
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Kadri Koorem
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Urmas Kõljalg
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Mari Moora
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Ladislav Mucina
- Iluka Chair in Vegetation Science and Biogeography, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
- Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Maarja Öpik
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Sergei Põlme
- Center of Mycology and Microbiology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Meelis Pärtel
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Cherdchai Phosri
- Department of Biology, Nakhon Phanom University, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
| | - Marina Semchenko
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Tanel Vahter
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Taru, Estonia
| | - Aida M. Vasco Palacios
- Grupo de Microbiología Ambiental y Grupo BioMicro, Escuela de Microbiología, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Leho Tedersoo
- Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Center of Mycology and Microbiology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Martin Zobel
- Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
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Lu J, Yang J, Keitel C, Yin L, Wang P, Cheng W, Dijkstra FA. Belowground Carbon Efficiency for Nitrogen and Phosphorus Acquisition Varies Between Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens and Depends on Phosphorus Fertilization. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:927435. [PMID: 35812934 PMCID: PMC9263692 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.927435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Photosynthetically derived carbon (C) is allocated belowground, allowing plants to obtain nutrients. However, less is known about the amount of nutrients acquired relative to the C allocated belowground, which is referred to as C efficiency for nutrient acquisition (CENA). Here, we examined how C efficiency for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) acquisition varied between ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and clover (Trifolium repens) with and without P fertilization. A continuous 13C-labeling method was applied to track belowground C allocation. Both species allocated nearly half of belowground C to rhizosphere respiration (49%), followed by root biomass (37%), and rhizodeposition (14%). With regard to N and P, CENA was higher for clover than for ryegrass, which remained higher after accounting for relatively low C costs associated with biological N2 fixation. Phosphorus fertilization increased the C efficiency for P acquisition but decreased the C efficiency for N acquisition. A higher CENA for N and P in clover may be attributed to the greater rhizosphere priming on soil organic matter decomposition. Increased P availability with P fertilization could induce lower C allocation for P uptake but exacerbate soil N limitation, thereby making N uptake less C efficient. Overall, our study revealed that species-specific belowground C allocation and nutrient uptake efficiency depend on which nutrient is limited.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiayu Lu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jinfeng Yang
- National Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer Resources, College of Land and Environment, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | - Claudia Keitel
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Liming Yin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
| | - Peng Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
| | - Weixin Cheng
- Environmental Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States
| | - Feike A. Dijkstra
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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5
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Bytnerowicz TA, Menge DNL. Divergent Pathways of Nitrogen-Fixing Trees through Succession Depend on Starting Nitrogen Supply and Priority Effects. Am Nat 2021; 198:E198-E214. [PMID: 34762566 DOI: 10.1086/717017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractNitrogen-fixing trees are a major potential source of nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. The degree to which they persist in older forests has considerable implications for forest nitrogen budgets. We characterized nitrogen-fixing tree abundance across stand age in the contiguous United States and analyzed a theoretical model to help understand competitive outcomes and successional trajectories of nitrogen-fixing and nonfixing trees. Nitrogen-fixing tree abundance is bimodal in all regions except the northeastern United States, even in older forests, suggesting that competitive exclusion (including priority effects) is more common than coexistence at the spatial scale of our analysis. Our model analysis suggests conditions under which alternative competitive outcomes are possible and when they are transient (lasting decades or centuries) versus persistent (millennia). Critically, the timescale of the feedbacks between nitrogen fixation and soil nitrogen supply, which is thought to drive the exclusion of nitrogen-fixing trees through succession, can be long. Therefore, the long transient outcomes of competition are more relevant for real forests than the long-term equilibrium. Within these long-term transients, the background soil nitrogen supply is a major determinant of competitive outcomes. Consistent with the expectations of resource ratio theory, competitive exclusion is more likely at high and low nitrogen supply, while intermediate nitrogen supply makes coexistence or priority effects possible. However, these outcomes are modified by the nitrogen fixation strategy: obligate nitrogen fixation makes coexistence more likely than priority effects, compared with perfectly facultative fixation. These results advance our understanding of the successional trajectories of nitrogen-fixing trees and their effects on ecosystem development in secondary succession.
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6
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Ancient CO 2 levels favor nitrogen fixing plants over a broader range of soil N compared to present. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3038. [PMID: 33542399 PMCID: PMC7862480 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82701-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Small inreases in CO2 stimulate nitrogen fixation and plant growth. Increasing soil N can inhibit nitrogen fixation. However, no studies to date have tested how nitrogen fixing plants perform under ancient CO2 levels (100 MYA), when nitrogen fixing plants evolved, with different levels of N additions. The aim of this study was to assess if ancient CO2, compared to present, favors nitrogen fixers over a range of soil nitrogen concentrations. Nitrogen fixers (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa, Alnus viridis ssp. crispa, and Alnus rubra) and their close non-nitrogen fixing relatives (Betula pumila, Betula papyrifera, Betula glandulosa) were grown at ancient (1600 ppm) or present (400 ppm) CO2 over a range of soil N levels, equivalent to 0, 10, 50, and 200 kg N ha-1 year-1. The growth of non-N fixing plants increased more than N fixing plants in response to the increasing N levels. When grown at an ancient CO2 level, the N level at which non-nitrogen fixing plant biomass exceeded nitrogen fixing plant biomass was twice as high (61 kg N ha-1 year-1) as the N level when plants were grown at the ambient CO2 level. Specific nodule activity was also reduced with an increasing level of soil N. Our results show there was a greater advantage in being a nitrogen fixer under ancient levels of CO2 compared with the present CO2 level.
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Staccone A, Liao W, Perakis S, Compton J, Clark C, Menge D. A spatially explicit, empirical estimate of tree-based biological nitrogen fixation in forests of the United States. GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES 2020; 42:10.1029/2019GB006241. [PMID: 32665747 PMCID: PMC7359885 DOI: 10.1029/2019gb006241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Quantifying human impacts on the N cycle and investigating natural ecosystem N cycling depend on the magnitude of inputs from natural biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). Here, we present two bottom-up approaches to quantify tree-based symbiotic BNF based on forest inventory data across the coterminous US plus SE Alaska. For all major N-fixing tree genera, we quantify BNF inputs using (1) ecosystem N accretion rates (kg N ha-1 yr-1) scaled with spatial data on tree abundance and (2) percent of N derived from fixation (%Ndfa) scaled with tree N demand (from tree growth rates and stoichiometry). We estimate that trees fix 0.30-0.88 Tg N yr-1 across the study area (1.4-3.4 kg N ha-1 yr-1). Tree-based N fixation displays distinct spatial variation that is dominated by two genera, Robinia (64% of tree-associated BNF) and Alnus (24%). The third most important genus, Prosopis, accounted for 5%. Compared to published estimates of other N fluxes, tree-associated BNF accounted for 0.59 Tg N yr-1, similar to asymbiotic (0.37 Tg N yr-1) and understory symbiotic BNF (0.48 Tg N yr-1), while N deposition contributed 1.68 Tg N yr-1 and rock weathering 0.37 Tg N yr-1. Overall, our results reveal previously uncharacterized spatial patterns in tree BNF that can inform large-scale N assessments and serve as a model for improving tree-based BNF estimates worldwide. This updated, lower BNF estimate indicates a greater ratio of anthropogenic to natural N inputs, suggesting an even greater human impact on the N cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anika Staccone
- Columbia University, Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology Department
| | - Wenying Liao
- Princeton University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
| | - Steven Perakis
- US Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
| | - Jana Compton
- US EPA, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment
| | | | - Duncan Menge
- Columbia University, Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology Department
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8
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More Than a Functional Group: Diversity within the Legume–Rhizobia Mutualism and Its Relationship with Ecosystem Function. DIVERSITY-BASEL 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/d12020050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Studies of biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) have long focused on the role of nitrogen (N)-fixing legumes as a functional group that occupies a distinct and important niche relative to other plants. Because of their relationship with N-fixing rhizobial bacteria, these legumes access a different pool of N than other plants and therefore directly contribute to increases in productivity and N-cycling. Despite their recognized importance in the BEF literature, the field has not moved far beyond investigating the presence/absence of the legume functional group in species mixtures. Here, we synthesize existing information on how the diversity (species richness and functional diversity) of both legumes and the rhizobia that they host impact ecosystem functions, such as nitrogen fixation and primary productivity. We also discuss the often-overlooked reciprocal direction of the BEF relationship, whereby ecosystem function can influence legume and rhizobial diversity. We focus on BEF mechanisms of selection, complementarity, facilitation, competitive interference, and dilution effects to explain how diversity in the legume–rhizobia mutualism can have either positive or negative effects on ecosystem function—mechanisms that can operate at scales from rhizobial communities affecting individual legume functions to legume communities affecting landscape-scale ecosystem functions. To fully understand the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function, we must incorporate the full diversity of this mutualism and its reciprocal relationship with ecosystem function into our evolving BEF framework.
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Taylor BN, Chazdon RL, Menge DNL. Successional dynamics of nitrogen fixation and forest growth in regenerating Costa Rican rainforests. Ecology 2019; 100:e02637. [PMID: 30698284 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2018] [Revised: 11/14/2018] [Accepted: 01/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Regenerating tropical forests have an immense capacity to capture carbon and harbor biodiversity. The recuperation of the nitrogen cycle following disturbance can fuel biomass regeneration, but few studies have evaluated the successional dynamics of nitrogen and nitrogen inputs in tropical forests. We assessed symbiotic and asymbiotic nitrogen fixation, soil inorganic nitrogen concentrations, and tree growth in a well-studied series of five tropical forest plots ranging from 19 yr in age to old-growth forests. Wet-season soil inorganic nitrogen concentrations were high in all plots, peaking in the 29-yr-old plot. Inputs from symbiotic nitrogen fixation declined through succession, while asymbiotic nitrogen fixation peaked in the 37-yr-old plot. Consequently, the dominant nitrogen fixation input switched from symbiotic fixation in the younger plots to asymbiotic fixation in the older plots. Tree growth was highest in the youngest plots and declined through succession. Interestingly, symbiotic nitrogen fixation was negatively correlated with the basal area of nitrogen-fixing trees across our study plots, highlighting the danger in using nitrogen-fixing trees as a proxy for rates of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Our results demonstrate that the nitrogen cycle has largely recuperated by 19 yr following disturbance, allowing for rapid biomass regeneration at our site. This work provides important insight into the sources and dynamics of nitrogen that support growth and carbon capture in regenerating Neotropical forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benton N Taylor
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 647 Contees Wharf Road, Edgewater, Maryland, 21037, USA
| | - Robin L Chazdon
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, 06269, USA
| | - Duncan N L Menge
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 10th Floor, Schermerhorn Extension, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York, 10027, USA
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Wilcots ME, Taylor BN, Kuprewicz EK, Menge DNL. Small traits with big consequences: how seed traits of nitrogen‐fixing plants might influence ecosystem nutrient cycling. OIKOS 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.05798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Megan E. Wilcots
- Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia Univ., 1200 Amsterdam Ave New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Benton N. Taylor
- Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia Univ., 1200 Amsterdam Ave New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Erin K. Kuprewicz
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of Connecticut Storrs CT USA
| | - Duncan N. L. Menge
- Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia Univ., 1200 Amsterdam Ave New York NY 10027 USA
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11
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Ancient environmental DNA reveals shifts in dominant mutualisms during the late Quaternary. Nat Commun 2018; 9:139. [PMID: 29321473 PMCID: PMC5762924 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02421-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA-based snapshots of ancient vegetation have shown that the composition of high-latitude plant communities changed considerably during the late Quaternary. However, parallel changes in biotic interactions remain largely uninvestigated. Here we show how mutualisms involving plants and heterotrophic organisms varied during the last 50,000 years. During 50–25 ka BP, a cool period featuring stadial-interstadial fluctuations, arbuscular mycorrhizal and non-N-fixing plants predominated. During 25-15 ka BP, a cold, dry interval, the representation of ectomycorrhizal, non-mycorrhizal and facultatively mycorrhizal plants increased, while that of N-fixing plants decreased further. From 15 ka BP, which marks the transition to and establishment of the Holocene interglaciation, representation of arbuscular mycorrhizal plants decreased further, while that of ectomycorrhizal, non-mycorrhizal, N-fixing and wind-pollinated plants increased. These changes in the mutualist trait structure of vegetation may reflect responses to historical environmental conditions that are without current analogue, or biogeographic processes, such as spatial decoupling of mutualist partners. Recently, an eDNA metabarcoding data set was used to describe northern high-latitude vegetation during the past 50,000 years. Here, Zobel et al. use the data set to examine how the abundance of key plant mutualistic traits changed during this period and discuss possible environmental drivers.
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12
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Menge DNL, Batterman SA, Hedin LO, Liao W, Pacala SW, Taylor BN. Why are nitrogen‐fixing trees rare at higher compared to lower latitudes? Ecology 2017; 98:3127-3140. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2017] [Revised: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 09/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Duncan N. L. Menge
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology Columbia University New York New York 10027 USA
| | - Sarah A. Batterman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey 08544 USA
- School of Geography and Priestley International Centre for Climate University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT United Kingdom
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Ancon Panama
| | - Lars O. Hedin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey 08544 USA
| | - Wenying Liao
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology Columbia University New York New York 10027 USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey 08544 USA
| | - Stephen W. Pacala
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey 08544 USA
| | - Benton N. Taylor
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology Columbia University New York New York 10027 USA
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13
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Nitrogen-fixing trees inhibit growth of regenerating Costa Rican rainforests. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:8817-8822. [PMID: 28760948 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1707094114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
More than half of the world's tropical forests are currently recovering from human land use, and this regenerating biomass now represents the largest carbon (C)-capturing potential on Earth. How quickly these forests regenerate is now a central concern for both conservation and global climate-modeling efforts. Symbiotic nitrogen-fixing trees are thought to provide much of the nitrogen (N) required to fuel tropical secondary regrowth and therefore to drive the rate of forest regeneration, yet we have a poor understanding of how these N fixers influence the trees around them. Do they promote forest growth, as expected if the new N they fix facilitates neighboring trees? Or do they suppress growth, as expected if competitive inhibition of their neighbors is strong? Using 17 consecutive years of data from tropical rainforest plots in Costa Rica that range from 10 y since abandonment to old-growth forest, we assessed how N fixers influenced the growth of forest stands and the demographic rates of neighboring trees. Surprisingly, we found no evidence that N fixers facilitate biomass regeneration in these forests. At the hectare scale, plots with more N-fixing trees grew slower. At the individual scale, N fixers inhibited their neighbors even more strongly than did nonfixing trees. These results provide strong evidence that N-fixing trees do not always serve the facilitative role to neighboring trees during tropical forest regeneration that is expected given their N inputs into these systems.
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