Nutrient limitations to plant production in two tundra communities

1974 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Haag
Keyword(s):  
Dry Weight ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Available Nitrogen ◽  
Sedge Meadow ◽  
Nutrient Pool ◽  
Nutrient Regime ◽  
Soil Temperatures

Nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition were investigated as limiting factors to primary production in a lowland wet sedge meadow and an upland birch–willow–heath community.Response to nitrogen fertilization in both communities, including increased protein content and dry weight production, indicates that nitrogen supply limits production in both soils. In the upland community, phosphorus supply does not limit production, but in the lowland sedge meadow, dilution of the soil solution may decrease phosphorus availability and render this element limiting to production.Nitrogen, if available, can be taken up and metabolized into organic compounds despite low soil temperatures. Phosphorus metabolism may be directly limited by low soil temperatures and low available nitrogen levels.Low soil temperature exerts an indirect limitation on plant production through limitation of organic matter decomposition and microbial nitrification, thus limiting the rate of nitrogen cycling.The importance of a low nutrient regime in the Arctic may be seen in the widespread occurrence of xeromorphic characters in many taxa, which thus require minimal mineral nutrition to best use their photosynthetic capacity. The low nutrient regime may partially explain the high proportion of perennial plants in the Arctic, since these species can accumulate a nutrient pool over time from a deficient environment.

scholarly journals Nitrogen and phosphorus as limiting factors for growth and primary production in a flooded savanna in the Venezuelan Llanos

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Sarmiento ◽  
Marta Pereira da Silva ◽  
Maria Elena Naranjo ◽  
Marcela Pinillos
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Growth Season ◽  
Noticeable Effect ◽  
P Accumulation ◽  
Venezuelan Llanos

The effects of N, P, NP and NPKS application on plant growth, above-ground primary production and N and P accumulation in the above-ground biomass of a flooded savanna were assessed over two growth cycles. Application of N or P did not improve plant growth and primary production, addition of NP had a noticeable effect, whereas NPKS fertilization led to a three-fold increase in plant production. The four most important grasses in the analysed ecosystem responded to nutrient application with increasing growth, indicating that they all are constrained by nutrient availability, but each species exhibited a different seasonal growth pattern suggesting a temporal division of nutrient resources. N accumulated in the harvested biomass during the growth season was 50% above that of control plants when NP was applied and showed a four-fold increase when NPKS was added. With NP addition, in 2 mo plants accumulated three times more P in the harvested biomass than the control plants. The maximum N accumulated during the growth season in the NPKS treatment represented half the fertilizer N, and probably all the N added (15 g m−2) may have been used if the whole biomass had been considered. With the rather small amounts of P added to the soil in the P treatment (2 g m−2), the maximum amount of P accumulated after 2 mo scarcely represented 13% of the added P, suggesting that most of the fertilizer P became rapidly immobilized or sorbed, not being available to plants in the short term. However, the increasing growth rates of grasses during the following 7 mo indicate that some P fluxed from these pools to the soil solution and to plants.

Potential Contribution of Nutrients and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from the Creeks of Cootes Paradise Marsh

1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Chow-Fraser ◽  
Barb Crosbie ◽  
Douglas Bryant ◽  
Brian McCarry
Keyword(s):  
Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Common Source ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Engine Combustion ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Derivatives Of

Abstract During the summer of 1994, we compared the physical and nutrient characteristics of the three main tributaries of Cootes Paradise: Spencer, Chedoke and Borer’s creeks. On all sampling occasions, concentrations of CHL α and nutrients were always lowest in Borer’s Creek and highest in Chedoke Creek. There were generally 10-fold higher CHL α concentrations and 2 to 10 times higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in Chedoke Creek compared with Spencer Creek. Despite this, the light environment did not differ significantly between Spencer and Chedoke creeks because the low algal biomass in Spencer Creek was balanced by a relatively high loading of inorganic sediments from the watershed. Laboratory experiments indicated that sediments from Chedoke Creek released up to 10 µg/g of soluble phosphorus per gram (dry weight) of sediment, compared with only 2 µg/g from Spencer Creek. By contrast, sediment samples from Spencer Creek contained levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that were as high as or higher than those from Chedoke Creek, and much higher than those found in Borer’s Creek. The distribution of normalized PAH concentrations suggests a common source of PAHs in all three tributaries, most likely automobile exhaust, since there were high concentrations of fluoranthene and pyrene, both of which are derivatives of engine combustion.

scholarly journals Modelling the seasonal variations of soil temperatures in the Arctic coasts

Polar Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 100732
Author(s):  
Mohammad Akhsanul Islam ◽  
Raed Lubbad ◽  
Seyed Ali Ghoreishian Amiri ◽  
Vladislav Isaev ◽  
Yaroslav Shevchuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variations ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Soil Temperatures

Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Water Contents During Grain Development and Maturation in Wheat

1977 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 799 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Sofield ◽  
IF Wardlaw ◽  
LT Evans ◽  
SY Zee
Keyword(s):  
Grain Growth ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Growth Period ◽  
Calcium Content ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Water Entry ◽  
Grain Development ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Steady Rate

Plants of five cultivars of wheat were grown under controlled-environmental conditions in order to analyse the effect of cultivar and of temperature and illuminance after anthesis on the accumulation of nitrogen and phosphorus by grains in relation to dry matter. The water relations of the grain during maturation were also examined, using calcium content as an index of water entry. The nitrogen and phosphorus contents of grains increased linearly throughout the grain growth period. The percentage of nitrogen and phosphorus in grains fell sharply during the first few days after anthesis but rose progressively thereafter. The higher the temperature, and the lower the illuminance, the higher was the percentage of nitrogen in the grain of all cultivars. Such conditions also reduce final grain size, but their effects on nitrogen concentration in the grain were apparent early in grain development. No evidence was found of a flush of nitrogen or phosphorus into the grain late in its development. Water entry into the grain continued at a steady rate until maximum grain dry weight was reached, then ceased suddenly. No evidence was found of an increased rate of water loss by the grain at that stage, and the rapid fall in water content at the cessation of grain growth may have been due to blockage of the chalazal zone of entry into the grain by the deposition of lipids. Accumulation of dry matter, nitrogen and phosphorus and entry of water into the grain all ceased at the time of lipid deposition in the chalazal zone.

scholarly journals The Effect of Bacillus licheniformis MH48 on Control of Foliar Fungal Diseases and Growth Promotion of Camellia oleifera Seedlings in the Coastal Reclaimed Land of Korea

Pathogens ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Jae Won ◽  
Jun-Hyeok Kwon ◽  
Dong-Hyun Kim ◽  
Young-Sang Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Total Nitrogen ◽  
Bacillus Licheniformis ◽  
Growth Promotion ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Fungal Diseases ◽  
Camellia Oleifera ◽  
Bacterial Inoculation ◽  
Lytic Enzymes ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Reclaimed Land

This study investigated the control of foliar fungal diseases and growth promotion of Camellia oleifera seedlings in coastal reclaimed land through the use of Bacillus licheniformis MH48. B. licheniformis MH48 can produce lytic enzymes chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase that can inhibit foliar pathogens by 37.4 to 50.5%. Nevertheless, foliar diseases appeared in the seedlings with bacterial inoculation, and their survival rate decreased because they were unable to withstand salt stress. However, B. licheniformis MH48 significantly increased the total nitrogen and phosphorus contents in the soils through fixing atmospheric nitrogen and solubilizing phosphorus. The growth of seedlings with bacterial inoculation increased, particularly in root dry weight, by 7.42 g plant−1, which was 1.7-fold greater than that of the control. B. licheniformis MH48 produces the phytohormone auxin, which potentially stimulates seedling root growth. C. oleifera seedlings significantly increased in total nitrogen content to 317.57 mg plant−1 and total phosphorus content to 46.86 mg plant−1. Our results revealed the effectiveness of B. licheniformis MH48 not only in the control of foliar fungal diseases but also in the growth promotion of C. oleifera seedlings in coastal lands.

Litter decomposition and nutrient release in a tropical rainforest, Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve, Cameroon

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas C. Songwe ◽  
D. U. U. Okali ◽  
F. E. Fasehun
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Wood Decay ◽  
Nutrient Release ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Forest Reserve ◽  
Ceiba Pentandra ◽  
Terminalia Superba

ABSTRACTDecomposition of litter on the forest floor and of leaves of five species, Celtis zenkeri, Cola lepidota, Desbordesia glaucescens, Ceiba pentandra and Terminalia superba in nylon mesh bags, as well as wood decay were studied in the tropical rainforest at Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve, Cameroon.The rate of loss of dry matter was fastest in Celtis zenkeri which was significantly different from the other species, while potassium was the most rapidly released element from all species with more than 50% being released in the first two months of the experiment. Nitrogen and phosphorus showed initial increases in bagged leaf litter independent of dry weight losses and while nitrogen was later released phosphorus continued to increase reaching 2–3 times the initial concentration. Decomposition constant (k) of litter on the forest floor was found to be 2.23 whereas the mean decomposition constants of the different species were as follows: Celtis zenkeri 4.18, Cola lepidota 2.18, Desbordesia glaucescens 1.60 and Ceiba pentandra 2.16 for the two experiments.Termites were found to have a very great influence on the decay of the wood of Terminalia superba with decay due to micro-organisms being negligible.

scholarly journals Flower litters of alpine plants affect soil nitrogen and phosphorus rapidly in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinniu Wang ◽  
Bo Xu ◽  
Yan Wu ◽  
Jing Gao ◽  
Fusun Shi
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Pot Experiment ◽  
Eastern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Nutrient Pool ◽  
Litter Addition ◽  
Litter Bag ◽  
Soil Nutrition

Abstract. Litters of reproductive organs have been rarely studied, despite their role in allocating nutrients for offspring reproduction. This study determines the mechanism through which flower litters efficiently increase the available soil nutrient pool. Field experiments were conducted to collect plant litters and calculate biomass production in an alpine meadow of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, lignin, cellulose, and their relevant ratios of litters were analyzed to identify their decomposition features. A pot experiment was performed to determine the effects of litter addition on soil nutrition pool by comparison between the treated and control samples. Litter-bag method was used to verify decomposition rates. The flower litters of phanerophyte plants were comparable with non-flower litters. Biomass partitioning of other herbaceous species accounted for 10%–40% of the aboveground biomass. Flower litter possessed significantly higher N and P levels but less C/N, N/P, lignin/N, and lignin and cellulose concentrations than leaf litter. Flower litter fed soil nutrition pool more efficiently because of their faster decomposition rate and higher nutrient contents. Litter-bag experiment confirmed that the flower litters of Rhododendron przewalskii and Meconopsis integrifolia decomposes approximately three times faster than mixed litters within 50 days. Moreover, the findings of the pot experiment indicated that flower litter addition significantly increased the available nutrient pool. Flower litter influenced nutrition cycling in alpine ecosystems, as evident by its non-ignorable production and significantly faster decomposition. The underlying mechanism can enrich nutrients, which return to the soil, and non-structural carbohydrates, which feed and enhance the transitions of soil microorganisms.

scholarly journals Does the Mixture of Species change the C:N:P Ecological Stoichiometric Characteristics of fine Roots? A Case Study of Cupressus Funebris Mixed Forest

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenchun He ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Xiaochen Wen ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
Baoru Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fine Roots ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Mixed Stands ◽  
Available Nitrogen ◽  
Low Efficiency

Abstract The growth of fine roots of trees is affected by environmental changes and biological factors. At present, there have been many researches on the physiological plasticity of fine roots caused by environmental changes, but there are still few studies on the influence of biological factors on fine roots. This paper focused on the contents of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), and their ecological stoichiometric ratios in different root orders of Cupressus funebris fine roots in 11 mixed stands with Koelreuteria paniculate or Toona sinensis at different ratios, and the effects of soil physical and chemical properties on the root chemical properties. It aimed to provide new insights into the fine-root nutrient distribution pattern and the transformation or reconstruction of low-efficiency pure forests from the standpoint of forest types. The results showed that: soil pH, and the content of available nitrogen (SAN), available phosphorus (SAP) and available potassium (SAK) differed significantly in the tested mixed forest stands. No significant differences in carbon content of fine roots were observed in different mixed stands. The content of nitrogen and phosphorus in fine roots in mixed forests showed heterogeneity. Species mixing changed the C/N, C/P and N/P of the C. funebris compared the pure stands. The "T. sinensis + C. funebris" forest alleviated the limitation of the lack of phosphorus on fine roots of C. funebris on. The principal component analysis showed that mixed stands of "T. sinensis + C. funebris" had the highest comprehensive score at ratio of "3:1". Thus, our results recommended the adoption of T. sinensis, especially at 75%, to reconstruct the low-efficiency pure C. funebris forest.

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