Nitrogen acquisition by plants and microorganisms in a temperate grassland

Nitrogen (N) limitation is common in most terrestrial ecosystems, often leading to strong competition between microorganisms and plants. The mechanisms of niche differentiation to reduce this competition remain unclear. Short-term 15 N experiments with NH 4 + , NO 3 − and glycine were conducted in J...

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Published inScientific reports Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 22642
Main Authors Liu, Qianyuan, Qiao, Na, Xu, Xingliang, Xin, Xiaoping, Han, Jessie Yc, Tian, Yuqiang, Ouyang, Hua, Kuzyakov, Yakov
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 10.03.2016
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects
631/158/47
704/158/2445
Bacteria - metabolism
Competition
Fungi - metabolism
Glycine
Glycine - metabolism
Grassland
Grasslands
Humanities and Social Sciences
Microorganisms
multidisciplinary
Niches
Nitrogen
Nitrogen - metabolism
Nitrogen Fixation
Plants - metabolism
Science
Seasons
Soil depth
Terrestrial ecosystems
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Summary:Nitrogen (N) limitation is common in most terrestrial ecosystems, often leading to strong competition between microorganisms and plants. The mechanisms of niche differentiation to reduce this competition remain unclear. Short-term 15 N experiments with NH 4 + , NO 3 − and glycine were conducted in July, August and September in a temperate grassland to evaluate the chemical, spatial and temporal niche differentiation by competition between plants and microorganisms for N. Microorganisms preferred NH 4 + and NO 3 − , while plants preferred NO 3 − . Both plants and microorganisms acquired more N in August and September than in July. The soil depth had no significant effects on microbial uptake, but significantly affected plant N uptake. Plants acquired 67% of their N from the 0–5 cm soil layer and 33% from the 5–15 cm layer. The amount of N taken up by microorganisms was at least seven times than plants. Although microorganisms efficiently compete for N with plants, the competition is alleviated through chemical partitioning mainly in deeper soil layer. In the upper soil layer, neither chemical nor temporal niche separation is realized leading to strong competition between plants and microorganisms that modifies N dynamics in grasslands.
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These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep22642