Root nitrogen acquisition strategy of trees and understory species in a subtropical pine plantation in southern China
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Root nitrogen acquisition strategy of trees and understory species in a subtropical pine plantation in southern China Qianyuan Liu1,2 · Huimin Wang1,2,3 · Xingliang Xu1 Received: 25 October 2019 / Revised: 15 April 2020 / Accepted: 18 April 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Nitrogen (N) is considered as a major factor that limits plant growth and metabolism, and absorptive roots play a critical role in plant resource acquisition. However, little is known about the roles of mycorrhizal colonization, and morphological and architectural traits of absorptive roots in N uptake rates. We examined the uptake rates for ammonium ( NH+4 ), nitrate ( NO−3 ) and glycine using a 15N isotope tracer technique and measured mycorrhizal colonization rates and functional traits (morphology, architecture and chemistry) of absorptive roots in a subtropical plantation during the growing season. Results showed that trees, shrubs and herbs all preferred to take up NH+4 over NO−3 and glycine, likely due to the dominant available N form in native soils. Species coexisting in the subtropical plantation did not show chemical niche differentiation, but there was a temporal niche separation in N acquisition across plant species. Absorptive roots with higher mycorrhizal colonization rates exhibited higher N uptake rates than those with lower colonization. In May, morphological traits (diameter and root tissue density) seemed playing important roles in N acquisition on that the absorptive roots with larger diameter and shorter specific root length (SRL) showed higher uptake rates for NH+4 , NO−3 , and glycine than those with smaller diameter and longer SRL. While in August, the architectural traits of root branching might be essential to enhance nutrient absorption on that the absorptive roots with intensive branching exhibited higher N uptake rates than those with less branching. Our findings suggested that plant species may evolve effective N acquisition strategies integrated mycorrhizal symbiosis, and root morphological and architectural traits over a temporal scale to acclimate to the changing environments. Keywords N uptake rate · Mycorrhizal colonization · Absorptive root · Morphological and architectural traits · 15N isotope labeling
Introduction
Communicated by Agustín Merino. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-020-01284-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Huimin Wang [email protected] 1
Qianyanzhou Ecological Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
3
Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Processes and Information, Ji’an 343725, China
Plant functional traits and their variations promote diver
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