Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1438-8677.2008.00173.x |
| Title (Primary) | 15N natural abundance during early and late succession in middle-European dry acidic grassland |
| Author | Beyschlag, W.; Hanisch, S.; Friedrich, S.; Jentsch, A.; Werner, C. |
| Source Titel | Plant Biology |
| Year | 2009 |
| Department | NSF |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Page From | 713 |
| Page To | 724 |
| Language | englisch |
| Keywords | 15N natural abundance - dry acidic grassland - N2-fixing legumes - niche differentiation - nitrogen - resource partitioning - stable isotopes |
| Abstract | d15N and total nitrogen content of above- and belowground tissues of 13 plant species from two successional stages (open pioneer community and ruderal grass stage) of a dry acidic grassland in Southern Germany were analysed, in order to evaluate whether resource use partitioning by niche separation and N input by N2-fixing legumes are potential determinants for species coexistence and successional changes. Within each stage, plants from plots with different legume cover were compared. Soil inorganic N content, total plant biomass and d15N values of bulk plant material were significantly lower in the pioneer stage than in the ruderal grass community. The observed d15N differences were rather species- than site-specific. Within both stages, there were also species-specific differences in isotopic composition between above- and belowground plant dry matter. Species-specific d15N signatures may theoretically be explained by (i) isotopic fractionation during microbial-mediated soil N transformations; (ii) isotopic fractionation during plant N uptake or fractionation during plant-mycorrhiza transfer processes; (iii) differences in metabolic pathways and isotopic fractionation within the plant; or (iv) partitioning of available N resources (or pools) among plant groups or differential use of the same resources by different species, which seems to be the most probable route in the present case. A significant influence of N2-fixing legumes on the N balance of the surrounding plant community was not detectable. This was confirmed by the results of an independent in situ removal experiment, showing that after 3 years there were no measurable differences in the frequency distribution between plots with and without N2-fixing legumes. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=64 |
| Beyschlag, W., Hanisch, S., Friedrich, S., Jentsch, A., Werner, C. (2009): 15N natural abundance during early and late succession in middle-European dry acidic grassland Plant Biol. 11 (5), 713 - 724 10.1111/j.1438-8677.2008.00173.x |
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