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Nitrogen utilization by Hylocomium splendens in a boreal forest fertilization experiment
Author(s) -
FORSUM Å.,
DAHLMAN L.,
NÄSHOLM T.,
NORDIN A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
functional ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.272
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1365-2435
pISSN - 0269-8463
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01127.x
Subject(s) - bryophyte , throughfall , nitrogen , botany , precipitation , taiga , biology , boreal , canopy , agronomy , ecology , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , meteorology
Summary1 Nitrogen uptake in the terricolous bryophyte Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) B.S.G. was studied in a boreal forest long‐term N‐treatment experiment including control plots, N‐addition plots (50 kg N ha −1 year −1 for 8 years) and recovery plots (50 kg N ha −1 year −1 for 5 years and thereafter no N addition for 3 years). 2 A main objective was to explore whether the N treatments changed bryophyte uptake of different inorganic and organic N forms. In addition, we estimated the contribution of N from throughfall precipitation to the bryophyte N supply. 3 The results demonstrated that bryophyte N uptake was similar in all the long‐term N‐treatment plots. Hylocomium splendens took up more 15 N labelled than or glycine when these N forms were applied in situ by the spraying of solutions with N concentrations similar to those in precipitation. 4 Analysis of the precipitation collected beneath the closed tree canopy from late May to early October revealed that it contributed 2·0 kg N ha −1 during the period studied, distributed between (78%), amino acid N (17%) and (5%). 5 The study highlights that, in addition to analyses of and (normally included in standard environmental monitoring of precipitation), analysis of amino acid N must be performed to account fully for the precipitation N input to bryophytes in boreal forest ecosystems.