Summary
The objective was to measure the competition for nitrogen among vascular plants, mosses, and soil microbes along a continuum of nitrogen availability, induced by carbon and nitrogen amendments, in a tussock tundra ecosystem.15N was used as a tracer. Vascular plants showed an increasing15N recovery with increasing time and with increasing nitrogen availability; the latter suggests that nitrogen was limiting vascular plant growth. Green mosses took up15N initially, but showed no significant trends with either treatment or time. There was a higher15N recovery in the soil insoluble compartment for the carbon-amended treatment than in the nitrogen-amended treatments; this suggested that carbon as an energy source limited microbial activity. After two months, the relative15N recovery fell in the order: soil microbes (≈79%)>vascular plants (≈16%) >green mosses (≈2%).
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Marion, G.M., Miller, P.C., Kummerow, J. et al. Competition for nitrogen in a tussock tundra ecosystem. Plant Soil 66, 317–327 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02183798
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02183798