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Conifer root discrimination against soil nitrate and the ecology of forest succession

Author

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  • Herbert J. Kronzucker

    (University of British Columbia)

  • M. Yaeesh Siddiqi

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Anthony D. M. Glass

    (University of British Columbia)

Abstract

THE high incidence of failure when late-successional conifer species are replanted on disturbed forest sites is a considerable problem1–3. Here we advance a hypothesis that might explain many of these reforestation problems on a physiological basis, within the framework of forest succession. It is known that the chemical speciation of inorganic nitrogen in forest soils changes from predominantly ammonium (NH+4) in late-successional (mature forest) soils to mostly nitrate (NO–3) after disturbances such as clearcut harvesting2–6. The capacity of plant roots to take up and use these two sources of nitrogen is therefore very important for species establishment on successionally different sites. We have used kinetic and compartmental-analysis techniques with the radiotracer 13N to compare the efficiency of nitrogen acquisition from NH+4 and NO–3 sources in seedlings of white spruce, an important late-successional conifer. We found that uptake of NH+4 was up to 20 times greater than that of NO–3 from equimolar solution, cytoplasmic concentration of NH+4 was up to 10 times greater than that of NO–3, and physiological processing of NO–3 was much less than that of NH+4. This reduced capacity to use NO–3 is thought to present a critical impediment to seedling establishment on disturbed sites, where species better adapted to NO-3 would have a significant competitive advantage.

Suggested Citation

  • Herbert J. Kronzucker & M. Yaeesh Siddiqi & Anthony D. M. Glass, 1997. "Conifer root discrimination against soil nitrate and the ecology of forest succession," Nature, Nature, vol. 385(6611), pages 59-61, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:385:y:1997:i:6611:d:10.1038_385059a0
    DOI: 10.1038/385059a0
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    Cited by:

    1. Geshere Abdisa Gurmesa & Ang Wang & Shanlong Li & Shushi Peng & Wim Vries & Per Gundersen & Philippe Ciais & Oliver L. Phillips & Erik A. Hobbie & Weixing Zhu & Knute Nadelhoffer & Yi Xi & Edith Bai &, 2022. "Retention of deposited ammonium and nitrate and its impact on the global forest carbon sink," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. A. Nasraoui-Hajaji & H. Gouia, 2014. "Photosynthesis sensitivity to NH4+-N change with nitrogen fertilizer type," Plant, Soil and Environment, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 60(6), pages 274-279.
    3. Lei Xu & Siyu Cheng & Ping Zhuang & Dongsheng Xie & Shiyu Li & Dongming Liu & Zhian Li & Faguo Wang & Fuwu Xing, 2020. "Assessment of the Nutrient Removal Potential of Floating Native and Exotic Aquatic Macrophytes Cultured in Swine Manure Wastewater," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, February.

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