Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T02:56:26.872Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Responses of fine roots to experimental nitrogen addition in a tropical lower montane rain forest, Panama

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2010

Markus Adamek ,
Marife D. Corre  and
Dirk Hölscher
Markus Adamek*
Affiliation:
Soil Science of Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems, Büsgen Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Marife D. Corre
Affiliation:
Soil Science of Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems, Büsgen Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Dirk Hölscher
Affiliation:
Tropical Silviculture and Forest Ecology, Burckhardt Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
*
1Corresponding author. Email: madamek@gwdg.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Nitrogen (N) availability is a major control on fine-root growth and distribution with depth in forest soils. We investigated fine-root dynamics in response to N addition in a montane rain forest with N-limited above-ground production. Control and N-fertilized (125 kg urea-N ha−1 y−1) treatments were laid out in a paired-plot design with four replicates (each 40 × 40 m). During 1.5 y of treatment, fine root-biomass, necromass and production were assessed by sequential coring at three soil depths (organic layer, 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm mineral soil), whereas fine-root redistribution with depth was assessed by ingrowth cores. Total fine-root biomass, necromass and production in the controls were 458 ± 21 g m−2, 101 ± 9 g m−2 and 324 ± 33 g m−2 y−1, respectively. No significant difference at any depth was detected under N fertilization. Fine-root biomass in the organic layer decreased over time under N addition. At 10–20 cm in the mineral soil, fine-root biomass in ingrowth cores increased significantly after 1.5 y of N fertilization compared with the control. The increased available N may have induced the change in fine-root distribution to explore the deeper mineral soil for other nutrients which may cause additional limitation to above-ground production once N limitation is alleviated.

Keywords

fine-root biomassfine-root productionmineral soilnitrogen fertilizationorganic layer
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 73 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ADAMEK, M., CORRE, M. D. & HÖLSCHER, D. 2009. Early effect of elevated nitrogen input on above-ground net primary production of a lower montane rain forest, Panama. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25:637–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ALBOUGH, T. J., ALLEN, H. L., DOUGHERTY, P. M., KRESS, L. W. & KING, J. S. 1998. Leaf area and above- and belowground growth responses of loblolly pine to nutrient and water additions. Forest Science 44:317–328.Google Scholar
BENNER, J., VITOUSEK, P. & OSTERTAG, R. In press. Nutrient cycling and nutrient limitation in tropical montane cloud forest. In Bruijnzeel, L. A., Scatena, F. & Hamilton, L. (eds.). Mountains in the mist: Science for conserving and managing tropical montane cloud forests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
CAVELIER, J. 1989. Root biomass, production and the effect of fertilization in two tropical rain forests. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.Google Scholar
CAVELIER, J. 1992. Fine-root biomass and soil properties in a semideciduous and a lower montane rain forest in Panama. Plant and Soil 142:187–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CAVELIER, J., WRIGHT, S. J. & SANTAMARÍA, J. 1999. Effects of irrigation on litterfall, fine root biomass and production in a semideciduous lowland forest in Panama. Plant and Soil 211:207–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CONDIT, R. 1998. Tropical forest census plots: methods and results from Barro Colorado Island, Panama and a comparison with other plots. Springer, Berlin. 211 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CORRE, M. D., VELDKAMP, E., ARNOLD, J. & WRIGHT, S. J. 2010. Impact of elevated N input on soil N cycling and losses in old-growth lowland and montane forests in Panama. Ecology 91:1715–1729.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
CRAWLEY, M. J. 2002. Statistical computing, an introduction to data analysis using S-Plus. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. 761 pp.Google Scholar
DENSLOW, J. S., ELLISON, A. M. & SANFORD, R. E. 1998. Tree fall gap size effects on above- and below-ground processes in a tropical wet forest. Journal of Ecology 86:597–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ESPELETA, J. F. & CLARK, D. A. 2007. Multi-scale variation in fine root biomass in a tropical rain forest: a seven-year study. Ecological Monographs 77:377–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GILL, R. A. & JACKSON, R. B. 2000. Global patterns of root turnover for terrestrial ecosystems. New Phytologist 147:13–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GIRARDIN, C. A. J., MALHI, Y., ARAGÃO, L. E. O. C., MAMANI, M., HUARACA HUASCO, W., DURAND, L., FEELEY, K. J., RAPP, J., SILVA-ESPEJO, J. E., SILMAN, M., SALINAS, N. & WHITTAKER, R. J. 2010. Net primary productivity allocation and cycling of carbon along a tropical forest elevational transect in the Peruvian Andes. Global Change Biology, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02235.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOWER, S. T. 1987. Relations between mineral nutrient availability and fine root biomass in two Costa Rican tropical wet forests: a hypothesis. Biotropica 19:171–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOWER, S. T. & VITOUSEK, P. M. 1989. Effects of nutrient amendments on fine root biomass in a primary successional forest in Hawai'i. Oecologia 81:566–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOWER, S. T., VOGT, K. A. & GRIER, C. C. 1992. Carbon dynamics of Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir: influence of water and nutrient availability. Ecological Monographs 62:43–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GRUBB, P. J. 1977. Control of forest growth and distribution on wet tropical mountains: with special reference to mineral nutrition. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 8:83–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HENDRICKS, J. J., HENDRICK, R. L., WILSON, C. A., MITCHELL, R. J., PECOT, S. D. & GUO, D. 2006. Assessing the patterns and controls of fine root dynamics: an empirical test and methodological review. Journal of Ecology 94:40–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HERTEL, D. & LEUSCHNER, C. 2002. A comparison of four different fine root production estimates with ecosystem carbon balance data in Fagus–Quercus mixed forest. Plant and Soil 239:237–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HERTEL, D. & LEUSCHNER, C. In press. Fine root mass and fine root production in tropical moist forests as dependent on soil, climate and elevation. In Bruijnzeel, L. A., Scatena, F. & Hamilton, L. (eds.). Mountains in the mist: science for conserving and managing tropical montane cloud forests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
HOLDRIDGE, L. R., GRENKE, W. C., HATHEWAY, W. H., LIANG, T. & TOSI, J. A. 1971. Forest environments in tropical life zones: a pilot study. Pergamon Press, Oxford. 747 pp.Google Scholar
HÖLSCHER, D., DUNKER, B., HARBUSCH, M. & CORRE, M. D. 2009. Fine root distribution of a lower montane rainforest of Panama. Biotropica 41:312–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOBBÁGY, E. G. & JACKSON, R. B. 2000. The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation. Ecological Applications 10:423–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KOEHLER, B., CORRE, M. D., VELDKAMP, E., WULLAERT, H. & WRIGHT, S. J. 2009. Immediate and long-term nitrogen oxide emissions from tropical forest soils exposed to elevated nitrogen input. Global Change Biology 15:2049–2066.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LEUSCHNER, C., HERTEL, D., CONERS, H. & BUTTNER, V. 2001. Root competition between beech and oak: a hypothesis. Oecologia 126:276–284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LEUSCHNER, C., MOSER, G., BERTSCH, C., RÖDERSTEIN, M. & HERTEL, D. 2007. Large altitudinal increase in tree root/shoot ratio in tropical mountain forests in Ecuador. Basic and Applied Ecology 8:219–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MATAMALA, R., GONZÁLEZ-MELER, M. A., JASTROW, J. D., NORBY, R. J. & SCHLESINGER, W. H. 2003. Impacts of fine root turnover on forest NPP and soil C sequestration potential. Science 302:1385–1387.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCLAUGHERTY, C. A., ABER, J. D. & MELILLO, J. M. 1982. The role of fine roots in the organic matter and nitrogen budgets of two forested ecosystems. Ecology 63:1481–1490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NADELHOFFER, K. J. 2000. The potential effects of nitrogen deposition on fine-root production in forest ecosystems. New Phytologist 147:131–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NOMURA, N. & KIKUZAWA, K. 2003. Productive phenology of tropical montane forests: fertilization experiments along a moisture gradient. Ecological Research 18:573–586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NORBY, R. J. & JACKSON, R. B. 2000. Root dynamics and global change: seeking an ecosystem perspective. New Phytologist 147:3–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OLANDER, L. P. & VITOUSEK, P. M. 2000. Regulation of soil phosphatase and chitinase activity by N and P availability. Biogeochemistry 49:175–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OSTERTAG, R. 2001. Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus availability on fine-root dynamics in Hawaiian montane forests. Ecology 82:485–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PAME-BALDOS, A. 2009. Aboveground net primary productivity and leaching losses in a tropical montane forest exposed to elevated nitrogen input. MSc thesis, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Georg-August University of Göttingen.Google Scholar
PERSSON, H. 1978. Root dynamics in a young scots pine stand in Central Sweden. Oikos 30:508–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POWERS, J. S., TRESEDER, K. K. & LERDAU, M. T. 2005. Fine roots, arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphae and soil nutrients in four neotropical rain forests: patterns across large geographic distances. New Phytologist 165:913–921.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
PRIESS, J., THEN, C. & FÖLSTER, H. 1999. Litter and fine-root production in three types of tropical premontane rain forest in SE Venezuela. Plant Ecology 143:171–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
REICH, P. B. 2002. Root–shoot relations: optimality in acclimation and adaption or the “Emperor's New Clothes”? Pp. 205–220 in Waisel, Y., Eshel, A. & Kafkafi, U. (eds.). Plant roots: the hidden half. Marcel Dekker, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
REYNOLDS, H. L. & D'ANTONIO, C. 1996. The ecological significance of plasticity in root weight ratio in response to nitrogen: opinion. Plant and Soil 185:75–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RÖDERSTEIN, M., HERTEL, D. & LEUSCHNER, C. 2005. Above- and below-ground litter production in three tropical montane forests in southern Ecuador. Journal of Tropical Ecology 21:483–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SANFORD, R. L. 1989. Root systems of three adjacent, old growth Amazon forests and associated transition zones. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 1:268–279.Google Scholar
SAYER, E., TANNER, E. V. J. & CHEESMAN, A. W. 2006. Increased litterfall changes fine root distribution in a moist tropical forest. Plant and Soil 281:5–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SOKAL, R. R. & ROHLF, F. J. 1981. Biometry: the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. W. H. Freeman and Co., New York. 859 pp.Google Scholar
TATENO, R., HISHI, T. & TAKEDA, H. 2004. Above- and below-ground biomass and net primary production in a cool-temperate deciduous forest in relation to topographical changes in soil nitrogen. Forest Ecology and Management 193:297–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TRESEDER, K. K. & VITOUSEK, P. M. 2001. Effects of soil nutrient availability on investment in acquisition of N and P in Hawaian rain forests. Ecology 82:946–954.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VITOUSEK, P. M. & FARRINGTON, H. 1997. Nutrient limitation and soil development: experimental test of a biogeochemical theory. Biogeochemistry 37:63–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VITOUSEK, P. M., WALKER, L. R., WHITEAKER, L. D. & MATSON, P. A. 1993. Nutrient limitations to plant growth during primary succession in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Biogeochemistry 23:197–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VOGT, K. A., VOGT, D. J., PALMIOTTO, P. A., BOON, P., O'HARA, J. & ASBJORNSEN, H. 1996. Review of root dynamics in forest ecosystems grouped by climate, climatic forest type and species. Plant and Soil 187:159–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VOGT, K. A., VOGT, D. J. & BLOOMFELD, J. 1998. Analysis of some direct and indirect methods for estimating root biomass and production of forests at an ecosystem level. Plant and Soil 200:71–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WOOD, T. E., LAWRENCE, D. & CLARK, D. A. 2006. Determinants of leaf litter nutrient cycling in a tropical rain forest: soil fertility versus topography. Ecosystems 9:700–710.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
YAVITT, J. B. & WRIGHT, S. J. 2001. Drought and irrigation effects on fine root dynamics in a tropical moist forest, Panama. Biotropica 33:421–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar