Continental scale variability of foliar nitrogen and carbon isotopes in Populus balsamifera and their relationships with climate

Elmore, Andrew J.; Craine, Joseph M.; Nelson, David M.; Guinn, Steven M.

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08156-x

“…Stable N (δ 15 N) and carbon (C, δ 13 C) isotope ratios of plants and soils can reveal the mechanistic interactions between above-and below-ground systems (Dawson et al 2002;Craine et al 2009;Elmore et al 2017). Changes in δ 15 N can reflect differences in soil N availability and plant N acquisition strategies (Welker et al 2003;Barthelemy et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant and soil nitrogen in oligotrophic boreal forest habitats with varying moss depths: does exclusion of large grazers matter?

Väisänen

¹

,

Tuomi

²

,

Bailey

³

et al. 2021

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The boreal forest consists of drier sunlit and moister-shaded habitats with varying moss abundance. Mosses control vascular plant–soil interactions, yet they all can also be altered by grazers. We determined how 2 decades of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) exclusion affect feather moss (Pleurozium schreberi) depth, and the accompanying soil N dynamics (total and dissolvable inorganic N, δ15N), plant foliar N, and stable isotopes (δ15N, δ13C) in two contrasting habitats of an oligotrophic Scots pine forest. The study species were pine seedling (Pinus sylvestris L.), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), lingonberry (V. vitis-idaea L.), and feather moss. Moss carpet was deeper in shaded than sunlit habitats and increased with grazer exclusion. Humus N content increased in the shade as did humus δ15N, which also increased due to exclusion in the sunlit habitats. Exclusion increased inorganic N concentration in the mineral soil. These soil responses were correlated with moss depth. Foliar chemistry varied due to habitat depending on species identity. Pine seedlings showed higher foliar N content and lower foliar δ15N in the shaded than in the sunlit habitats, while bilberry had both higher foliar N and δ15N in the shade. Thus, foliar δ15N values of co-existing species diverged in the shade indicating enhanced N partitioning. We conclude that despite strong grazing-induced shifts in mosses and subtler shifts in soil N, the N dynamics of vascular vegetation remain unchanged. These indicate that plant–soil interactions are resistant to shifts in grazing intensity, a pattern that appears to be common across boreal oligotrophic forests.

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“…Likewise, δ 15 N over most of the range neither decreased with AI nor responded to temperature as expected. Our observation of contradictory responses to climate depending on geographical region may be due to the intraspecific nature of our study, as opposed to the interspecific data often used to support the LES (Albert et al, 2010;Elmore, Craine, Nelson, & Guinn, 2017). In addition, our study may have overlooked the effects of edaphic conditions on C:N and δ 15 N.…”

Section: Physiology Lack Of Correspondence To the Leaf Economic Spmentioning

confidence: 74%

Effects of two centuries of global environmental variation on phenology and physiology of Arabidopsis thaliana

DeLeo

¹

,

Menge

²

,

Hanks

³

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

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Intraspecific trait variation is caused by genetic and plastic responses to environment. This intraspecific diversity is captured in immense natural history collections, giving us a window into trait variation across continents and through centuries of environmental shifts. Here we tested if hypotheses based on life history and the leaf economics spectrum explain intraspecific trait changes across global spatiotemporal environmental gradients. We measured phenotypes on a 216‐year time series of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions from across its native range and applied spatially varying coefficient models to quantify region‐specific trends in trait coordination and trait responses to climate gradients. All traits exhibited significant change across space or through time. For example, δ15N decreased over time across much of the range and leaf C:N increased, consistent with predictions based on anthropogenic changes in land use and atmosphere. Plants were collected later in the growing season in more recent years in many regions, possibly because populations shifted toward more spring germination and summer flowering as opposed to fall germination and spring flowering. When climate variables were considered, collection dates were earlier in warmer years, while summer rainfall had opposing associations with collection date depending on regions. There was only a modest correlation among traits, indicating a lack of a single life history/physiology axis. Nevertheless, leaf C:N was low for summer‐ versus spring‐collected plants, consistent with a life history–physiology axis from slow‐growing winter annuals to fast‐growing spring/summer annuals. Regional heterogeneity in phenotype trends indicates complex responses to spatiotemporal environmental gradients potentially due to geographic genetic variation and climate interactions with other aspects of environment. Our study demonstrates how natural history collections can be used to broadly characterize trait responses to environment, revealing heterogeneity in response to anthropogenic change.

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“…This may be due to the intraspecific nature of our study, as opposed to the interspecific data often used to support the LES. In multispecies analyses, phenotype correlations with climate may be influenced by community composition changes across the environment or may not represent the physiology or climate responses of individual species (Albert et al, 2010;Elmore, Craine, Nelson, & Guinn, 2017). In addition, our study may have overlooked the effects of edaphic conditions on C:N and δ 15 N. C:N over most of the native range was insignificantly related to spatial and temporal gradients of temperature and aridity index (July precipitation/PET) but increased with year as seen in grassland communities due to rising C a (Gill et al, 2002).…”

Section: Physiology Leaf Economic Spectrummentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of two centuries of global environmental variation on phenology and physiology of Arabidopsis thaliana

DeLeo

¹

,

Menge

²

,

Hanks

³

et al. 2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Intraspecific trait variation is caused by genetic and plastic responses to environment. This intraspecific diversity is captured in immense natural history collections, giving us a window into trait variation across continents and through centuries of environmental shifts. Here we tested if hypotheses based on life history and the leaf economics spectrum explain intraspecific trait changes across global spatiotemporal environmental gradients. We measured phenotypes on a 216‐year time series of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions from across its native range and applied spatially varying coefficient models to quantify region‐specific trends in trait coordination and trait responses to climate gradients. All traits exhibited significant change across space or through time. For example, δ15N decreased over time across much of the range and leaf C:N increased, consistent with predictions based on anthropogenic changes in land use and atmosphere. Plants were collected later in the growing season in more recent years in many regions, possibly because populations shifted toward more spring germination and summer flowering as opposed to fall germination and spring flowering. When climate variables were considered, collection dates were earlier in warmer years, while summer rainfall had opposing associations with collection date depending on regions. There was only a modest correlation among traits, indicating a lack of a single life history/physiology axis. Nevertheless, leaf C:N was low for summer‐ versus spring‐collected plants, consistent with a life history–physiology axis from slow‐growing winter annuals to fast‐growing spring/summer annuals. Regional heterogeneity in phenotype trends indicates complex responses to spatiotemporal environmental gradients potentially due to geographic genetic variation and climate interactions with other aspects of environment. Our study demonstrates how natural history collections can be used to broadly characterize trait responses to environment, revealing heterogeneity in response to anthropogenic change.

show abstract

Continental scale variability of foliar nitrogen and carbon isotopes in Populus balsamifera and their relationships with climate

Cited by 13 publications

References 48 publications

Plant and soil nitrogen in oligotrophic boreal forest habitats with varying moss depths: does exclusion of large grazers matter?

Plant and soil nitrogen in oligotrophic boreal forest habitats with varying moss depths: does exclusion of large grazers matter?

Effects of two centuries of global environmental variation on phenology and physiology of Arabidopsis thaliana

Effects of two centuries of global environmental variation on phenology and physiology of Arabidopsis thaliana

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