Light, nitrogen supply, and neighboring plants dictate costs and benefits of nitrogen fixation for seedlings of a tropical nitrogen-fixing tree
© 2021 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2021 New Phytologist Foundation.
| Veröffentlicht in: | The New phytologist. - 1984. - 231(2021), 5 vom: 24. Sept., Seite 1758-1769 |
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| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2021
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | The New phytologist |
| Schlagworte: | Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Pentaclethra macroloba Virola koschnyi biomass allocation growth neighbor interactions nitrogen fixation Soil Nitrogen |
| Zusammenfassung: | © 2021 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2021 New Phytologist Foundation. The ability to fix nitrogen may confer a competitive advantage or disadvantage to symbiotic nitrogen-fixing plants depending on the availability of soil nitrogen and energy to fuel fixation. Understanding these costs and benefits of nitrogen fixation is critical to predicting ecosystem dynamics and nutrient cycling. We grew inoculated (with symbiotic bacteria) and uninoculated seedlings of Pentaclethra macroloba (a nitrogen-fixing tree species) both in isolation and with Virola koschnyi (a nonfixing species) under gradients of light and soil nitrogen to assess how the ability to fix nitrogen and fixation activity affect growth, biomass allocation, and responses to neighboring plants. Inoculation itself did not provide a growth advantage to nitrogen fixers, regardless of nitrogen limitation status. Higher nitrogen fixation rates increased biomass growth similarly for nitrogen-limited and nitrogen-saturated fixers. Nodule production was offset by reduced fine-root biomass for inoculated nitrogen fixers, resulting in no change in total belowground allocation associated with nitrogen fixation. Under nitrogen-limited conditions, inoculated nitrogen fixers partially downregulated fixation in the presence of a nonfixing neighbor. These results suggest that nitrogen fixation can provide a growth advantage, even under nitrogen-saturated conditions, and that nitrogen fixers may reduce fixation rates to minimize facilitation of neighbors |
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| Beschreibung: | Date Completed 12.08.2021 Date Revised 12.08.2021 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1469-8137 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/nph.17508 |