Environmental changes in biodiversity hotspot ecosystems of
South Ecuador: RESPonse and feedback effECTs (FOR2730)

Abstract:

Not much is known about the nitrogen (N) uptake capacity and N-form preference of tropical trees. In a replicated labelling experiment with 15N-ammonium, 15N-nitrate and dual-labelled glycine applied to saplings of six tree species from southern Ecuadorianmontane forests, we tested the hypotheses that (1) the saplings of tropical trees are capable of using organicNeven though they are forming arbuscularmycorrhizas, and (2) with increasing altitude, tree saplings increasingly prefer ammonium and glycine over nitrate due to reduced nitrification and growing humus accumulation. Three- to 5-y-old saplings of two species each from 1000, 2000 and 3000 m asl were grown in pots inside the forest at their origin and labelled with non-fertilizing amounts of the three N forms; 15N enrichment was detected 5 days after labelling in fine roots, coarse roots, shoots and leaves. The six species differed with respect to their N-form preference, but neither the abundance of ammonium and nitrate in the soil nor altitude (1000–3000 m asl) seemed to influence the preference. Two species (those with highest growth rate) preferred NH4+ over NO3?, while the other four species took up NO3? and NH4+ at similar rates when both N forms were equally available. After 13C-glycine addition, 13C was significantly accumulated in the biomass of three species (all species with exclusively AM symbionts) but a convincing proof of the uptake of intact glycine molecules by these tropical montane forest trees was not obtained.

Abstract:

It is generally assumed that tree growth in tropical low-elevation forests is primarily limited by phosphorus while nitrogen limitation is more prominent in tropical montane forests where temperature is lower and the soils are poorly developed. We tested this hypothesis in mountain rainforests of South Ecuador by investigating the growth response of tree fine roots to N, P and K fertilization in ingrowth cores exposed at 1050 m (pre-montane) and 3060 m (upper montane) elevation. Root growth into unfertilized ingrowth cores (control treatment) was about 10 times slower at 3060 m than at 1050 m. At 1050 m, root growth was stimulated not only by P, but also by N and K. In contrast, N was the only element to promote root growth at 3060 m. The N concentration in fine root biomass dropped to nearly a third between 1050 and 3060 m, those of P, K, Ca and Mg decreased as well, but to a lesser degree. According to a 15NO3 15NH4 tracer study along the slope, tree fine roots accumulated nitrate and ammonium in root biomass at similar rates between 1050 and 3060 m, despite lower temperatures higher upslope.We conclude that the nature of nutrient limitation of tree fine root growth changes with elevation from an apparent co-limitation by P together with N and K at 1050 m to predominant N limitation at 3060 m, which is also reflected by low foliar N concentrations. Increasing N limitation may have caused the high fine root biomass and root/shoot ratio in the high elevation forest, while the capability of the roots to acquire mineral N apparently was not affected by lower temperatures at high elevations.