Biological Dinitrogen Fixation (Acetylene Reduction) Exhibited by Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria) in Association with Mosses Gathered on Surtsey, Iceland

Henriksson, Elisabet; Henriksson, Lars; Norrman, John O.; Nyman, P.O.

doi:10.2307/1551408

Cited by 60 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Indeed, bryophytes and lichens are of particular importance in cold biomes such as the Arctic tundra (Longton 1997), where they are key contributors to green biomass and control soil hydrology, temperatures and chemistry (Cornelissen et al 2007). One aspect of the latter is their ability to form symbiotic relationships with cyanobacteria (Dalton and Chatfield 1985;During and Van Tooren 1990;Henriksson et al 1987). Most bryophytes have a high water retention capacity and thus provide a stable and favourable habitat for cyanobacterial growth and N 2 fixation activity (Dickson 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic analysis of cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation associated with subarctic lichen and bryophyte species

et al. 2010

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Dinitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria is of particular importance for the nutrient economy of cold biomes, constituting the main pathway for new N supplies to tundra ecosystems. It is prevalent in cyanobacterial colonies on bryophytes and in obligate associations within cyanolichens. Recent studies, applying interspecific variation in plant functional traits to upscale species effects on ecosystems, have all but neglected cryptogams and their association with cyanobacteria. Here we looked for species-specific patterns that determine cryptogam-mediated rates of N 2 fixation in the Subarctic. We hypothesised a contrast in N 2 fixation rates (1) between the structurally and physiologically different lichens and bryophytes, and (2) within bryophytes based on their respective plant functional types. Throughout the survey we supplied 15 N-labelled N 2 gas to quantify fixation rates for monospecific moss, liverwort and lichen turfs. We sampled fifteen species in a design that captures spatial and temporal variations during the growing season in Abisko region, Sweden. We measured N 2 fixation potential of each turf in a common environment and in its field sampling site, in order to embrace both comparativeness and realism. Cyanolichens and bryophytes differed significantly in their cyanobacterial N 2 fixation capacity, which was not driven by microhabitat characteristics, but rather by morphology and physiology. Cyanolichens were much more prominent fixers than bryophytes per unit dry weight, but not per unit area due to their low specific thallus weight. Mosses did not exhibit consistent differences in N 2 fixation rates across species and functional types. Liverworts did not fix detectable amounts of N 2 . Despite the very high rates of N 2 fixation associated with cyanolichens, large cover of mosses per unit area at the landscape Plant Soil (2010) 333:507-517

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic analysis of cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation associated with subarctic lichen and bryophyte species

et al. 2010

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“…They produce organic material that may later serve as substrate for secondary colonists. They are also indirectly responsible for a small but significant input of nitrogen to the ecosystem, which is produced by cyanobacteria associated with the moss shoots (Henriksson et al, 1987). In comparison, free-living cyanobacteria and non-photosynthetic nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Azotobacter) appear to supply insignificant amounts of nitrogen (Henriksson et al, 1987), as observed in the early phase of the Surtsey colonization (Henriksson and Henriksson, 1982).…”

Section: Bryophyte Succession On Volcanic Landmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are also indirectly responsible for a small but significant input of nitrogen to the ecosystem, which is produced by cyanobacteria associated with the moss shoots (Henriksson et al, 1987). In comparison, free-living cyanobacteria and non-photosynthetic nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Azotobacter) appear to supply insignificant amounts of nitrogen (Henriksson et al, 1987), as observed in the early phase of the Surtsey colonization (Henriksson and Henriksson, 1982). Bryophytes are known to play a significant role in plant succession in Iceland, Japan and Italy (Tagawa et al, 1985) but seem to be less important in the Tropics as exemplified by studies from Mt.…”

Section: Bryophyte Succession On Volcanic Landmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are primary colonizers and several have been shown to carry nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria (Henriksson et al, 1987).…”

Section: Early Colonizersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their ubiquitous presence as primary colonizers on volcanic islands may depend on an ability to grow in substrates with more or less extreme mixtures of basic minerals in combination with a scarcity of nitrogen. Studies from Surtsey have shown that F. hygrometrica, C. purpureus, Bryum sp., Racomitrium canescens, R. ericoides and R. lanuginosum have cyanobacteria associated with leaves in the upper photosynthetic part of the shoots which fix nitrogen that becomes available to the moss (Henriksson et al, 1987). Protonema of F. hygrometrica has even been found to be associated with a specific cyanobacterium, Anabaena variabilis, on Surtsey to the extent that it may be described as a symbiotic relationship (Schwabe, 1974).…”

Section: Surtsey and Other Islands Of Eruptive Originmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bryophyte colonization history of the virgin volcanic island Surtsey, Iceland

Ingimundardottir

Weibull²,

Cronberg

2014

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. The island Surtsey was formed in a volcanic eruption south of Iceland in 1963Iceland in -1967 and has since then been protected and monitored by scientists. The first two moss species were found on Surtsey as early as 1967 and several new bryophyte species were discovered every year until 1973 when regular sampling ended. Systematic bryophyte inventories in a grid of 100 m × 100 m quadrats were made in 1971 and 1972: the number of observed species doubled, with 36 species found in 1971 and 72 species in 1972. Here we report results from an inventory in 2008, when every other of the grid's quadrats were searched for bryophytes. Despite lower sampling intensity than in 1972, distributional expansion and contraction of earlier colonists was revealed as well as the presence of new colonists. A total of 38 species were discovered, 15 of those were not encountered in 1972 and eight had never been reported from Surtsey before (Bryum elegans, Ceratodon heterophyllus, Didymodon rigidulus, Eurhynchium praelongum, Schistidium confertum, S. papillosum, Tortula hoppeana and T. muralis). Habitat loss due to erosion and reduced thermal activity in combination with successional vegetation changes are likely to have played a significant role in the decline of some bryophyte species which were abundant in 1972 (Leptobryum pyriforme, Schistidium apocarpum coll., Funaria hygrometrica, Philonotis spp., Pohlia spp, Schistidium strictum, Sanionia uncinata) while others have continued to thrive and expand (e.g. Schistidium maritimum, Racomitrium lanuginosum, R. ericoides, R. fasciculare and Bryum argenteum). Some species (especially Bryum spp.) benefit from the formation of new habitats, such as grassland within a gull colony, which was established in 1984. Several newcomers are rarely producing sporophytes on Iceland and are unlikely to have been dispersed by airborne spores. They are more likely to have been introduced to Surtsey by seagulls in the form of vegetative fragments or dispersal agents (Bryum elegans, Didymodon rigidulus, Eurhynchium praelongum, Ceratodon heterophyllus and Ulota phyllantha). The establishment of the gull colony also means that leakage of nutrients from the nesting area is, at least locally, downplaying the relative importance of nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria growing in bryophyte shoots.

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Variation in moss-associated nitrogen fixation in boreal forest stands

Markham

2009

Oecologia

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Traditionally it has been thought that most boreal forest communities lack a significant input of biologically fixed nitrogen. Recent discoveries of nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria associated with mosses have resulted in a re-evaluation of this view. While it is recognized that rates of nitrogen fixation in mosses can be highly variable, there is little understanding as to why this occurs. I monitored nitrogen fixation, using acetylene reduction, in wet lowland and dry upland boreal forest communities, in central Canada, over a growing season. At the peak of nitrogen fixation in mid summer, Sphagnum capillifolium had an 11 times higher rate of fixation than Pleurozium schreberi. Variation in canopy openness and precipitation had no effect on rates of fixation over the growing season. In P. schreberi fixation rates did not vary between sites. Temperature had a positive effect on fixation rates in both S. capillifolium and P. schreberi, but the effect was 4 times more pronounced in S. capillifolium. Seasonal rates of nitrogen fixation were estimated at 193 mg N m(-2) for S. capillifolium and 23 mg N m(-2) for P. schreberi. With moderate increases in climate warming, predicted increases in nitrogen fixation in S. capillifolium are sufficient to raise its decomposition rate. Increased temperatures may therefore act synergistically to change boreal systems from a sink to a source of carbon.

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Biological Dinitrogen Fixation (Acetylene Reduction) Exhibited by Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria) in Association with Mosses Gathered on Surtsey, Iceland

Cited by 60 publications

References 11 publications

Isotopic analysis of cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation associated with subarctic lichen and bryophyte species

Isotopic analysis of cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation associated with subarctic lichen and bryophyte species

Bryophyte colonization history of the virgin volcanic island Surtsey, Iceland

Variation in moss-associated nitrogen fixation in boreal forest stands

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