Jack pine foliar δ15N indicates shifts in plant nitrogen acquisition after severe wildfire and through forest stand development

LeDuc, Stephen D.; Rothstein, David E.; Yermakov, Zhanna; Spaulding, Susan E.

doi:10.1007/s11104-013-1856-0

Cited by 17 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The biogeochemical impacts of wildfire vary widely depending on the nature of fire events, reflecting mechanisms operating over a range of time‐scales, from instantaneous organic matter combustion through multi‐decadal‐scale forest development. The Chickaree Lake record revealed significant biogeochemical change after high‐severity fires, largely consistent with patterns observed in post‐fire forest chronosequence studies (Smithwick et al ., ; Kashian et al ., ; LeDuc et al ., ) and highlighting the importance of high‐severity disturbance and subsequent forest development in shaping biogeochemical processes. In most cases, return intervals between high‐severity fires were longer than the recovery time of c .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5). Such wholesale losses of litter and organic soil to high-severity fires (Turner et al, 2007) should raise the d 15 N of soil leachates and may result in elevated foliage and litter d 15 N as recovering vegetation takes up isotopically heavier N (H€ ogberg, 1997;Grogan et al, 2000;Stephan, 2007;LeDuc et al, 2013).…”

Section: Immediate Impacts Of High-severity Fires (Years To Decades)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fires thus temporarily increase terrestrial N availability, but most N losses to these events occur via volatilization (Johnson et al, 1998;Nave et al, 2011)a process shown to preferentially release 14 N to the atmosphere (Turekian et al, 1998;Saito et al, 2007). Recent work suggests that fires can increase soil and vegetation d 15 N by causing losses of 15 N-depleted gaseous N, nitrate, and organic matter (Grogan et al, 2000;Boeckx et al, 2005), and that higher severity burns may cause greater isotopic enrichment (Stephan, 2007;LeDuc et al, 2013). Modern ecological studies of the impacts of fire on N cycling are complicated by the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of processes affecting N pools throughout forested landscapes LeDuc et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent work suggests that fires can increase soil and vegetation d 15 N by causing losses of 15 N-depleted gaseous N, nitrate, and organic matter (Grogan et al, 2000;Boeckx et al, 2005), and that higher severity burns may cause greater isotopic enrichment (Stephan, 2007;LeDuc et al, 2013). Modern ecological studies of the impacts of fire on N cycling are complicated by the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of processes affecting N pools throughout forested landscapes LeDuc et al, 2013). Because lake-sediment d 15 N integrates N cycle processes over space and time, this paleoecological proxy has the potential to overcome these challenges at the watershed scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biogeochemical impacts of wildfires over four millennia in aRockyMountain subalpine watershed

et al. 2014

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SummaryWildfires can significantly alter forest carbon (C) storage and nitrogen (N) availability, but the long-term biogeochemical legacy of wildfires is poorly understood.We obtained a lake-sediment record of fire and biogeochemistry from a subalpine forest in Colorado, USA, to examine the nature, magnitude, and duration of decadal-scale, fireinduced ecosystem change over the past c. 4250 yr. The high-resolution record contained 34 fires, including 13 high-severity events within the watershed.High-severity fires were followed by increased sedimentary N stable isotope ratios Our results support modern studies of forest successional C and N accumulation and indicate pronounced, long-lasting biogeochemical impacts of wildfires in subalpine forests. However, even repeated high-severity fires over millennia probably did not deplete C or N stocks, because centuries between high-severity fires allowed for sufficient biomass recovery.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Immediate Impacts Of High-severity Fires (Years To Decades)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biogeochemical impacts of wildfires over four millennia in aRockyMountain subalpine watershed

et al. 2014

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“…Rates of mineralization and nitrification could also initially increase after disturbance (Gundersen et al 2006) which can lead to more available N. However, like denitrification, these processes would be expected to decrease with time after restoration as carbon stocks decrease and N becomes increasingly immobilized in living biomass. Disturbance could also have an impact by removing the humus layer where plants in older forests typically access N, leaving them to access N from deeper mineral soil layers (LeDuc et al 2013;Hu et al 2014) or through a reduction in mycorrhizal colonization that can occur following disturbance (Hobbie et al 1999). Reconnection of the riparian forest with the stream, initiation of plant succession, and disturbance may all interact to affect N and C sources and plant communities that in turn can influence the recovery of N-cycling in boreal riparian forests after stream restoration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of nitrogen cycling in riparian zones after stream restoration using δ 15N along a 25-year chronosequence in northern Sweden

Hasselquist

Sparks

2016

Plant Soil

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Background and aims Swedish boreal streams were modified to transport timber by pushing boulders to stream sides, creating levees that disconnected streams from riparian areas. Many streams have since been restored and our goal was to understand how this affects riparian nitrogen (N) cycling. Methods We compared the natural abundance of δ 15 N isotopes in foliage and roots of Filipendula ulmaria plus soils and litter along streams restored 2-25 years ago. We measured sources of N, potential immobilization of N, namely plant diversity and biomass, and the amount and sources of carbon (C) to determine if these were important for describing riparian N cycling. Results The δ 15 N of F. ulmaria foliage changed dramatically just after restoration compared to the channelized, disconnected state and then converged over the next 25 years with the steady-state reference. Conclusions The disturbance and reconnection of the stream with the riparian zone during restoration created a short-term pulse of N availability and gaseous losses of N as a result of enhanced microbial processing of N. With increasing time since restoration, N availability appears to have decreased, and N sources changed to those derived from mycorrhizae, amino acids, or the humus layer, or there was enhanced N-use efficiency by older, more diverse plant communities.

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Feast not famine: Nitrogen pools recover rapidly in 25‐yr‐old postfire lodgepole pine

Turner

Whitby

Romme

2019

Ecology

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The extent of young postfire conifer forests is growing throughout western North America as the frequency and size of high‐severity fires increase, making it important to understand ecosystem structure and function in early seral forests. Understanding nitrogen (N) dynamics during postfire stand development is especially important because northern conifers are often N limited. We resampled lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) stands that regenerated naturally after the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, USA) to ask (1) How have N pools and fluxes changed over a decade (15 to 25 yr postfire) of very rapid forest growth? (2) At postfire year 25, how do N pools and fluxes vary with lodgepole pine density and productivity? Lodgepole pine foliage, litter (annual litterfall, forest‐floor litter), and mineral soils were sampled in 14 plots (0.25 ha) that varied in postfire lodgepole pine density (1,500 to 344,000 stems/ha) and aboveground net primary production (ANPP; 1.4 to 16.1 Mg·ha−1·yr−1). Counter to expectation, foliar N concentrations in lodgepole pine current‐year and composite needles (1.33 and 1.11% N, respectively) had not changed over time. Further, all measured ecosystem N pools increased substantially: foliar N increased to 89 kg N/ha (+93%), O‐horizon N increased to 39 kg N/ha (+38%), and mineral soil percent total N (0–15 cm) increased to 0.08% (+33%). Inorganic N availability also increased to 0.69 μg N·[g resin]−1·d−1 (+165%). Thus, soil N did not decline as live biomass N pools increased. Among stands, biomass N pools at postfire year 25 remained strongly influenced by early postfire tree density: foliar and litterfall N concentrations declined with lodgepole pine density and ANPP, but the foliar N pool increased. Lodgepole pine ANPP correlated negatively with annual resin‐sorbed N, and we found no indication of widespread N limitation. The large increases in N pools cannot be explained by atmospheric N deposition or presence of known N fixers. These results suggest an unmeasured N source and are consistent with recent reports of N fixation in young lodgepole pine.

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Jack pine foliar δ15N indicates shifts in plant nitrogen acquisition after severe wildfire and through forest stand development

Cited by 17 publications

References 42 publications

Biogeochemical impacts of wildfires over four millennia in aRockyMountain subalpine watershed

Biogeochemical impacts of wildfires over four millennia in aRockyMountain subalpine watershed

Recovery of nitrogen cycling in riparian zones after stream restoration using δ 15N along a 25-year chronosequence in northern Sweden

Feast not famine: Nitrogen pools recover rapidly in 25‐yr‐old postfire lodgepole pine

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