Short-term 15N uptake kinetics and nitrogen nutrition of bryophytes in a lowland rainforest, Costa Rica
Wolfgang Wanek A B and Katja Pörtl AA Department of Chemical Ecology and Ecosystem Research, Vienna Ecology Center, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
B Corresponding author. Email: wolfgang.wanek@univie.ac.at
Functional Plant Biology 35(1) 51-62 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP07191
Submitted: 2 August 2007 Accepted: 19 November 2007 Published: 25 January 2008
Abstract
Though bryophytes can markedly affect the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles of tropical rainforests, virtually nothing is known on their nutritional requirements. Here, short-term 15N uptake kinetics of NO3–, NH4+ and glycine were studied in nine species of bryophytes in a lowland wet tropical forest, Costa Rica. Net uptake of all three N forms obeyed to saturation (Michaelis-Menten) kinetics between 1 and 500 µmol L–1. Mean Km (Vmax) values ranged between 21 µm (6.6 µmol g–1 DW h–1, nitrate), 94 µm (43.5 µmol g–1 DW h–1, ammonium) and 126 µm (37.6 µmol g–1 DW h–1, glycine). No significant differences were evident between epiphyllous and epiphytic bryophytes. Concentrations of nitrogenous solutes of external sources ranged between 1.7 and 35.9 µm. External nitrogen concentrations and kinetic constants of the bryophyte species allowed estimation of net uptake rates in the field. The mean uptake rates were 1.8 µmol g–1 DW h–1 for nitrate, 3.6 µmol g–1 DW h–1 for ammonium, and 3.4 µmol g–1 DW h–1 for glycine, indicating that amino acids significantly contribute to bryophyte nutrition.
Additional keywords: ammonium, glycine, transport system, nitrate.
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to the University of Vienna for providing travel funds to W.W. and K.P. Robbert S. Gradstein and Ingo Holz (Georg-August–University Göttingen) and Andrea Bernecker-Lücking (Universidad de Costa Rica, San José) helped with species determination.
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