The coupling of biogeochemical cycles of nutrients

For any element which is incorporated into biomass, the biogeochemical cycle of that element in a given ecosystem will be coupled to that of any other element similarly incorporated. The mutual interaction of two such cycles is examined using a simple model in which each cycle is constrained into four compartments. In each cycle the assimilation rate (primary productivity) is related in a non-linear fashion to the two nutrients and to biomass. The interactions are represented by combining a hyperbolic dependence for each nutrient (involving a "Michaelis constant") with a logistic equation governing the dependence of rate on biomass (involving a "carrying capacity"). The response of the model to perturbation (e.g. mobilization of an abiotic reserve) is strongly governed by the values assigned to these constants. The coupled cycles can exhibit positive feed-back with anomalous responses of the steady state and time-dependent solutions may exhibit complex oscillatory behaviour. Both the steady-state sensitivity and the kinetic behaviour of such coupled systems are simplified if the range of atomic ratios permitted by the assimilation process is restricted. It will therefore be of importance to determine under what conditions the assimilation rates for different elements are governed by mass-action effects (Liebig's Law) or by stoichiometric constraints (Redfield ratios).     

A comparative study of ammonium toxicity at different constatn pH of the nutrient solution

Seedlings of 14 species were grown for 14–28 days on nutrient solution with 6 mmol.l⁻¹ NH₄ as the sole nitrogen source. Solutions acidity was were kept constant at pH 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0 by continuous titration with diluted KOH. The following species were used: barley, maize, oats sorghum, yellow and white lupin, pea, soybean, carrot, flax, castor-oil, spinach, sugarbeet and sunflower. Most plant species grew optimally at pH 6.0 with slight reductions at pH 5.0. Growth of many species was severely inhibited at pH 4.0, but this inhibition was not observed with the legume and cereal species. Yield depressions at pH 4.0 relative to pH 6.0 were well correlated with the respective relative decreases of the K concentration in their roots (P<0.002). In the roots of two species (sunflower and flax) total N concentrations were also strongly reduced at pH 4.0. apparently, the interactions between uptake of K, NH₄ and H ions become the prevalent problem at suboptimal pH. At pH 7.0, yields were also considerably decreased, with the exception of the lupines. At this pH, the roots of the growth inhibited plants were characterized by increased levels of total N and free NH₄. It is thought that the binding capacity of the roots for NH₄ is an important factor in preventing NH₄/NH₃ toxicity at supraoptimal pH.     

Luxury consumption and specific utilization rates of three macroelements in two Taraxacum microspecies of contrasting mineral ecology

Plants of Taraxacum sellandii Dahlst., a microspecies adapted to fertile, and Taraxacum nordstedtii Dahlst., adapted to infertile soils, were cultured hydroponically, either on a complete nutrient solution or on one deprived of nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium ions. For all four treatments, the growth and internal mineral concentration of the plants was monitored. For plants cultured on a complete nutrient solution, the uptake rates of nitrate, phosphate, and potassium ions were determined. Luxury consumption of the three macronutrients was computed as the excess of ion absorption over the ion uptake rates minimally required to sustain maximum growth. In these calculations the critical N, P, or K⁺ concentrations, earlier derived, were used as parameters describing the mineral status minimally required to allow maximum growth. Efficiency in use of the three macroelements at various levels of mineral accumulation was also computed. Finally, the response to phosphate starvation as related to phosphate uptake capacity and the accumulation of P was investigated.
The physiological properies investigated provide a causal background for the superior adaptation of T. nordstedtii as compared to T. sellandii to infertile sites. Taraxacum nordstedtii had a higher relative luxury consumption of NO₃^–, H₂PO^-₄, and K⁺, a higher efficiency in N and P use at N– and (severe) P-deficiency, respectively; and, after phosphate starvation, a relatively high preservation of phosphate uptake capacity and an enlargement of P storage. In combination with the low potential growth, luxury consumption will be particularly effective in T. nordstedtii in preventing or minimizing mineral deficiency. The distribution of minerals between cytoplasm and vacuoles as a factor in mineral use efficiency is discussed.     

Interaction between nitrogen and photon flux density in birch seedlings at steady-state nutrition

Birch ( Betula pendula Roth.) was investigated under steady-state nutrition and growth at different incident photon flux densities (PFD) and different relative addition rates of nitrogen. PFD had a strong influence on the relative growth rate at optimum nutrition and on the nitrogen productivity (growth rate per unit of nitrogen) but little effect on the formal relationships between nitrogen and growth, i.e. PFD and nitrogen nutrition are orthogonal growth factors. At a given suboptimum nitrogen (the same distance from optimum), increased PFD increased the relative growth rate and, therefore, the relative uptake rate and the required relative addition rate in accordance with the theoretical equality between these three parameters at steady-state nutrition. Correspondingly, at a given suboptimum relative addition rate, increased PFD decreased nitrogen status (larger distance from optimum) at an unchanged relative growth rate. Nutrient uptake rate, dry matter content, and partitioning of biomass and nutrients are strongly influenced by nitrogen status. PFD influences these characteristics, but only to an extent corresponding to its effect on the nitrogen status. The influence of PDF on the relative growth rate at optimum and on nitrogen productivity is well described by hyperbolic relationships, similar to reported PFD/photosynthesis relationships. These expressions for plant growth as well as the productivities of leaf area and quantum appear to be valuable characteristics of plant responses to light and nutrition. Although the calculated PFD/growth relationships indicate saturation at high values of PFD, a more realistic estimate of PFD at which saturation occurs is about 30 mol m⁻² day⁻¹, where the highest relative growth rate and nitrogen productivity were experimentally determined. No significant effect was observed because of day length differences between the present and previous experiments.     

Effects of N-immissions on nutrient status and vitality ofPinus sylvestris near a hen-house

Near a hen house (50–600 m), vitality ofPinus sylvestris, N-, P-, K-, Ca-, Mg-contents of the needles, N-, Mg-, K-, Ca- and Al-contents in soil extracts and NH₃/NH ₄ ⁺ -contents of the air were determined. Damage symptoms occurred when N-immissions hit the canopy directly. In contrast no visible decline of the above ground plant could be observed if N was mainly deposited on the soil.     

Perspectives on measurement of denitrification in the field including recommended protocols for acetylene based methods

Of the biogeochemical processes, denitrification has perhaps been the most difficult to study in the field because of the inability to measure the product of the process. The last decade of research, however, has provided both acetylene and¹⁵N based methods as well as undisturbed soil core andin situ soil cover sampling approaches to implementing these methods. All of these methods, if used appropriately, give comparable results. Thus, we now have several methods, each with advantages for particular sites or objectives, that accurately measure denitrification in nature. Because of the general usefulness of the acetylene methods, updated protocols for the following three methods are given: gas-phase recirculation soil cores; static soil cores; and the denitrifying enzyme assay also known as the phase 1 assay. Despite the availability of these and other methods, denitrification budgets remain difficult to accurately establish in most environments because of the high spatial and temporal variability inherent in denitrification. Appropriate analysis of those data includes a distribution analysis of the data, and if highly skewed as is typically the case, the most accurate method to estimate the mean and the population variance is the UMVUE method (uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator). Geostatistical methods have also been employed to improve spatial and temporal estimates of denitrification. These have occasionally been successful for spatial analysis but in the attempt described here for temporal analysis the approach was not useful.Discussions of the importance of denitrification have always focused on quantifying the process and whether particular measured quantities are judged to be a significant amount of nitrogen. A second line of evidence discussed here is the extant genetic record that results from natural selection. These analysis lead to the conclusion that strong selection for denitrification must currently be occurring, which implies that the process is of general significance in soils.     

Cycling of nutrients from dying roots to living plants,including the role of mycorrhizas

This paper presents information about the release of nitrogen and phosphorus from dying grass roots and the capture of phosphorus by other, living plants. We have paid particular attention to the part played by mycorrhizas in this phosphorus capture, and the possible importance of mycorrhizal links between dying and living roots.WhenLolium perenne plants were grown with ample nutrients and their roots then detached and buried in soil, about half the nitrogen and two-thirds of the phosphorus was lost in three weeks, but only one-fifth of the dry weight. The C:N and C:P ratios suggest that microbial growth in the roots would at first be C-limited but would become N- and P-limited within three weeks.Rapid transfer of³²P can occur from dying roots to those of a living plant if the two root systems are intermingled. The amount transferred was substantially increased in two species-combinations that are known to form mycorrhizal links between their root systems. In contrast, in a species-combination where only the living (receiver) plant could become mycorrhizal no significant increase of³²P transfer occurred. This evidence, although far from conclusive, suggests that mycorrhizal links between dying and living roots can contribute to nutrient cycling. This research indicates a major difference in nutrient cycling processes between perennial and annual crops.     

Development of a liquid flow-through system to inhibit browning in callus cultures of guayule (Parthenium argentatum Gray)

Calli of P. argentatum were grown on a newly designed liquid nutrient flow-through system which facilitated the subculturing of calli and delayed browning for 6 weeks. Friable calli were obtained on half-strength Gamborg B5-medium supplemented with 0.05 mgl⁻¹ 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Shoots developed on media supplemented with 0.2 mgl⁻¹ benzylaminopurine but lacking 2,4-dichlorophenocyacetic acid.     

Nutrient release rates from the sediments of Saginaw Bay,Lake Huron

Direct measurements of net production rates and pore water profiles of solutes in the fine-grained sediments of Saginaw Bay, imply corresponding steady-state fluxes to the overlying water of 1.1–1.3 (I), 450–1010 (NH₄ ⁺), 1250–2650 (Si(OH)₄), 3000–3400 (Ca²⁺), 440–1330 (Mg²⁺), 1.5–728 (Fe²⁺), and 179–281 (Mn²⁺) moles/m²/day and 11.0–11.8 (alkalinity) meq/m²/day at 17.5 °C. Silica production rates in sediments apparently follow first order kinetics with a rate coefficient of 0.09/day and a steady-state silica concentration of 1.2 mM at 23.5°C. The remaining solutes follow kinetics approximately independent of solute concentration over the range of concentrations observed. Measured solute production rates are consistent with observed solute profiles only if lateral diffusion gradients are maintained in the sediments by the burrowing and irrigation activity of benthic organisms such asChironomous, the dominant burrower in Saginaw Bay. Assuming that solute fluxes from Saginaw Bay are representative of all of the post-glacial sediments of Lake Huron, the iodine flux from sediments is comparable to the total fluvial input of iodine. The extrapolated silica fluxes from Lake Huron sediments balance the estimated biogenic silica flux to the sediments.     

Characteristics of settling matter and its role in nutrient cycles in a deep oligotrophic lake

The settling flux of seston (dry weight, DW), chlorophyll a (Chl a), particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate organic nitrogen (PON), and particulate phosphorus (PP) was measured monthly in 1981–1983 at 10 different depths in Lake Chuzenji, Japan; an oligotrophic lake with a maximum depth of 163 m. The Ti concentration in entrapped matter was used to separate the sedimentation flux into allochthonous and autochthonous components. Inflow loads of dissolved nutrients (DN: 4.5, DP: 0.48 g m^-2a^-1) were almost sufficient to supply the autochthonous fluxes at 30 m (PON: 2.9, PP: 0.51 g m^-2a^-1 ), and this flux of POC (26.6 g m^-2a ^-1) was about one-third of primary production (84 g C M^-2a^-1). Sedimentation of particulate matter was the main path of losing nutrients from lake water, explaining more than 80% removal of inflow loads (TN, TP). Decomposition rates during sedimentation which were calculated from the vertical difference in the autochthonous flux agreed very closely with the results obtained by laboratory experiments of a 100-day incubation (content ratios from field observations were: POC 0.67, PON 0.65, PP 0.85; and from laboratory experiments they were: POC 0.68, PON 0.70, PP 0.94). These decomposition rates and those near the sediment interface were used to explain dissolved oxygen depletion and nitrate increase in the hypolimnion during stratification. The average sinking velocities were 1.82m d^-1 for seston and 1.16 m d^-1 for Chl a at 30m, they were influenced by Chl a content of seston.