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Differential allocation to photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic nitrogen fractions among native and invasive species.

ABSTRACT: Invasive species are expected to cluster on the "high-return" end of the leaf economic spectrum, displaying leaf traits consistent with higher carbon assimilation relative to native species. Intra-leaf nitrogen (N) allocation should support these physiological differences; however, N biochemistry has not been examined in more than a few invasive species. We measured 34 leaf traits including seven leaf N pools for five native and five invasive species from Hawaii under low irradiance to mimic the forest understory environment. We found several trait differences between native and invasive species. In particular, invasive species showed preferential N allocation to metabolism (amino acids) rather than photosynthetic light reactions (membrane-bound protein) by comparison with native species. The soluble protein concentration did not vary between groups. Under these low irradiance conditions, native species had higher light-saturated photosynthetic rates, possibly as a consequence of a greater investment in membrane-bound protein. Invasive species may succeed by employing a wide range of N allocation mechanisms, including higher amino acid production for fast growth under high irradiance or storage of N in leaves as soluble protein or amino acids.

SUBMITTER: Funk JL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3659119 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Differential allocation to photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic nitrogen fractions among native and invasive species.

Funk Jennifer L JL Glenwinkel Lori A LA Sack Lawren L

PloS one 20130520 5

Invasive species are expected to cluster on the "high-return" end of the leaf economic spectrum, displaying leaf traits consistent with higher carbon assimilation relative to native species. Intra-leaf nitrogen (N) allocation should support these physiological differences; however, N biochemistry has not been examined in more than a few invasive species. We measured 34 leaf traits including seven leaf N pools for five native and five invasive species from Hawaii under low irradiance to mimic the ...[more]

PMID: 23700483

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Project description:BackgroundNitrogen (N) and potassium (K) are two important mineral nutrients in regulating leaf photosynthesis. Studying the interactive effects of N and K on regulating N allocation and photosynthesis (Pn) of rice leaves will be of great significance for further increasing leaf Pn, photosynthetic N use efficiency (PNUE) and grain yield. We measured the gas exchange of rice leaves in a field experiment and tested different kinds of leaf N based on N morphology and function, and calculated the interactive effects of N and K on N allocation and the PNUE.ResultsCompared with N0 (0 kg N ha- 1) and K0 (0 kg K2O ha- 1) treatments, the Pn was increased by 17.1 and 12.2% with the supply of N and K. Compared with N0K0 (0 kg N and 0 kg K2O ha- 1), N0K120 (0 kg N and 120 kg K2O ha- 1) and N0K180 (0 kg N and 180 kg K2O ha- 1), N supply increased the absolute content of photosynthetic N (Npsn) by 15.1, 15.5 and 10.5% on average, and the storage N (Nstore) was increased by 32.7, 64.9 and 72.7% on average. The relative content of Npsn was decreased by 5.6, 12.1 and 14.5%, while that of Nstore was increased by 8.7, 27.8 and 33.8%. Supply of K promoted the transformation of Nstore to Npsn despite the leaf N content (Na) was indeed decreased. Compared with N0K0, N180K0 (180 kg N and 0 kg K2O ha- 1) and N270K0 (270 kg N and 0 kg K2O ha- 1), K supply increased the relative content of Npsn by 17.7, 8.8 and 7.3%, and decreased the relative content of Nstore by 24.2, 11.4 and 8.7% respectively.ConclusionsThis study indicated the mechanism that K supply decreased the Na but increased the Npsn content and then increased leaf Pn and PNUE from a new viewpoint of leaf N allocation. The supply of K promoted the transformation of Nstore to Npsn and increased the PNUE. The decreased Nstore mainly resulted from the decrease of non-protein N. Combined use of N and K could optimize leaf N allocation and maintain a high leaf Npsn content and PNUE.

Project description:The outcome of competition for nitrogen (N) between native and invasive tree species is a major concern when considering increasing anthropogenic N deposition. Our study investigated whether three native (i.e., Fagus sylvatica, Quercus robur, and Pinus sylvestris) and two invasive woody species (i.e., Prunus serotina and Robinia pseudoacacia) showed different responses regarding morphological and physiological parameters (i.e., biomass and growth indices, inorganic vs. organic N acquisition strategies, and N allocation to N pools) depending on the identity of the competing species, and whether these responses were mediated by soil N availability. In a greenhouse experiment, tree seedlings were planted either single or in native-invasive competition at low and high soil N availability. We measured inorganic and organic N acquisition using 15N labeling, total biomass, growth indices, as well as total soluble amino acid-N and protein-N levels in the leaves and fine roots of the seedlings. Our results indicate that invasive species have a competitive advantage via high growth rates, whereas native species could avoid competition with invasives via their higher organic N acquisition suggesting a better access to organic soil N sources. Moreover, native species responded to competition with distinct species- and parameter-specific strategies that were partly mediated by soil N availability. Native tree seedlings in general showed a stronger response to invasive P. serotina than R. pseudoacacia, and their strategies to cope with competition reflect the different species' life history strategies and physiological traits. Considering the responses of native and invasive species, our results suggest that specifically Q. robur seedlings have a competitive advantage over those of R. pseudoacacia but not P. serotina. Furthermore, native and invasive species show stronger responses to higher soil N availability under competition compared to when growing single. In conclusion, our study provides insights into the potential for niche differentiation between native and invasive species by using different N forms available in the soil, the combined effects of increased soil N availability and competition on tree seedling N nutrition, as well as the species-specific nature of competition between native and invasive tree seedlings which could be relevant for forest management strategies.

Project description:Young trees 0.03-1.7 m high of three coexisting Betula species were investigated in four sites of varying soil fertility, but all in full daylight, to separate nutrient and plant size controls on leaf dry mass per unit area (MA), light-saturated foliar photosynthetic electron transport rate (J) and the fraction of plant biomass in foliage (F(L)). Because the site effect was generally non-significant in the analyses of variance with foliar nitrogen content per unit dry mass (N(M)) as a covariate, N(M) was used as an explaining variable of leaf structural and physiological characteristics. Average leaf area (S) and dry mass per leaf scaled positively with N(M) and total tree height (H) in all species. Leaf dry mass per unit area also increased with increasing H, but decreased with increasing N(M), whereas the effects were species-specific. Increases in plant size led to a lower and increases in N(M) to a greater FL and total plant foliar area per unit plant biomass (LAR). Thus, the self-shading probably increased with increasing N(M) and decreased with increasing H. Nevertheless, the whole-plant average M(A), as well as M(A) values of topmost fully exposed leaves, correlated with N(M) and H in a similar manner, indicating that scaling of MA with N(M) and H did not necessarily result from the modified degree of within-plant shading. The rate of photosynthetic electron transport per unit dry mass (J(M)) scaled positively with N(M), but decreased with increasing H and M(A). Thus, increases in M(A) with tree height and decreasing nitrogen content not only resulted in a lower plant foliar area (LAR = F(L)/M(A)), but also led to lower physiological activity of unit foliar biomass. The leaf parameters (J(M), N(M) and M(A)) varied threefold, but the whole-plant characteristic FL varied 20-fold and LAR 30-fold, indicating that the biomass allocation was more plastically adjusted to different plant internal nitrogen contents and to tree height than the foliar variables. Our results demonstrate that: (1) tree height and N(M) may independently control foliar structure and physiology, and have an even greater impact on biomass allocation; and (2) the modified within-plant light availabilities alone do not explain the observed patterns. Although there were interspecific differences with respect to the statistical significance of the relationships, all species generally fit common regressions. However, these differences were consistent, and suggested that more competitive species with inherently larger growth rates also more plastically respond to N and H.

Project description:Differences in morphological or ecological traits expressed by exotic species between their native and non-native ranges are often interpreted as evidence for adaptation to new conditions in the non-native ranges. In turn this adaptation is often hypothesized to contribute to the successful invasion of these species. There is good evidence for rapid evolution by many exotic invasives, but the extent to which these evolutionary changes actually drive invasiveness is unclear. One approach to resolving the relationship between adaptive responses and successful invasion is to compare traits between populations from the native and non-native ranges for both exotic invaders and congeners that are exotic but not invasive. We compared a suite of morphological traits that are commonly tested in the literature in the context of invasion for three very closely related species of Centaurea, all of which are sympatric in the same native and non-native ranges in Europe and North America. Of these, C. solstitialis is highly invasive whereas C. calcitrapa and C. sulphurea are not. For all three species, plants from non-native populations showed similar shifts in key traits that have been identified in other studies as important putative adaptive responses to post-introduction invasion. For example, for all three species plants from populations in non-native ranges were (i) larger and (ii) produced seeds that germinated at higher rates. In fact, the non-invasive C. calcitrapa showed the strongest trait shift between ranges. Centaurea solstitialis was the only species for which plants from the non-native range increased allocation to defensive spines, and allocated proportionally less resources to reproduction, patterns contrary to what would be predicted by theory and other empirical studies to enhance invasion. Our results suggest caution when interpreting the commonly observed increase in size and reproductive capacity as factors that cause exotics to become invaders.

Project description:How plants develop adaptive strategies to efficiently use nutrients on infertile soils is an important topic in plant ecology. It has been suggested that, with decreasing phosphorus (P) availability, plants increase photosynthetic P-use efficiency (PPUE) (i.e., the ratio of instantaneous photosynthetic carbon assimilation rate per unit foliar P). However, the mechanism to increase PPUE remains unclear. In this study, we tested whether high PPUE is explained by an optimized allocation of P in cells among P-containing biochemical compounds (i.e., foliar P fractions). We investigated the relationships among mass-based photosynthetic carbon assimilation rate (A mass), PPUE, total foliar P concentration, and foliar P fractions in 10 tree species in two tropical montane rain forests with differing soil P availability (five species on sedimentary soils and five species on P-poorer ultrabasic serpentine soils) on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. We chemically fractionated foliar P into the following four fractions: metabolic P, lipid P, nucleic acid P, and residual P. A mass was positively correlated with the concentrations of total foliar P and of metabolic P across 10 tree species. Mean A mass and mean concentrations of total foliar P and of each foliar P fraction were lower on the P-poorer ultrabasic serpentine soils than on the sedimentary soils. There was a negative relationship between the proportion of metabolic P per total P and the proportion of lipid P per total P. PPUE was positively correlated with the ratio of metabolic P to lipid P. High PPUE is explained by the net effect of a relatively greater investment of P into P-containing metabolites and a relatively lesser investment into phospholipids in addition to generally reduced concentrations of all P fractions. We conclude that plants optimize the allocation of P among foliar P fractions for maintaining their productivity and growth and for reducing demand for P as their adaptation to P-poor soils.

Project description:The Antarctic is considered to be a pristine environment relative to other regions of the Earth, but it is increasingly vulnerable to invasions by marine, freshwater and terrestrial non-native species. The Antarctic Peninsula region (APR), which encompasses the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands, is by far the most invaded part of the Antarctica continent. The risk of introduction of invasive non-native species to the APR is likely to increase with predicted increases in the intensity, diversity and distribution of human activities. Parties that are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty have called for regional assessments of non-native species risk. In response, taxonomic and Antarctic experts undertook a horizon scanning exercise using expert opinion and consensus approaches to identify the species that are likely to present the highest risk to biodiversity and ecosystems within the APR over the next 10 years. One hundred and three species, currently absent in the APR, were identified as relevant for review, with 13 species identified as presenting a high risk of invading the APR. Marine invertebrates dominated the list of highest risk species, with flowering plants and terrestrial invertebrates also represented; however, vertebrate species were thought unlikely to establish in the APR within the 10 year timeframe. We recommend (a) the further development and application of biosecurity measures by all stakeholders active in the APR, including surveillance for species such as those identified during this horizon scanning exercise, and (b) use of this methodology across the other regions of Antarctica. Without the application of appropriate biosecurity measures, rates of introductions and invasions within the APR are likely to increase, resulting in negative consequences for the biodiversity of the whole continent, as introduced species establish and spread further due to climate change and increasing human activity.

Dataset Information

Differential allocation to photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic nitrogen fractions among native and invasive species.

Publications

Differential allocation to photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic nitrogen fractions among native and invasive species.

Similar Datasets

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