Abstract
We measured annual net nitrogen (N) mineralization, nitrification, and amino acid production in situ across a primary successional sequence in interior Alaska, USA. Net N mineralization per gram dry soil increased across the successional sequence, but with a sharp decline in the oldest stage (black spruce). Net N mineralization expressed per gram soil organic matter exhibited the opposite pattern, suggesting that soil organic matter quality decreases significantly across succession. Net N mineralization rates during the growing season from green-up (early May) through freeze-up (late September–early October) accounted for approximately 60% of the annual inorganic N flux, whereas the remaining N was released during the apparent dormant season. Nitrogen release during winter occurred primarily during October–January with only negligible N mineralization during early spring in stands of willow, alder, balsam poplar and white spruce. By contrast, black spruce stands exhibited substantial mineralization after snow melt during early spring. The high rates of N mineralization in late autumn through early winter coincide with high turnover of fine root biomass in these stands, suggesting that labile substrate production, rather than temperature, is a major controlling factor over N release in these ecosystems. We suggest that the convention of restricting measurements of soil processes to the growing season greatly underestimate annual flux rates of inorganic nitrogen in these high-latitude ecosystems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andresen L, Michelsen A (2005) Off-season uptake of nitrogen in temperate heath vegetation. Oecologia 155:585–597
Baldocchi D, Finnigan J, Wilson K, Paw UKT, Falge E (2000) On measuring net ecosystem carbon exchange over tall vegetation on complex terrain. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 96:257–291
Brenner RE, Boone RD, Ruess RW (2005) Nitrogen additions to pristine, high-latitude, forest ecosystems: consequences for soil nitrogen transformations and retention in mid and late succession. Biogeochemistry 72:257–282
Brooks PD, Williams MW, Schmidt SK (1996) Microbial activity under alpine snowpacks, Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Biogeochemistry 32:93–113
Chapin FS III (1974) Morphological and physiological mechanisms of temperature compensation in phosphate absorption along a latitudinal gradient. Ecology 55:1180–1198
Clein JS, Schimel JP (1995) Microbial activity of tundra and taiga soils at sub-zero temperatures. Soil Biol Biochem 27:1231–1234
Flanagan PW, Bunnell FL (1980) Microfloral activities and decomposition. In: Brown J, Miller PC, Tiezen LL, Bunnell FL (eds) An Arctic ecosystem: the coastal Tundra of Barrow, Alaska. Van Norstrand Reinhold, New York, pp 291–334
Flanagan PW, Van Cleve K (1983) Nutrient cycling in relation to decomposition and organic-matter quality in taiga ecosystems. Can J Forest Res 13:795–817
Giblin AE, Nadelhoffer KJ, Shaver GR, Laundre JA, McKerrow AJ (1991) Biogeochemical diversity along a riverside toposequence in arctic Alaska. Ecol Monogr 61:415–435
Gordon AM, Tallas M, Van Cleve K (1987) Soil incubations in polyethelene bags: effect of bag thickness and temperature on nitrogen transformations and CO2 permeability. Can J Soil Sci 67:65–75
Groffman PM, Driscoll CT, Fahey TJ, Hardy JP, Fitzhugh RD, Tierney GL (2001) Effects of mild winter freezing on soil nitrogen and carbon dynamics in a northern hardwood forest. Biogeochemistry 56:191–213
Hobbie SE, Chapin FS III (1996) Winter regulation of tundra litter carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Biogeochemistry 35:327–338
Jones JB Jr, Petrone KC, Finlay JC, Hinzman LD, Bolton WR (2005) Nitrogen loss from watersheds of interior Alaska underlain with discontinuous permafrost. Geophys Res Lett 32:L02401
Kielland K (1995) Landscape patterns of free amino acids in arctic tundra soils. Biogeochemistry 31:85–98
Kielland K, Bryant JP, Ruess RW (1997) Moose herbivory and carbon turnover of early successional stands in interior Alaska. Oikos 80:25–30
Kirschbaum MU (2004) Soil respiration under prolonged soil warming: are rate reduction caused by acclimation or substrate loss? Global Change Biol 10:1870–1877
Klingensmith KM, Van Cleve K (1993) Denitrification and nitrogen fixation in floodplain successional soils along the Tanana River, interior Alaska. Can J Forest Res 23:956–963
Mann DH, Fastie CL, Bigelow NH (1995) Spruce succession, disturbance and geomorphology on the Tanana River floodplain, Alaska. Ecoscience 2:184–199
Marion GM, Miller PC (1982) Nitrogen mineralizationin a tussock tundra soil. Arctic Alpine Res 14:287–293
Moore S (1968) Amino acid analysis: aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide as solvent for the ninhydrin reaction. J Biol Chem 243:6281–6283
Moore TR (1983) Winter-time litter decomposition in a subarctic woodland. Arctic Alpine Res 15:413–418
Nadelhoffer KJ, Giblin AE, Shaver GR, Laundre JA (1991) Effects of temperature and substrate quality on element mineralization in six arctic soils. Ecology 72:242–253
Robertson GP, Wedin DA, Groffman PM, Blair JM, Halland EA, Nadelhoffer KJ, Harris D (1999) Soil carbon and nitrogen availability: nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, and soil respiration potentials. In: Robertson GP, Coleman DC, Bledsoe CS, Sollins P (eds) Standard soil methods for long-term ecological research. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 258–271
Rosen H (1957) A modified ninhydrin colorimetric analysis for amino acids. Arch Biochem Biophys 67:10–15
Ruess RW, Hendrick RL, Burton AJ, Pregitzer KS, Sveinbjörnsson B, Allen MF, Maurer G (2003) Coupling fine root dynamics with ecosystem carbon cycling in black spruce forests of interior Alaska. Ecol Monog 74:643–662
Schadt CW, Martin AP, Lipson DA, Schmidt SK (2003) Seasonal dynamics of priviously unknown fungal lineages. Science 301:1359–1361
Schimel JP, Bilbrough C, Welker JM (2004) Increased snow depth affects microbial activity and nitrogen mineralization in two Arctic tundra communities. Soil Biol Biochem 36:217–227
Schmidt IK, Jonasson S, Michelsen A (1999) Mineralization and microbial immobilization of N and P in arctic soils in relation to season, temperature and nutrient amendment. Appl Soil Ecol 11:147–160
Sommerfeld RA, Mosier AR, Musselman RC (1993) CO2, CH4, and N2O flux through a Wyoming snowpack and implications for global budgets. Nature 361:140–142
Stark JM, Hart SC (1997) High rates of nitrification and nitrate turnover in undisturbed coniferous forests. Nature 385:61–64
Taylor BR, Jones HG (1990) Litter decomposition under snow cover in balsam fir forest. Can J Bot 68:112–120
Van Cleve K, Barney R, Schlentner RE (1981) Evidence of temperature control of production and nutrient cycling in two interior Alaska black spruce ecosystems. Can J Forest Res 11:258–273
Van Cleve K, Viereck LA, Marion GM (1993) Introduction and overview of a study dealing with the role of salt-affected soils in primary succession on the Tanana River floodplain, interior Alaska. Can J Forest Res 23:879–888
Viereck LA, Dyrness CT, Foote MJ (1993) An overview of the vegetation and soils of the floodplain ecosystems of the Tanana River, interior Alaska. Can J Forest Res 23:889–898
Welker JM, Fahnestock JT, Jones MH (2000) Annual CO2 flux in dry and moist arctic tundra: field responses to increases in summer temperatures and winter snow depth. Clim Change 44:139–150
Whitledge TE, Mallow SC, Patton CJ, Wirick CD (1981) Automated nutrient analysis in seawater. Technical Report Ocean Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NewYork, USA
Zimov SA, Davidov SP, Voropaev YV, Prosiannikov SF, Semiletov IP, Chapin MC, Chapin FS, III (1996) Siberian CO2 efflux in winter as a CO2 source and cause of seasonality in atmospheric CO2. Clim Change 33:111–120
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank L. Oliver for expert assistance in the laboratory. We also thank W.␣Davis and Jamie Hollingsworth Bonanza Creek LTER staff, for providing climate data used to interpret this study. The research was funded by USDA Ecosystems NRICGP 99-35101-7859, National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program and the Bonanza Creek LTER program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement #DEB-0137896. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kielland, K., Olson, K., Ruess, R.W. et al. Contribution of winter processes to soil nitrogen flux in taiga forest ecosystems. Biogeochemistry 81, 349–360 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-006-9045-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-006-9045-3