Abstract
The good agreement between the changes in the concentrations of ammonium and nitrate nitrogen, on the one hand, and the mineralization and nitrification activities, on the other hand, was shown in the annual dynamic cycle of the mobile mineral nitrogen concentrations, the net mineralization of its organic compounds, and the net nitrification in mountain-meadow soils of different ecosystems of the Teberda Reserve. The low nitrification activity in the mountain-meadow soils results in the predominance of ammonium nitrogen in its mineral forms during the entire vegetation period. The importance of the fall-winter-spring period, when the mineralization of organic nitrogen compounds proceeds actively and results in the accumulation of ammonium nitrate in the soil up to the beginning of the vegetation period, was emphasized. Due to the long duration of this period, its average contribution to the total annual mineralization is comparable to that of the vegetation period.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
I. V. Bulatnikova, M. I. Makarov, T. I. Malysheva, and A. V. Volkov, “Mineralization of Organic Nitrogen Compounds and Nitrification in the Alpine Mountainous Meadow Soils of the Northwestern Caucasus,” Vestn. Mosk. Univ., Ser. 17: Pochvoved., No. 2, 8–14 (2003).
L. A. Grishina, V. G. Onipchenko, M. I. Makarov, and V. A. Vanyasin, “Changes in the Properties of Alpine Meadow Soils of the Northwestern Caucasus under Different Ecological Conditions,” Pochvovedenie, No. 4, 5–12 (1993).
A. K. Kizilova, A. L. Stepanov, and M. I. Makarov, “Biological Activity of Alpine Mountain-Meadow Soils in the Teberda Reserve,” Pochvovedenie, No. 1, 77–80 (2006) [Eur. Soil Sci. 39 (1), 67–70 (2006)].
M. I. Makarov, V. G. Onipchenko, T. I. Malysheva, et al., “Biological Turnover and the Role of Plants in the Formation of Soil Properties in Alpine Ecosystems of the Northwestern Caucasus,” Vestn. Mosk. Univ., Ser. 17: Pochvoved., No. 3, 29–37 (1999).
M. I. Makarov, V. G. Onipchenko, T. I. Malysheva, and A. D. Salpagarov, “Seasonal Dynamics of Soil Temperature and Some Climatic Parameters in Ecosystems of the Malaya Khatipara Alpine Research Station,” in Tr. Teberdinskogo zapovednika (Moscow, 2007), Vol. 27, pp. 30–41 [in Russian].
V. G. Onipchenko, “Phytomass of Alpine Communities in the Northwestern Caucasus,” Byul. Mosk. O-va Ispyt. Prirody, Otd. Biol. 95(6), 52–62 (1990).
Alpine Ecosystems in the Northwest Caucasus V. G. Onipchenko (Ed.) (Kluwer Acad. Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London, 2004).
W. D. Bowman, T. A. Theodose, and J. C. Schardt, “Constraints of Nutrient Availability on Primary Production in Two Alpine Tundra Communities,” Ecology 74, 2085–2097 (1993).
P. D. Brooks, S. K. Schmidt, and M. W. Williams, “Winter Production of CO2 and N2O from Alpine Tundra: Environmental Controls and Relationship to Inter-System C and N Fluxes,” Oecologia 110, 403–413 (1997).
P. D. Brooks and M. W. Williams, “Snowpack Controls on Nitrogen Cycling and Export in Seasonally Snow-Covered Catchments,” Hydrol. Proc. 13, 2177–2190 (1999).
P. D. Brooks, M. W. Williams, and S. K. Schmidt, “Microbial Activity under Alpine Snowpacks, Niwot Ridge, Colorado,” Biogeochemistry 32, 93–113 (1996).
W. Cheng, R. A. Virginia, S. F. Oberbauer, et al., “Soil Nitrogen, Microbial Biomass, and Respiration Along an Arctic Toposequence,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 62, 654–662 (1998).
K. A. Edwards, J. McCulloch, G. P. Kershaw, and R. L. Jefferies, “Soil Microbial and Nutrient Dynamics in a Wet Arctic Sedge Meadow in Late Winter and Early Spring,” Soil Biol. Biochem. 38, 2843–2851 (2006).
M. C. Fisk and S. K. Schmidt, “Nitrogen Mineralization and Microbial Biomass Nitrogen Dynamics in Three Alpine Tundra Communities,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 59, 1036–1043 (1995).
M. C. Fisk and S. K. Schmidt, “Microbial Responses to Nitrogen Additions in Alpine Tundra Soil,” Soil Biol. Biochem. 28, 751–755 (1996).
M. C. Fisk, S. K. Schmidt, and T. R. Seastedt, “Topographic Patterns of Above- and Belowground Production and Nitrogen Cycling in Alpine Tundra,” Ecology 79, 2253–2266 (1998).
A. E. Giblin, K. J. Nadelhoffer, G. R. Shaver, et al., “Biogeochemical Diversity along a Riverside Toposequence in Arctic Alaska,” Ecolog. Monographs 61, 415–435 (1991).
S. C. Hart and A. J. Gunther, “In Situ Estimates of Annual Net Nitrogen Mineralization and Nitrification in a Subarctic Watershed,” Oecologia 80, 284–288 (1989).
K. Haselwandter, A. Hofmann, H.-P. Holzmann, and D. G. Read, “Availability of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Nival Zone of the Alps,” Oecologia 57, 266–269 (1983).
S. E. Hobbie and F. S. Chapin III, “Winter Regulation of Tundra Litter Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics,” Biogeochemistry 35, 327–338 (1996).
K. A. Jacot, A. Lüscher, J. Nösberger, and U. A. Hartwig, “The Relative Contribution of Symbiotic N2 Fixation and Other Nitrogen Sources to Grassland Ecosystems along an Altitudinal Gradient in the Alps,” Plant Soil 225, 201–211 (2000).
S. Jonasson, M. Havström, and T. V. Callaghan, “In Situ Mineralization of Nitrogen and Phosphorus of Arctic Soils after Perturbations Simulating Climate Change,” Oecologia 95, 179–186 (1993).
S. Jonasson, A. Michelsen, and I. K. Schmidt, “Coupling of Nutrient Cycling and Carbon Dynamics in the Arctic, Integration of Soil Microbial and Plant Processes,” Appl. Soil. Ecol. 11, 135–146 (1999).
K. Kielland, “Landscape Patterns of Free Amino Acids in Arctic Tundra Soils,” Biogeochemistry 31, 85–98 (1995).
D. A. Lipson and R. K. Monson, “Plant-Microbe Competition for Soil Amino Acids in the Alpine Tundra: Effects of Freeze-Thaw and Dry-Rewet Events,” Oecologia 113, 406–414 (1998).
D. A. Lipson, S. K. Schmidt, and R. K. Monson, “Links Between Microbial Population Dynamics and Nitrogen Availability in an Alpine Ecosystem,” Ecology 80, 1623–1631 (1999).
M. I. Makarov, B. Glaser, W. Zech, et al., “Nitrogen Dynamics in Alpine Ecosystems of the Northern Caucasus,” Plant Soil 256, 389–402 (2003).
M. I. Makarov, G. Guggenberger, W. Zech, and H. G. Alt, “Organic Phosphorus Species in Humic Acids of Mountain Soils along a Toposequence in the Northern Caucasus,” J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 159, 467–470 (1996).
M. I. Makarov, T. I. Malysheva, J. H. C. Cornelissen, et al., “Consistent Patterns of 15N Distribution through Soil Profiles in Diverse Alpine and Tundra Ecosystems,” Soil Biol. Biochem. 40, 1082–1089 (2008).
A. E. Miller and W. D. Bowman, “Alpine Plants Show Species-Level Differences in the Uptake of Organic and Inorganic Nitrogen,” Plant Soil 250, 283–292 (2003).
A. E. Miller and W. D. Bowman, “Variation in Nitrogen-15 Natural Abundance and Nitrogen Uptake Traits among Co-Occurring Alpine Species: Do Species Partition by Nitrogen Form?,” Oecologia 130, 609–616 (2002).
H. Rehder and A. Schäfer, “Nutrient Turnover Studies in Alpine Ecosystems IV. Communities of the Central Alps and Comparative Survey,” Oecologia 34, 309–327 (1978).
J. P. Schimel and J. Bennett, “Nitrogen Mineraliza- tion: Challenges of a Changing Paradigm,” Ecology 85, 591–602 (2004).
I. K. Schmidt, S. Jonasson, and A. Michelsen, “Miner- alization and Microbial Immobilization of N and P in Arctic Soils in Relation to Season, Temperature and Nutrient Amendment,” Applied Soil Ecol. 11, 147–160 (1999).
I. K. Schmidt, S. Jonasson, G. R. Shaver, et al., “Mineralization and Distribution of Nutrients in Plants and Microbes in Four Arctic Ecosystems: Responses to Warming,” Plant Soil 242, 93–106 (2002).
S. K. Schmidt and D. A. Lipson, “Microbial Growth Under the Snow: Implications for Nutrient and Allelochemical Availability in Temperate Soils,” Plant Soil 259, 1–7 (2004).
M. W. Williams, R. C. Bales, A. D. Brown, and J. M. Melack, “Fluxes and Transformations of Nitrogen in a High-Elevation Catchment, Sierra Nevada,” Biogeochemistry 28, 1–31 (1995).
D. J. Wilson and R. L. Jefferies, “Nitrogen Mineralization, Plant Growth and Groose Herbivore in an Arctic Costal Ecosystems,” J. Ecol. 84, 841–851 (1996).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © M.I. Makarov, N.A. Leoshkina, A.A. Ermak, T.I. Malysheva, 2010, published in Pochvovedenie, 2010, No. 8, pp. 969–978.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Makarov, M.I., Leoshkina, N.A., Ermak, A.A. et al. Seasonal dynamics of the mineral nitrogen forms in mountain-meadow alpine soils. Eurasian Soil Sc. 43, 905–913 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229310080077
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229310080077