Soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island
The vascular vegetation of a mire-grassland community on Marion Island (47°S, 38°E) takes up c. 158 mg N m −2 d −1 in summer. Bryophytes take up c. 36 mg N m −2 d −1 during their peak growth period. Since inputs of N through precipitation and biological fixation are negligible, mineralization of org...
Published in: | Antarctic Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1992
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102092000099 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102092000099 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102092000099 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102092000099 2024-03-03T08:39:26+00:00 Soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island Smith, V. R. Steenkamp, Marianna 1992 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102092000099 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102092000099 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 4, issue 1, page 41-50 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 1992 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102092000099 2024-02-08T08:42:06Z The vascular vegetation of a mire-grassland community on Marion Island (47°S, 38°E) takes up c. 158 mg N m −2 d −1 in summer. Bryophytes take up c. 36 mg N m −2 d −1 during their peak growth period. Since inputs of N through precipitation and biological fixation are negligible, mineralization of organic N must have supplied the bulk of this N. From changes in peat inorganic N levels and rates of uptake by the vegetation we estimate mean mineralization rates of 178 mg N m −2 d −1 in summer and 55 mg N m −2 d −1 in winter. In situ incubation of peat give a maximum mineralization rate of 48 mg N m −2 d −1 . At this rate the small (700 mg m −2 ) pool of available N in the upper 25 cm of peat would be depleted by the vascular vegetation in about seven days and bryophytes would deplete the available N pool in the top 25 mm in two days. Hence the rate of N mineralization measured by incubation is much too low to account for the fluctuations in concentrations of inorganic N in the peat and the amounts taken up by the vegetation. This may be due to losses through denitrification or to the fact that soil macroinvertebrates were excluded from the incubation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic Science Marion Island Cambridge University Press Antarctic Science 4 1 41 50 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Smith, V. R. Steenkamp, Marianna Soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
The vascular vegetation of a mire-grassland community on Marion Island (47°S, 38°E) takes up c. 158 mg N m −2 d −1 in summer. Bryophytes take up c. 36 mg N m −2 d −1 during their peak growth period. Since inputs of N through precipitation and biological fixation are negligible, mineralization of organic N must have supplied the bulk of this N. From changes in peat inorganic N levels and rates of uptake by the vegetation we estimate mean mineralization rates of 178 mg N m −2 d −1 in summer and 55 mg N m −2 d −1 in winter. In situ incubation of peat give a maximum mineralization rate of 48 mg N m −2 d −1 . At this rate the small (700 mg m −2 ) pool of available N in the upper 25 cm of peat would be depleted by the vascular vegetation in about seven days and bryophytes would deplete the available N pool in the top 25 mm in two days. Hence the rate of N mineralization measured by incubation is much too low to account for the fluctuations in concentrations of inorganic N in the peat and the amounts taken up by the vegetation. This may be due to losses through denitrification or to the fact that soil macroinvertebrates were excluded from the incubation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Smith, V. R. Steenkamp, Marianna |
author_facet |
Smith, V. R. Steenkamp, Marianna |
author_sort |
Smith, V. R. |
title |
Soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island |
title_short |
Soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island |
title_full |
Soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island |
title_fullStr |
Soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island |
title_full_unstemmed |
Soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island |
title_sort |
soil nitrogen transformations on a subantarctic island |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102092000099 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102092000099 |
genre |
Antarctic Science Marion Island |
genre_facet |
Antarctic Science Marion Island |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 4, issue 1, page 41-50 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102092000099 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
4 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
41 |
op_container_end_page |
50 |
_version_ |
1792494984264417280 |