Nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, Svalbard, Norway
Abstract. Vegetated sites below bird‐nesting cliffs are uniquely nutrient‐rich habitats in the otherwise nutrient‐poor arctic environment. Plants from six distinct vegetation zones below such a cliff at 79° N, Svalbard, Norway, were collected for analysis under greenhouse conditions. Leaf nitrate re...
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crwiley:10.2307/3236203 2023-12-03T10:16:56+01:00 Nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, Svalbard, Norway Odasz, Ann Marie 1994 http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3236203 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F3236203 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/3236203 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Vegetation Science volume 5, issue 6, page 913-920 ISSN 1100-9233 1654-1103 Plant Science Ecology journal-article 1994 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2307/3236203 2023-11-09T13:27:34Z Abstract. Vegetated sites below bird‐nesting cliffs are uniquely nutrient‐rich habitats in the otherwise nutrient‐poor arctic environment. Plants from six distinct vegetation zones below such a cliff at 79° N, Svalbard, Norway, were collected for analysis under greenhouse conditions. Leaf nitrate reductase activity (NRA) was analysed in 42 species representing 25 % of the Svalbard vascular flora. The species mean NRA values ranged from 0.37 to 8.34 μmols of nitrite ions formed per gram of plant fresh weight per hour. Species in the vegetated zone growing closest to recent guano deposits had the highest NRA values, (mean = 4.47) whereas plants growing farther below the cliff had significantly lower values (mean = 0.55). A similar pattern was detected in a duplicate set of plants induced with 15 mM KNO 3 vegetation zone means for NRA ranged from 5.08 to 0.98 μmols of nitrite ions formed per gram of plant fresh weight per hour. Maximally induced species NRA values were highest in the first zones below the cliff and decreased downslope. This gradient paralleled the steep soil nitrate gradient, which decreased from 13.84 mg/l at the cliffbase to 1.03 mg/l downslope. Correspondingly, soil ammonium ions in the vegetation zones ranged between 1.96 mg/l at the cliff‐base to 0.03 mg/l downslope. Correlations between NRA and soil nitrate provide a systematic basis for assigning scalar ‘nitrogen figures’ as indicators of habitat preference, here for the first time applied to arctic species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Svalbard Wiley Online Library (via Crossref) Arctic Svalbard Norway Guano ENVELOPE(141.604,141.604,-66.775,-66.775) Journal of Vegetation Science 5 6 913 920 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library (via Crossref) |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
topic |
Plant Science Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Plant Science Ecology Odasz, Ann Marie Nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, Svalbard, Norway |
topic_facet |
Plant Science Ecology |
description |
Abstract. Vegetated sites below bird‐nesting cliffs are uniquely nutrient‐rich habitats in the otherwise nutrient‐poor arctic environment. Plants from six distinct vegetation zones below such a cliff at 79° N, Svalbard, Norway, were collected for analysis under greenhouse conditions. Leaf nitrate reductase activity (NRA) was analysed in 42 species representing 25 % of the Svalbard vascular flora. The species mean NRA values ranged from 0.37 to 8.34 μmols of nitrite ions formed per gram of plant fresh weight per hour. Species in the vegetated zone growing closest to recent guano deposits had the highest NRA values, (mean = 4.47) whereas plants growing farther below the cliff had significantly lower values (mean = 0.55). A similar pattern was detected in a duplicate set of plants induced with 15 mM KNO 3 vegetation zone means for NRA ranged from 5.08 to 0.98 μmols of nitrite ions formed per gram of plant fresh weight per hour. Maximally induced species NRA values were highest in the first zones below the cliff and decreased downslope. This gradient paralleled the steep soil nitrate gradient, which decreased from 13.84 mg/l at the cliffbase to 1.03 mg/l downslope. Correspondingly, soil ammonium ions in the vegetation zones ranged between 1.96 mg/l at the cliff‐base to 0.03 mg/l downslope. Correlations between NRA and soil nitrate provide a systematic basis for assigning scalar ‘nitrogen figures’ as indicators of habitat preference, here for the first time applied to arctic species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Odasz, Ann Marie |
author_facet |
Odasz, Ann Marie |
author_sort |
Odasz, Ann Marie |
title |
Nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, Svalbard, Norway |
title_short |
Nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, Svalbard, Norway |
title_full |
Nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, Svalbard, Norway |
title_fullStr |
Nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, Svalbard, Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, Svalbard, Norway |
title_sort |
nitrate reductase activity in vegetation below an arctic bird cliff, svalbard, norway |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1994 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3236203 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F3236203 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/3236203 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(141.604,141.604,-66.775,-66.775) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Norway Guano |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Norway Guano |
genre |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
op_source |
Journal of Vegetation Science volume 5, issue 6, page 913-920 ISSN 1100-9233 1654-1103 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2307/3236203 |
container_title |
Journal of Vegetation Science |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
913 |
op_container_end_page |
920 |
_version_ |
1784263890480136192 |