Data from: Urine is an important nitrogen source for plants irrespective of vegetation composition in an Arctic tundra: insights from a 15N-enriched urea tracer experiment ...
1. Mammalian herbivores can strongly influence nitrogen (N) cycling and herbivore urine could be a central component of the N cycle in grazed ecosystems. Despite its potential role for ecosystem productivity and functioning, the fate of N derived from urine has rarely been investigated in grazed eco...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Dataset |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Dryad
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.52qh9 https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.52qh9 |
| Summary: | 1. Mammalian herbivores can strongly influence nitrogen (N) cycling and herbivore urine could be a central component of the N cycle in grazed ecosystems. Despite its potential role for ecosystem productivity and functioning, the fate of N derived from urine has rarely been investigated in grazed ecosystems. 2. This study explored the fate of 15N-enriched urea in tundra sites that have been either lightly or intensively grazed by reindeer for more than 50 years. We followed the fate of the 15N applied to the plant canopy, at 2 weeks and 1 year after tracer addition, in the different ecosystem N pools. 3. 15N-urea was rapidly incorporated in cryptogams and in aboveground parts of vascular plants, while the soil microbial pool and plant roots sequestered only a marginal proportion. Further, the litter layer constituted a large sink for the 15N-urea, at least in the short term, indicating a high biological activity in the litter layer and high immobilization in the first phases of organic matter decomposition. ... : Complete datasetBiomass, N pool, 15N recovery and 15N enrichment for the different ecosystem N pools: Plants (aboveground + root), litter, microbial N and soil extractable N at the heavily and lightly grazed sitesDataset.xlsxPlant biomass and analysisPlant biomass, 15N natural abundance and 15N enrichment at the heavily and lightly grazed sitesSoil chemical analysisSoil extractable and microbial N, soil organic matter and moisture content, 15N natural abundance, 15N enrichment and % 15N recovery in the soil and microbial N pool at the heavily and lightly grazed sitesSoil microclimatesSoil moisture and temperatures at the heavily and lightly grazed sites ... |
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