Effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, Surtsey
What happens during primary succession after the first colonizers have occupied a pristine surface largely depends on how they ameliorate living conditions for other species. For vascular plants the onset of soil development and associated increase in nutrient (mainly nitrogen; N) and water availabi...
Published in: | Biogeosciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/271764.pdf |
id |
ftvliz:oai:oma.vliz.be:247064 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftvliz:oai:oma.vliz.be:247064 2023-05-15T16:52:53+02:00 Effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, Surtsey Leblans, N.I.W. Sigurdsson, D Roefs, P. Thuys, R. Magnusson, B Janssens, I.A. 2014 application/pdf https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/271764.pdf en eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000346356800004 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6237-2014 https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/271764.pdf info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess %3Ci%3EBiogeosciences+11%2822%29%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+6237-6250.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5194%2Fbg-11-6237-2014%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5194%2Fbg-11-6237-2014%3C%2Fa%3E info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2014 ftvliz https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6237-2014 2022-05-01T10:27:20Z What happens during primary succession after the first colonizers have occupied a pristine surface largely depends on how they ameliorate living conditions for other species. For vascular plants the onset of soil development and associated increase in nutrient (mainly nitrogen; N) and water availability is especially important. Here, we report the relationship between N accumulation and biomass and ecosystem carbon (C) stocks in a 50-year-old volcanic island, Surtsey, Iceland, where N stocks are still exceptionally low. However, a 28-year-old seagull colony on the island provided nutrient-enriched areas, which enabled us to assess the relationship between N stock and biomass and ecosystem C stocks across a much larger range in N stock. Further, we compared areas on shallow and deep tephra sands as we expected that deep-rooted systems would be more efficient in retaining N. The sparsely vegetated area outside the colony had accumulated 0.7 kg N ha -1 yr -1 , which was ca. 50–60% of the estimated N input rate from wet deposition. This approximates values for systems under low N input and bare dune habitats. The seagulls have added, on average, 47 kg N ha -1 yr -1 , which induced a shift from belowground to aboveground in ecosystem N and C stocks and doubled the ecosystem N-use efficiency, determined as the ratio of biomass and C storage per unit N input. Soil depth did not significantly affect total N stocks, which suggests a high N retention potential. Both total ecosystem biomass and C stocks were strongly correlated with N stock inside the colony, which indicated the important role of N during the first steps of primary succession. Inside the colony, the ecosystem biomass C stocks (17–27 ton C ha -1 ) had reached normal values for grasslands, while the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks (4–10 ton C ha -1 were only a fraction of normal grassland values. Thus, it will take a long time until the SOC stock reaches equilibrium with the current primary production, during which conditions for new colonists may change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Surtsey Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Open Marine Archive (OMA) Surtsey ENVELOPE(-20.608,-20.608,63.301,63.301) Biogeosciences 11 22 6237 6250 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Open Marine Archive (OMA) |
op_collection_id |
ftvliz |
language |
English |
description |
What happens during primary succession after the first colonizers have occupied a pristine surface largely depends on how they ameliorate living conditions for other species. For vascular plants the onset of soil development and associated increase in nutrient (mainly nitrogen; N) and water availability is especially important. Here, we report the relationship between N accumulation and biomass and ecosystem carbon (C) stocks in a 50-year-old volcanic island, Surtsey, Iceland, where N stocks are still exceptionally low. However, a 28-year-old seagull colony on the island provided nutrient-enriched areas, which enabled us to assess the relationship between N stock and biomass and ecosystem C stocks across a much larger range in N stock. Further, we compared areas on shallow and deep tephra sands as we expected that deep-rooted systems would be more efficient in retaining N. The sparsely vegetated area outside the colony had accumulated 0.7 kg N ha -1 yr -1 , which was ca. 50–60% of the estimated N input rate from wet deposition. This approximates values for systems under low N input and bare dune habitats. The seagulls have added, on average, 47 kg N ha -1 yr -1 , which induced a shift from belowground to aboveground in ecosystem N and C stocks and doubled the ecosystem N-use efficiency, determined as the ratio of biomass and C storage per unit N input. Soil depth did not significantly affect total N stocks, which suggests a high N retention potential. Both total ecosystem biomass and C stocks were strongly correlated with N stock inside the colony, which indicated the important role of N during the first steps of primary succession. Inside the colony, the ecosystem biomass C stocks (17–27 ton C ha -1 ) had reached normal values for grasslands, while the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks (4–10 ton C ha -1 were only a fraction of normal grassland values. Thus, it will take a long time until the SOC stock reaches equilibrium with the current primary production, during which conditions for new colonists may change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leblans, N.I.W. Sigurdsson, D Roefs, P. Thuys, R. Magnusson, B Janssens, I.A. |
spellingShingle |
Leblans, N.I.W. Sigurdsson, D Roefs, P. Thuys, R. Magnusson, B Janssens, I.A. Effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, Surtsey |
author_facet |
Leblans, N.I.W. Sigurdsson, D Roefs, P. Thuys, R. Magnusson, B Janssens, I.A. |
author_sort |
Leblans, N.I.W. |
title |
Effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, Surtsey |
title_short |
Effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, Surtsey |
title_full |
Effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, Surtsey |
title_fullStr |
Effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, Surtsey |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, Surtsey |
title_sort |
effects of seabird nitrogen input on biomass and carbon accumulation after 50 years of primary succession on a young volcanic island, surtsey |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/271764.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-20.608,-20.608,63.301,63.301) |
geographic |
Surtsey |
geographic_facet |
Surtsey |
genre |
Iceland Surtsey |
genre_facet |
Iceland Surtsey |
op_source |
%3Ci%3EBiogeosciences+11%2822%29%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+6237-6250.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5194%2Fbg-11-6237-2014%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5194%2Fbg-11-6237-2014%3C%2Fa%3E |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000346356800004 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6237-2014 https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/271764.pdf |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6237-2014 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
22 |
container_start_page |
6237 |
op_container_end_page |
6250 |
_version_ |
1766043362625847296 |