Changes in soil nitrogen storage and δ15N with woody plant encroachment in a subtropical savanna parkland landscape

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences

Volumn 115, Issue 3, 2010, Pages

  Boutton, T W ^a   Liao, J D ^a  

^a TEXAS A AND M UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION; CARBON SEQUESTRATION; ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION; LEGUME; NITROGEN FIXATION; NITROGEN ISOTOPE; SAVANNA; SOIL NITROGEN; SUBTROPICAL REGION; TRACE GAS; WOODLAND; WOODY PLANT;

RIO GRANDE PLAIN; TEXAS; UNITED STATES;

EID: 77956320933     PISSN: 01480227     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1029/2009JG001184     Document Type: Article

References (92)

1. Amundson, R., A. T. Austin, E. A. G. Schuur, K. Yoo, V. Matzek, C. Kendall, A. Uebersax, D. Brenner, and W. T. Baisden (2003), Global pattern of the isotopic composition of soil and plant nitrogen, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 17(1), 1031, doi:10.1029/2002GB001903.
2. Archer, S., C. Scifres, C. R. Bassham, and R. Maggio (1988), Autogenic succession in a subtropical savanna: Conversion of grassland to thorn woodland, Ecol. Monogr., 58, 111-127.
3. Archer, S., T. W. Boutton, and K. A. Hibbard (2001), Trees in grasslands: Biogeochemical consequences of woody plant expansion, in Global Biogeochemical Cycles in the Climate System, edited by E.-D. Schulze et al., pp. 115-137, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.
4. Archer, S., T. W. Boutton, and C. McMurtry (2004), Carbon and nitrogen storage in a savanna landscape: Field and modeling perspectives, in Global Environmental Change in the Ocean and on Land, edited by M. Shiomi et al., pp. 359-373, Terrapub, Tokyo.
5. Asner, G. P., C. A. Wessman, and D. S. Schimel (1998), Heterogeneity of savanna canopy structure and function from imaging spectrometry and inverse modeling, Ecol. Appl., 8, 1022-1036.
6. Asner, G. P., A. J. Elmore, L. P. Olander, R. E. Martin, and A. T. Harris (2004), Grazing systems, ecosystem responses, and global change, Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour., 29, 261-299.
7. Bai, E., T. W. Boutton, F. Liu, X. B. Wu, and S. R. Archer (2008a), Variation in woody plant d13C along a topoedaphic gradient in a subtropical savanna parkland, Oecologia, 156, 479-489.
8. Bai, E., T. W. Boutton, F. Liu, X. B. Wu, S. R. Archer, and C. T. Hallmark (2008b) Spatial variation of the stable nitrogen isotope ratio of woody plants along a topoedaphic gradient in a subtropical savanna, Oecologia, 159, 493-503.
9. Bond, W. J., and G. F. Midgley (2000), A proposed CO2-controlled mechanism of woody plant invasion in grasslands and savannas, Global Change Biol., 6, 865-869.
10. Booth, M. S., J. M. Stark, and E. Rastetter (2005), Controls on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: A synthetic analyis of literature data, Ecol. Monogr., 75, 139-157.
11. Boring, L. R., W. T. Swank, J. B. Waide, and G. S. Henderson (1988), Sources, fates, and impacts of nitrogen inputs to terrestrial ecosystems: Review and synthesis, Biogeochemistry, 6, 119-159.
12. Boutton, T. W., S. R. Archer, A. J. Midwood, S. F. Zitzer, and R. Bol (1998), d13C values of soil organic carbon and their use in documenting vegetation change in a subtropical savanna ecosystem, Geoderma, 82, 5-41.
13. Boutton, T. W., S. R. Archer, and A. J. Midwood (1999), Stable isotopes in ecosystem science: Structure, function and dynamics of a subtropical savanna, Rapid Comm. Mass Spectrom., 13, 1263-1277.
14. Boutton, T. W., I. B. Kantola, D. E. Stott, S. L. Balthrop, J. E. Tribble, and T. R. Filley (2009a), Soil phosphatase activity and plant available phosphorus increase following grassland invasion by N-fixing tree legumes, Eos Trans. AGU, 90(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., B21B-0338.
15. Boutton, T. W., J. D. Liao, T. R. Filley, and S. R. Archer (2009b), Belowground carbon storage and dynamics accompanying woody plant encroachment in a subtropical savanna, in Soil Carbon Sequestration and the Greenhouse Effect (2nd ed.), edited by R. Lal and R. Follett, pp. 181-205, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wis.
16. Bush, J. K., and O. W. Van Auken (1986), Changes in nitrogen, carbon, and other surface soil properties during secondary succession, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 50, 1597-1601.
17. Bustamante, M., E. Medina, G. Asner, G. Nardato, and G. Garcia-Montiel (2006), Nitrogen cycling in tropical and temperate savannas, Biogeochemistry, 79, 209-237.
18. CASTNET (2008), Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) 2007 Annual Report, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D. C.
19. Cleveland, C. C., A. R. Townsend, D. S. Schimel, H. Fisher, R. W. Howarth, L. O. Hedin, S. S. Perakis, E. F. Latty, J. C. Von Fischer, A. Elseroad, and M. F. Wasson (1999), Global patterns of terrestrial biological nitrogen (N2) fixation in natural ecosystems, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 13, 2, 623-645.
20. Craine, J. M., et al. (2009), Global patterns of foliar nitrogen isotopes and their relationships with climate, mycorrhizal fungi, foliar nutrient concentrations, and nitrogen availability, New Phytol., 183, 980-992.
21. Dawson, T. E., S. Mambelli, A. H. Plamboeck, P. H. Templer, and K. P. Tu (2002), Stable isotopes in plant ecology, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 33, 507-559, doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.33.020602.095451.
22. East, R. M., and P. Felker (1993), Forage production and quality of 4 perennial grasses grown under and outside canopies of mature Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa (mesquite), Agroforest. Syst., 22, 91-110.
23. Evans, R. D. (2007), Soil nitrogen isotope composition, in Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental Science (2nd ed.), edited by R. M. Michener and K. Lajtha, pp. 83-98, Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, U.K.
24. Filley, T., T. W. Boutton, J. D. Liao, J. D. Jastrow, and D. Gamblin (2008), Chemical changes to non-aggregated particulate soil organic matter following grassland-to-woodland transition in a subtropical savanna, J. Geophys. Res., 113, G03009, doi:10.1029/2007JG000564, 1-11.
25. Geesing, D., P. Felker, and R. L. Bingham (2000), Influence of mesquite (Prospis glandulosa) on soil nitrogen and carbon development: Implications for global carbon sequestration, J. Arid Environ., 46, 157-180.
26. Handley, L. L., and J. A. Raven (1992), The use of natural abundance of nitrogen isotopes in plant physiology and ecology, Plant Cell Environ., 15, 965-985.
27. Handley, L. L., A. T. Austin, D. Robinson, C. M. Scrimgeour, J. A. Raven, T. H. E. Heaton, S. Schmidt, and G. R. Stewart (1999), The 15-N natural abundance (d15N) of ecosystem samples reflects measures of water availability, Aust. J. Plant Physiol., 26, 185-199.
28. Heaton, T. H. E. (1986), Isotopic studies of nitrogen pollution in the hydrosphere and atmosphere: A review, Chem. Geol., 59, 87-102.
29. Hibbard, K. A., S. Archer, D. S. Schimel, and D. W. Valentine (2001), Biogeochemical changes accompanying woody plant encroachment in a subtropical savanna, Ecology, 82, 1999-2011.
30. Hobbie, E. A., and A. P. Ouimette (2009), Controls of nitrogen isotope patterns in soil profiles, Biogeochemistry, 95, 355-371.
31. Hogberg, P. (1997), Tansley Review No. 95. 15N natural abundance in soilplant systems, New Phytol., 137, 179-203.
32. Hooper, D. U., and L. Johnson (1999), Nitrogen limitation in dryland ecosystems: Responses to geographic and temporal variation in precipitation, Biogeochemistry, 46, 247-293.
33. Hopkins, D. W., R. E. Wheatley, and D. Robinson (1998), Stable isotope studies of soil nitrogen, in Stable Isotopes: Integration of Biological, Ecological, and Geochemical Processes, edited by H. Griffiths, pp. 75-88, Bios Scientific Publishers, Oxford, U.K.
34. Houlton, B. Z., Y. P. Wang, P. M. Vitousek, and C. B. Field (2008), A unifying framework for dinitrogen fixation in the terrestrial biosphere, Nature, 454, 327-330.
35. Jarrell, W. M., and R. A. Virginia (1990), Soil cation accumulation in a mesquite woodland: Sustained production and long-term estimates of water use and nitrogen fixation, J. Arid Environ., 18, 51-58.
36. Jobbagy, E. G., and R. B. Jackson (2001), The distribution of soil nutrients with depth: Global patterns and the imprint of plants, Biogeochemistry, 53, 51-77.
37. Jobbagy, E. G., and R. B. Jackson (2004), The uplift of soil nutrients by plants: Biogeochemical consequences across scales, Ecology, 85, 2380-2389.
38. Johnson, H. B., and H. S. Mayeux (1990), Prosopis glandulosa and the nitrogen balance of rangelands: Extent and occurrence of nodulation, Oecologia, 84, 176-185.
39. Kaye, J. P., and S. C. Hart (1997), Competition for nitrogen between plants and soil microorganisms, Trends Ecol. Evol., 12, 139-143.
40. Kendall, C., E. M. Elliott, and S. D. Wankel (2007), Tracing anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen to ecosystems, in Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental Science (2nd ed.), edited by K. Lajtha and R. H. Michener, pp. 375-449, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, U.K.
41. Knops, J. M. H., and D. Tilman (2000), Dynamics of soil nitrogen and carbon accumulation for 61 years after agricultural abandonment, Ecology, 81, 88-98.
42. Knops, J. M. H., K. L. Bradley, and D. A. Wedin (2002), Mechanisms of plant species impacts on ecosystem nitrogen cycling, Ecol. Lett., 5(3), 454-466.
43. Koba, K., N. Tokuchi, E. A. Hobbie, and G. Iwatsubo (1998), Natural abundance of nitrogen-15 in a forest soil, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 62, 778-781.
44. LeBauer, D. S., and K. K. Treseder (2008), Nitrogen limitation of net primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems is globally distributed, Ecology, 89, 371-379.
45. Liao, C., R. Peng, Y. Luo, X. Zhou, X. Wu, C. Fang, J. Chen, and B. Li (2008), Altered ecosystem carbon and nitrogen cycles by plant invasion: A meta-analysis, New Phytol., 177, 706-714.
46. Liao, J. D., and T. W. Boutton (2008), Soil microbial biomass response to woody plant invasion of grassland, Soil Biol. Biochem., 40, 1207-1216.
47. Maestre, F. T., et al. (2009), Shrub encroachment can reverse desertification in semi-arid Mediterranean grasslands, Ecol. Lett., 12, 930-941.
48. Mariotti, A. (1983), Atmospheric nitrogen is a reliable standard for 15N natural abundance measurements, Nature, 303, 685-687.
49. Martin, R. E., G. P. Asner, R. J. Ansley, and A. R. Mosier (2003), Effects of woody vegetation encroachment on soil nitrogen oxide emissions in a temperate savanna, Ecol. Appl., 13(4), 897-910.
50. McCulley, R. L., S. R. Archer, T. W. Boutton, F. M. Hons, and D. A. Zuberer (2004) Soil respiration and nutrient cycling in wooded communities developing in grassland, Ecology, 85, 2804-2817.
51. McKinley, D. C., and J. M. Blair (2008), Woody plant encroachment by Juniperus virginiana in a mesic native grassland promotes rapid carbon and nitrogen accrual, Ecosystems, 11, 454-468.
52. McLain, J. E. T., and D. Martens (2006), Moisture controls on trace gas fluxes in semiarid riparian soils, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 70, 367-377.
53. McLean, E. O. (1982), Soil pH and lime requirement, in Methods of Soil Analysis (Part 2), edited by A. L. Page et al., pp. 199-224, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wis.
54. Millard, P., A. J. Midwood, J. E. Hunt, D. Whitehead, and T. W. Boutton (2008), Partitioning soil surface CO2 flux into autotrophic and heterotrophic components using natural gradients in soil d13C in an undisturbed savannah soil, Soil Biol. Biochem., 40, 1575-1582.
55. Nadelhoffer, K. J., and B. Fry (1988), Controls on natural nitrogen-15 and carbon-13 abundances in forest soil organic matter, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 52, 1633-1640.
56. Nadelhoffer, K., G. Shaver, B. Fry, A. Giblin, L. Johnson, and R. McKane (1996), 15N natural abundances and N use by tundra plants, Oecologia, 107, 386-394.
57. Neff, J. C., N. N. Barger, W. T. Baisden, D. P. Fernandez, and G. P. Asner (2009), Soil carbon storage responses to expanding pinyon-juniper populations in southern Utah, Ecol. Appl., 19, 1405-1416.
58. Northup, B. K., S. F. Zitzer, S. Archer, C. R. McMurtry, and T. W. Boutton (2005), Above-ground biomass and carbon and nitrogen content of woody species in a subtropical thornscrub parkland, J. Arid Environ., 62, 23-43.
59. Peoples, M. B., et al. (1991), Use of the natural enrichment of N in plant available soil N for the measurement of symbiotic N2 fixation, in International Symposium on the Use of Stable Isotopes in Plant Nutrition, Soil Fertility and Environmental Studies, pp. 117-129, IAEA, Vienna.
60. Piccolo, M. C., C. Neill, and C. C. Cerri (1994), Natural abundance of 15N in soils along forest-to-pasture chronosequences in the western Brazilian Amazon Basin, Oecologia, 99, 112-117.
61. Pugnaire, F. I., P. Haase, J. Puigdefábregas, M. Cueto, S. C. Clark, and L. D. Incoll (1996), Facilitation and succession under the canopy of a leguminous shrub, Retama sphaerocarpa, in a semi-arid environment in south-east Spain, Oikos, 76, 455-464.
62. Robinson, D. (2001), d15N as an integrator of the nitrogen cycle, Trends Ecol. Evol., 16, 153-162.
63. Rout, M. E., and R. M. Callaway (2009), An invasive plant paradox, Science, 324, 734-735.
64. Rundel, P. W., E. T. Nilsen, M. R. Sharifi, R. A. Virginia, W. M. Jarrell, D. H. Kohl, and G. B. Shearer (1982), Seasonal dynamics of nitrogen cycling for a Prosopis woodland in the Sonoran Desert, Plant Soil, 67, 343-353.
65. Schimel, J. P., and M. N. Weintraub (2003), The implications of exoenzyme activity on microbial carbon and nitrogen limitation in soil: A theoretical model, Soil Biol. Biochem., 35(4), 549-563.
66. Schlesinger, W. H., J. E. Reynolds, G. L. Cunningham, L. F. Huenneke, W. M. Jarrell, R. A. Virginia, and W. G. Whitford (1990), Biological feedbacks in global desertification, Science, 247, 1043-1048.
67. Schlesinger, W. H., J. A. Raikes, A. E. Hartley, and A. F. Cross (1996), On the spatial pattern of soil nutrients in desert ecosystems, Ecology, 77, 364-374.
68. Scholes, R. J., and S. R. Archer (1997), Tree-grass interactions in savannas, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 28, 517-44.
69. Scifres, C. J., and B. Koerth (1987), Climate, soils, and vegetation of the LaCopita Research Area, MP-1626, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station.
70. Shearer, G., and D. H. Kohl (1989), Estimates of N2 fixation in ecosystems: The need for and basis of the 15N natural abundance method, in Stable Isotopes in Ecological Research, edited by P. W. Rundel et al., pp. 342-374, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
71. Shearer, G., D. H. Kohl, and S.-H. Chien (1978), The nitrogen-15 abundance in a wide variety of soils, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 42, 899-902.
72. Sheldrick, B. H., and C. Wang (1993), Particle size distribution, in Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis, edited by M. R. Carter, pp. 499- 511, Lewis Publ., Boca Raton, FL.
73. Smucker, A. J. M., S. L. McBurney, and A. K. Srivastava (1982), Quantitative separation of roots from compacted soil profiles by the hydropneumatic elutriation system, Agron. J., 74, 500-503.
74. Springsteen, A., W. Loya, M. Liebig, and J. Hendrickson (2009), Soil carbon and nitrogen across a chronosequence of woody plant expansion in North Dakota, Plant Soil, doi:10.1007/s11104-009-0117-8 (in press).
75. SPSS, Inc. (1997), Sigma Plot 4.0, Chicago, IL.
76. Stock, W. D., K. T. Wienand, and A. C. Baker (1995), Impacts of invading N2-fixing Acacia species on patterns of nutrient cycling in two Cape ecosystems: Evidence from soil incubation studies and 15N natural abundance values, Oecologia, 101, 375-382.
77. Stoker, R. L. (1997), Object?oriented, spatially?explicit simulation model of vegetation dynamics in a south Texas savanna, Ph.D. diss., Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX.
78. Tape, K., M. Sturm, and C. Racine (2006), The evidence for shrub expansion in northern Alaska and the Pan-Arctic, Global Change Biol., 12, 686-702.
79. Throop, H. L., and S. R. Archer (2008), Shrub (Prosopis velutina) encroachment in a semidesert grassland: Spatial-temporal changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen pools, Global Change Biol., 14, 1-12.
80. Tiedemann, A. R., and J. O. Klemmedson (1973), Long term effects of mesquite removal on soil characteristics: I. Nutrients and bulk density, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 37, 107-111.
81. Van Auken, O. W. (2000), Shrub invasions of North American semiarid grasslands, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 31, 197-215.
82. Van Auken, O. W. (2009), Causes and consequences of woody plant encroachment into western North American grasslands, J. Environ. Manage., 90, 2931-2942.
83. Virginia, R. A., and W. M. Jarrell (1982), Direct measurement of denitrification in a Prosopis (mesquite) dominated Sonoran Desert ecosystem, Oecologia, 53, 120-122.
84. Virginia, R. A., and W. M. Jarrell (1983), Soil properties in a mesquitedominated Sonoran desert ecosystem, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 47, 138-144.
85. Vitousek, P. M., and L. R. Walker (1989), Biological invasion by Myrica faya in Hawaii: Plant demography, nitrogen fixation, ecosystem effects, Ecol. Monogr., 59, 247-265.
86. Vitousek, P. M., and R. W. Howarth (1991), Nitrogen limitation on land and in the sea: How can it occur?, Biogeochemistry, 13, 87-115.
87. Watts, S. E. (1993), Rooting patterns of co-occurring woody plants on contrasting soils in a subtropical savanna, M.S. thesis, Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX.
88. Weathers, K., M. Cadenasso, and S. Pickett (2001), Forest edges as nutrient and pollutant concentrators: Potential synergisms between fragmentation, forest canopies, and the atmosphere, Conserv. Biol., 15, 1506-1514.
89. Wheeler, C. W., S. R. Archer, G. P. Asner, and C. R. McMurtry (2007), Climatic/edaphic controls on soil carbon/nitrogen response to shrub encroachment in desert grassland, Ecol. Appl., 17, 1911-1928.
90. Wigley, B. J., W. J. Bond, and M. T. Hoffman (2010), Thicket expansion in a South African savanna under divergent land use: Local vs. global drivers?, Global Change Biol., 16, 964-976, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02030.x.
91. Zavaleta, E. S., and L. S. Kettley (2006), Ecosystem change along a woody invasion chronosequence in a California grassland, J. Arid Environ., 66, 290-306.
92. Zitzer, S. F., S. R. Archer, and T. W. Boutton (1996) Spatial variability in the potential for symbiotic N2 fixation by woody plants in a subtropical savanna ecosystem, J. Appl. Ecol., 33, 1125-1136.