Nitrogen transfer between plant species with different temporal N-demand

Phenological segregation among species in a community is assumed to promote coexistence, as using resources at different times reduces competition. However, other unexplored nonalternative mechanisms can also result in a similar outcome. This study first tests whether plants can redistribute nitroge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2023-10, Vol.26 (10), p.1676-1686
Main Author: Montesinos-Navarro, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coexistence
Community ecology
Demand
Flowering
Fruits
Labeling
Leaching
Nitrogen
Nitrogen isotopes
Plant communities
Plant populations
Plant species
Plants (botany)
Soil water
Species
Water availability
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Summary:Phenological segregation among species in a community is assumed to promote coexistence, as using resources at different times reduces competition. However, other unexplored nonalternative mechanisms can also result in a similar outcome. This study first tests whether plants can redistribute nitrogen (N) among them based on their nutritional temporal demand (i.e. phenology). Field N labelling experiments showed that N is transferred between neighbour plants, mainly from low N-demand (late flowering species, not reproducing yet) to high N-demand plants (early flowering species, currently flowering-fruiting). This can reduce species' dependence on pulses of water availability, and avoid soil N loss through leaching, having relevant implications in the structuring of plant communities and ecosystem functioning. Considering that species phenological segregation is a pervasive pattern in plant communities, this can be a so far unnoticed, but widely spread, ecological process that can predict N fluxes among species in natural communities, and therefore impact our current understanding of community ecology and ecosystem functioning.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.14279