Elevated ozone and nitrogen deposition affect nitrogen pools of subalpine grassland
2015
Bassin, Seraina | Käch, David | Valsangiacomo, Alain | Mayer, J. (Jochen) | Oberholzer, Hans-Rudolf | Volk, Matthias | Fuhrer, Jürg
In a free-air fumigation experiment with subalpine grassland, we studied long-term effects of elevated ozone (O3) and nitrogen (N) deposition on ecosystem N pools and on the fate of anthropogenic N. At three times during the seventh year of exposure, N pools and recovery of a stable isotope tracer (15N) were determined in above- and belowground plant parts, and in the soil. Plants were much better competitors for 15N than soil microorganisms. Plant N pools increased by 30–40% after N addition, while soil pools remained unaffected, suggesting that most of the extra N was taken up and stored in plant biomass, thus preventing the ecosystem from acquiring characteristics of eutrophication. Elevated O3 caused an increase of N in microbial biomass and in stabilized soil N, probably resulting from increased litter input and lower litter quality. Different from individual effects, the interaction between the pollutants remained partly unexplained.
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