Do plant species with different growth strategies vary in their ability to compete with soil microbes for chemical forms of nitrogen?

We used dual labelled stable isotope (13C and 15N) techniques to examine how grassland plant species with different growth strategies vary in their ability to compete with soil microbes for different chemical forms of nitrogen (N), both inorganic and organic. We also tested whether some plant species might avoid competition by preferentially using different chemical forms of N than microbes. This was tested in a pot experiment where monocultures of five co-existing grassland species, namely the grasses Agrostis capillaris, Anthoxanthum odoratum, Nardus stricta, Deschampsia flexuosa and the herb Rumex acetosella, were grown in field soil from an acid semi-natural temperate grassland. Our data show that grassland...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Soil Biology and Biochemistry, amino acids, grassland, growth strategies, inorganic nitrogen, All tags... microbial biomass, nitrogen, organic nitrogen, plant-microbial competition, stable isotopes, Fewer tags