Do Nitrogen and Phosphorus Additions Affect Nitrogen Fixation Associated with Tropical Mosses?
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Tropical cloud forests are characterized by abundant and biodiverse mosses which grow epiphytically as well as on the ground. Nitrogen (N)-fixing cyanobacteria live in association with most mosses, and contribute greatly to the N pool via biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). However, the availability of nutrients, especially N and phosphorus (P), can influence BNF rates drastically. To evaluate the effects of increased N and P availability on BNF in mosses, we conducted a laboratory experiment where we added N and P, in isolation and combined, to three mosses (Campylopus sp., Dicranum sp. and Thuidium peruvianum) collected from a cloud forest in Peru. Our results show that N addition almost completely inhibited BNF within a day, whereas P addition caused variable results across moss species. Low N2 fixation rates were observed in Campylopus sp. across the experiment. BNF in Dicranum sp. was decreased by all nutrients, while P additions seemed to promote BNF in T. peruvianum. Hence, each of the three mosses contributes distinctively to the ecosystem N pool depending on nutrient availability. Moreover, increased N input will likely significantly decrease BNF associated with mosses also in tropical cloud forests, thereby limiting N input to these ecosystems via the moss-cyanobacteria pathway.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1443 |
Journal | Plants |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 7 |
Number of pages | 13 |
ISSN | 2223-7747 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
- cyanobacteria, ecosystem ecology, global change, mosses, nitrogen fixation, nutrient limitation, phosphorus, tropical cloud forest
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