Håkan Wallmark

Bio: Håkan Wallmark is an academic researcher from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The author has contributed to research in topics: Soil horizon & Soil water. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 225 citations.

15N abundance of surface soils, roots and mycorrhizas in profiles of European forest soils.

Abstract: 15N natural abundances of soil total N, roots and mycorrhizas were studied in surface soil profiles in coniferous and broadleaved forests along a transect from central to northern Europe. Under conditions of N limitation in Sweden, there was an increase in δ15N of soil total N of up to 9% from the uppermost horizon of the organic mor layer down to the upper 0-5 cm of the mineral soil. The δ15N of roots was only slightly lower than that of soil total N in the upper organic horizon, but further down roots were up to 5% depleted under such conditions. In experimentally N-enriched forest in Sweden, i.e. in plots which have received an average of c. 100 kg N ha-1 year-1 for 20 years and which retain less than 50% of this added N in the stand and the soil down to 20 cm depth, and in some forests in central Europe, the increase in δ15N with depth in soil total N was smaller. An increase in δ15N of the surface soil was even observed on experimentally N-enriched plots, although other data suggest that the N fertilizer added was depleted in15N. In such cases roots could be enriched in15N relative to soil total N, suggesting that labelling of the surface soil is via the pathway: - available pools of N-plant N-litter N. Under N-limiting conditions roots of different species sampled from the same soil horizon showed similar δ15N. By contrast, in experimentally N-enriched forest δ15N of roots increased in the sequence: ericaceous dwarf shrubs

Stable Isotopes in Plant Ecology

Abstract: ▪ Abstract The use of stable isotope techniques in plant ecological research has grown steadily during the past two decades. This trend will continue as investigators realize that stable isotopes can serve as valuable nonradioactive tracers and nondestructive integrators of how plants today and in the past have interacted with and responded to their abiotic and biotic environments. At the center of nearly all plant ecological research which has made use of stable isotope methods are the notions of interactions and the resources that mediate or influence them. Our review, therefore, highlights recent advances in plant ecology that have embraced these notions, particularly at different spatial and temporal scales. Specifically, we review how isotope measurements associated with the critical plant resources carbon, water, and nitrogen have helped deepen our understanding of plant-resource acquisition, plant interactions with other organisms, and the role of plants in ecosystem studies. Where possible we also...

Tansley Review No. 95 15N natural abundance in soil-plant systems

Abstract: Equilibrium and kinetic isotope fractionations during incomplete reactions result in minute differences in the ratio between the two stable N isotopes, 15N and 14N, in various N pools. In ecosystems such variations (usually expressed in per mil [δ15N] deviations from the standard atmospheric N2) depend on isotopic signatures of inputs and outputs, the input–output balance, N transformations and their specific isotope effects, and compartmentation of N within the system. Products along a sequence of reactions, e.g. the N mineralization–N uptake pathway, should, if fractionation factors were equal for the different reactions, become progressively depleted. However, fractionation factors vary. For example, because nitrification discriminates against 15N in the substrate more than does N mineralization, NH4+ can become isotopically heavier than the organic N from which it is derived.Levels of isotopic enrichment depend dynamically on the stoichiometry of reactions, as well as on specific abiotic and biotic conditions. Thus, the δ15N of a specific N pool is not a constant, and δ15N of a N compound added to the system is not a conservative, unchanging tracer. This fact, together with analytical problems of measuring δ15N in small and dynamic pools of N in the soil–plant system, and the complexity of the N cycle itself (for instance the abundance of reversible reactions), limit the possibilities of making inferences based on observations of 15N abundance in one or a few pools of N in a system. Nevertheless, measurements of δ15N might offer the advantage of giving insights into the N cycle without disturbing the system by adding 15N tracer.Such attempts require, however, that the complex factors affecting δ15N in plants be taken into account, viz. (i) the source(s) of N (soil, precipitation, NOx, NH3, N2-fixation), (ii) the depth(s) in soil from which N is taken up, (iii) the form(s) of soil-N used (organic N, NH4+, NO3−), (iv) influences of mycorrhizal symbioses and fractionations during and after N uptake by plants, and (v) interactions between these factors and plant phenology. Because of this complexity, data on δ15N can only be used alone when certain requirements are met, e.g. when a clearly discrete N source in terms of amount and isotopic signature is studied. For example, it is recommended that N in non-N2-fixing species should differ more than 5‰ from N derived by N2-fixation, and that several non-N2-fixing references are used, when data on δ15N are used to estimate N2-fixation in poorly described ecosystems.As well as giving information on N source effects, δ15N can give insights into N cycle rates. For example, high levels of N deposition onto previously N-limited systems leads to increased nitrification, which produces 15N-enriched NH4+ and 15N-depleted NO3−. As many forest plants prefer NH4+ they become enriched in 15N in such circumstances. This change in plant δ15N will subsequently also occur in the soil surface horizon after litter-fall, and might be a useful indicator of N saturation, especially since there is usually an increase in δ15N with depth in soils of N-limited forests.Generally, interpretation of 15N measurements requires additional independent data and modelling, and benefits from a controlled experimental setting. Modelling will be greatly assisted by the development of methods to measure the δ15N of small dynamic pools of N in soils. Direct comparisons with parallel low tracer level 15N studies will be necessary to further develop the interpretation of variations in δ15N in soil–plant systems. Another promising approach is to study ratios of 15N[ratio ]14N together with other pairs of stable isotopes, e.g. 13C[ratio ]12C or 18O[ratio ]16O, in the same ion or molecules. This approach can help to tackle the challenge of distinguishing isotopic source effects from fractionations within the system studied.

Roots and associated fungi drive long-term carbon sequestration in boreal forest.

Abstract: Boreal forest soils function as a terrestrial net sink in the global carbon cycle. The prevailing dogma has focused on aboveground plant litter as a principal source of soil organic matter. Using C-14 bomb-carbon modeling, we show that 50 to 70% of stored carbon in a chronosequence of boreal forested islands derives from roots and root-associated microorganisms. Fungal biomarkers indicate impaired degradation and preservation of fungal residues in late successional forests. Furthermore, 454 pyrosequencing of molecular barcodes, in conjunction with stable isotope analyses, highlights root-associated fungi as important regulators of ecosystem carbon dynamics. Our results suggest an alternative mechanism for the accumulation of organic matter in boreal forests during succession in the long-term absence of disturbance.

Spatial separation of litter decomposition and mycorrhizal nitrogen uptake in a boreal forest

Abstract: Our understanding of how saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi interact to re-circulate carbon and nutrients from plant litter and soil organic matter is limited by poor understanding of their spatiotemporal dynamics. In order to investigate how different functional groups of fungi contribute to carbon and nitrogen cycling at different stages of decomposition, we studied changes in fungal community composition along vertical profiles through a Pinus sylvestris forest soil. We combined molecular identification methods with 14C dating of the organic matter, analyses of carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratios and 15N natural abundance measurements. Saprotrophic fungi were primarily confined to relatively recently (< 4 yr) shed litter components on the surface of the forest floor, where organic carbon was mineralized while nitrogen was retained. Mycorrhizal fungi dominated in the underlying, more decomposed litter and humus, where they apparently mobilized N and made it available to their host plants. Our observations show that the degrading and nutrient-mobilizing components of the fungal community are spatially separated. This has important implications for biogeochemical studies of boreal forest ecosystems.