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Soil inorganic nitrogen composition and plant functional type determine forage crops nitrogen uptake preference in the temperate cultivated grassland, Inner Mongolia

Authors Xu, Lijun; Cheng, Shulan; Fang, Huajun; Xin, Xiaoping; Xu, Xingliang; Tang, Huajun

Journal SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT NUTRITION , SEP 3 2019,5:65

DOI 10.1080/00380768.2019.1671777

Abstract Plant nitrogen (N)-acquisition strategy affects soil N availability, community structure, and vegetation productivity. Cultivated grasslands are widely established to improve degraded pastures, but little information is available to evaluate the link between N uptake preference and forage crop biomass. Here an in-situ N-15 labeling experiment was conducted in the four cultivated grasslands of Inner Mongolia, including two dicots (Medicago sativa and Brassica campestris) and two monocots (Bromus inermis and Leymus chinensis). Plant N uptake rate, shoot- and root biomass, and concentrations of soil inorganic-N and microbial biomass-N were measured. The results showed that the root/shoot ratios of the dicots were 2.6 to 16.4 fold those of the monocots. The shoot N concentrations of the dicots or legumes were 40.6% to 165% higher than those of the monocots or non-legumes. The four forage crops in the cultivated grassland preferred to uptake more NO3?-N than NH4+-N regardless of growth stages, and the NH4+/NO3? uptake ratios were significantly lower in the non-legumes than in the legumes (p < 0.05). Significant differences in the NH4+-N rather than NO3?-N uptake rate were observed among the four forages, related to plant functional types and growth stages. The NH4+ uptake rate in the perennial forages exponentially decreased with the increases in shoot-, root biomass, and root/shoot ratio. Also, the plant NH4+/NO3? uptake ratio was positively correlated with soil NH4+/NO3? ratio. Our results suggest that the major forage crops prefer to absorb soil NO3?-N, depending on soil inorganic N composition and belowground C allocation. The preferential uptake of NO3?-N by forages indicates that nitrate-N fertilizer could have a higher promotion on productivity than ammonium-N fertilizer in the semi-arid cultivated grassland.

Species covered 紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa 芸苔 Brassica campestris