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Environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures in peatland vascular plants along an altitude gradient

  • Ecosystem ecology - Original research
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Abstract

Peatlands are important sinks of atmospheric carbon (C) that, in response to climate warming, are undergoing dynamic vegetation succession. Here we examined the hypothesis that the uptake of nutrients by different plant growth forms (PGFs) is one key mechanism driving changes in species abundance in peatlands. Along an altitude gradient representing a natural climate experiment, we compared the variability of the stable C isotope composition (δ13C) and stable nitrogen (N) isotope composition (δ15N) in current-year leaves of two major PGFs, i.e. ericoids and graminoids. The climate gradient was associated with a gradient of vascular plant cover, which was parallelled by different concentrations of organic and inorganic N as well as the fungal/bacterial ratio in peat. In both PGFs the 13C natural abundance showed a marginal spatial decrease with altitude and a temporal decrease with progression of the growing season. Our data highlight a primary physical control of foliar δ13C signature, which is independent from the PGFs. Natural abundance of foliar 15N did not show any seasonal pattern and only in the ericoids showed depletion at lower elevation. This decreasing δ15N pattern was primarily controlled by the higher relative availability of organic versus inorganic N and, only for the ericoids, by an increased proportion of fungi to bacteria in soil. Our space-for-time approach demonstrates that a change in abundance of PGFs is associated with a different strategy of nutrient acquisition (i.e. transfer via mycorrhizal symbiosis versus direct fine-root uptake), which could likely promote observed and predicted dwarf shrub expansion under climate change.

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Acknowledgments

The Service des forêts, de la faune et de la nature (Canton de Vaud) and the Service de la promotion de la nature—Office de l’agriculture et de la nature (Canton de Berne) are acknowledged for giving permission to access the studied peatlands. Ursula Graf is also acknowledged for laboratory assistance. This study was financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project VeganPeat, Grant 205320-144024 to L. B.).

Author contribution statement

L. B., F. H. and R. S. conceived and designed the study. L. B. and K. G. performed the field and laboratory activity. K. G. and L. B. analysed the data. K. G., L. B., F. H., R. S. and A. B. wrote the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, WSL Site Lausanne, Station 2, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Konstantin Gavazov, Alexandre Buttler & Luca Bragazza

  2. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering ENAC, Laboratory of Ecological Systems ECOS, Station 2, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Konstantin Gavazov, Alexandre Buttler & Luca Bragazza

  3. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, WSL Site Birmensdorf, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Frank Hagedorn

  4. Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR CNRS 6249, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, 25030, France

    Alexandre Buttler

  5. Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, 5232, Villigen, Switzerland

    Rolf Siegwolf

  6. Department of Life Science and Biotechnologies, University of Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d’Este 32, Ferrara, 44121, Italy

    Luca Bragazza

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  1. Konstantin Gavazov
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  2. Frank Hagedorn
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  5. Luca Bragazza
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Correspondence to Luca Bragazza.

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Communicated by Allan T. G. Green.

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Gavazov, K., Hagedorn, F., Buttler, A. et al. Environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures in peatland vascular plants along an altitude gradient. Oecologia 180, 257–264 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3458-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3458-4

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