Nitrogen availability in soil controls uptake of different nitrogen forms by plants.

Yanfen Wang, Xiaoyong Cui, Xingliang Xu, Wolfgang Wanek, Jian Sun, Richard D Bardgett, Yakov Kuzyakov, Lili Jiang, Min Liu, Yuqiang Tian, Zeqing Ma, Hua Ouyang

Journal: The New phytologist 2025;245(4):1450-1467

PMID: 39663421

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) uptake by plant roots from soil is the largest flux within the terrestrial N cycle. Despite its significance, a comprehensive analysis of plant uptake for inorganic and organic N forms across grasslands is lacking. Here we measured in situ plant uptake of 13 inorganic and organic N forms by dominant species along a 3000 km transect spanning temperate and alpine grasslands. To generalize our experimental findings, we synthesized data on N uptake from 60 studies encompassing 148 plant species world-wide. Our analysis revealed that alpine grasslands had faster NH uptake than temperate grasslands. Most plants preferred NO (65%) over NH (24%), followed by amino acids (11%). The uptake preferences and uptake rates were modulated by soil N availability that was defined by climate, soil properties, and intrinsic characteristics of the N form. These findings pave the way toward more fully understanding of N cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, provide novel insights into the N form-specific mechanisms of plant N uptake, and highlight ecological consequences of chemical niche differentiation to reduce competition between coexisting plant species.

Address: Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China.; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yanqi Lake, Huairou District, Beijing, 101408, China.; Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, Center of Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Wien, A-1090, Austria.; State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.; State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yanqi Lake, Huairou District, Beijing, 101408, China.; Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, 37077, Germany.; Department of Agricultural Soil Science, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, 37077, Germany.; Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, 117198, Russia.; Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China.

DOI: 10.1111/nph.20335

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MeSH Terms: Soil, Nitrogen, Plants, Grassland, Plant Roots, Ecosystem