Nitrogen ecophysiology of Heron Island, a subtropical coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Functional Plant Biology : FPB
Susanne SchmidtGeorge R Stewart

Abstract

Coral cays form part of the Australian Great Barrier Reef. Coral cays with high densities of seabirds are areas of extreme nitrogen (N) enrichment with deposition rates of up to 1000 kg N ha-1 y-1. The ways in which N sources are utilised by coral cay plants, N is distributed within the cay, and whether or not seabird-derived N moves from cay to surrounding marine environments were investigated. We used N metabolite analysis, 15N labelling and 15N natural abundance (δ15N) techniques. Deposited guano-derived uric acid is hydrolysed to ammonium (NH4+) and gaseous ammonia (NH3). Ammonium undergoes nitrification, and nitrate (NO3-) and NH4+ were the main forms of soluble N in the soil. Plants from seabird rookeries have a high capacity to take up and assimilate NH4+, are able to metabolise uric acid, but have low rates of NO3- uptake and assimilation. We concluded that NH4+ is the principal source of N for plants growing at seabird rookeries, and that the presence of NH4+ in soil and gaseous NH3 in the atmosphere inhibits assimilation of NO3-, although NO3- is taken up and stored. Seabird guano, Pisonia forest soil and vegetation were similarly enriched in 15N suggesting that the isotopic enrichment of guano (δ15N 9.9‰) carries thr...Continue Reading

Citations

Feb 11, 2010·Journal of Environmental Monitoring : JEM·Susanne SchmidtJochen F Mueller
Jul 30, 2010·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Holly P Jones
May 1, 2006·Functional Plant Biology : FPB·Susanne Schmidt, Dieter P Tracey
Sep 22, 2020·Ecology and Evolution·Julian Perez-CorreaTom B Letessier
Jun 23, 2012·PloS One·Stéphane CautFranck Courchamp
Jun 1, 2006·Functional Plant Biology : FPB·Guillaume Tcherkez, Graham D Farquhar
Feb 6, 2010·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Hillary S YoungRodolfo Dirzo
Feb 8, 2008·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Holly P JonesGregg R Howald
Dec 2, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·Saúl De La Peña-Lastra

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