Differential response of two Pinus spp. to avian nitrogen input as revealed by nitrogen isotope analysis for tree rings

Isotopes Environ Health Stud. 2011 Mar;47(1):62-70. doi: 10.1080/10256016.2011.545126.

Abstract

Temporal variations in N concentration and δ(15)N value of annual tree rings (1 year of time resolution) of two Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) and three Japanese Red Pine (Pinus densiflora) trees under current breeding activity of the Great Cormorant (Pharacrocorax carbo) and the Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris), respectively, in central and northeastern Japan were studied. Both species from control sites where no avian input occurs show negative values (δ(15)N = around -4 ‰ to -2 ‰) which are common among higher plants growing under high rainfall regimes. The δ(15)N values of P. densiflora show uniformly positive values several years before and after the breeding event, indicating N translocation that moved the absorbed N of a given growth year to tree rings of the previous year while a clear historical value of soil N dynamics was kept intact in the annual rings of P. thunbergii. Long-term N trends inferred from tree rings must take into account tree species with limited translocation rates that can retain actual N annual acquisition.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Birds*
  • Charadriiformes
  • Ecosystem
  • Environmental Monitoring / methods*
  • Feces / chemistry
  • Japan
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Nitrogen Compounds / analysis*
  • Nitrogen Compounds / metabolism
  • Nitrogen Isotopes / analysis
  • Nitrogen Isotopes / metabolism
  • Pinus / growth & development
  • Pinus / metabolism*
  • Soil / analysis
  • Species Specificity
  • Time Factors
  • Trees / growth & development
  • Trees / metabolism

Substances

  • Nitrogen Compounds
  • Nitrogen Isotopes
  • Soil