Plant effects on nitrogen retention in shortgrass steppe 2 years after 15N addition

Ecosystems where plant-available nitrogen (N) is limited by constraints on decomposition may be quite capable of retaining additional N. However, there are many factors that will control the quantity of N retained, with potential implications for system carbon and nitrogen storage. We examined the retention and allocation of 15N 2 years after labeling a semiarid, shortgrass steppe ecosystem in northeastern Colorado. The plant community of the study area is a patchy mixture of C3 (cool-season) and C4 (warm-season) graminoids; we hypothesized that differences in allocation patterns between the two plant types would lead to differing rates of N retention in this grazed system. We found that after three growing seasons (just over 2 years), an average of 28.3% of the original 15N was retained in our plots, with nearly all of this N in soils (24.9%) rather than plants. Plots dominated by C3 plants had significantly less 15N retained after 2 years than mixed C3-C4 plots. A high initial rate of retention by C3 plants, combined with a propensity for allocation to shoots rather than roots, likely led to this result in a system that typically has much of its aboveground tissue removed by grazers. In comparing our retention patterns to those of other studies in the shortgrass steppe, we found that the distribution of added 15N to various ecosystem compartments (plants, mineral soil, soil organic matter) was similar across studies regardless of the experimental conditions, duration of study, and amount of 15Nretained. We additionally observed the beginning of the formation of "resource islands," with 15N being physically and biologically redistributed under plants from between plants.