scholarly journals Diverse Understory Vegetation Alleviates Nitrogen Competition with Crop Trees in Poplar Plantations

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 705
Author(s):  
Jiayu Zhang ◽  
Guangzhen Qin ◽  
Zheng Zhai ◽  
Shichao Zhou ◽  
Luozhong Tang ◽  
...  

Understory vegetation plays a crucial role in nutrient turnover and cycling in plantations, but it also competes for nutrients with crop trees when only a single species is present due to its specific nutrient requirements. However, it remains unclear whether this competition can be alleviated when the species richness of understory vegetation increases. In this study, we tested different gradients of understory vegetation species richness, including understory vegetation removal (UR), the retention of a single main understory vegetation species (RS), and the retention of natural diverse understory vegetation (RD) as part of a poplar (Populus deltoides ‘Nanlin-3804′) plantation, to study their effects on poplar growth, and to evaluate nitrogen (N) usage and how this was affected by the interactions between the poplar and understory vegetation. The results showed a generally lower periodic growth, and a significant decline in the foliar chlorophyll content and glutamine synthetase activity of poplar under treatment with RS and RD compared to those under UR treatment conducted in July 2019, which clearly indicated N competition between the understory vegetation and poplar trees. However, no significant difference was detected in the foliar chlorophyll content and glutamine synthetase activity of poplar under RD and RS treatment; only the nitrate reductase activity in poplar leaves under RD treatment declined significantly, by 22.25%, in June 2019. On the contrary, the diameter at breast height (DBH) of the poplar under RD treatment showed an increase of 34.69% from July to August 2019, compared with that under RS treatment. Furthermore, the increase in the species richness of understory vegetation resulted in an increase in the δ15N values in the poplar leaves, which was strongly regulated by the NH4+-N pool in the 10–20 cm soil layer, indicating the effective coordination of N utilization between poplar and understory vegetation when diversified understory plant species were present. These findings demonstrate the essential role of understory vegetation species diversity in alleviating N competition with crop trees, and provide guidance for understory vegetation management in poplar plantations.

1991 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Th�ophile Soni ◽  
Claire Wolfrom ◽  
Samia Guerroui ◽  
Nicole Raynaud ◽  
Jos�phine Poggi ◽  
...  

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iftikhar Ahmad ◽  
Johan A. Hellebust

Stichococcus bacillaris Naeg. (Chlorophyceae) grown on a 12 h light: 12 h dark cycle divides synchronously under photoautotrophic conditions and essentially nonsynchronously under mixotrophic conditions. Photoassimilation of carbon under photoautotrophic conditions was followed by a decline in cell carbon content during the dark period, whereas under mixotrophic conditions cell carbon increased throughout the light–dark cycle. The rates of nitrogen assimilation by cultures grown on either nitrate or ammonium declined sharply during the dark, and these declines were most pronounced under photoautotrophic conditions. Photoautotrophic cells synthesized glutamine synthetase and NADPH – glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) exclusively in the light, whereas in mixotrophic cells about 20% of the total synthesis of these enzymes during one light–dark cycle occurred in the dark. NADH–GDH was synthesized almost continuously over the entire light–dark cycle. In the dark, both under photoautotrophic and mixotrophic conditions, the alga contained more than 50% of glutamine synthetase in an inactive form, which was reactivated in vitro in the presence of mercaptoethanol and in vivo after returning the cultures to the light. The thermal stability of glutamine synthetase activity was less in light-harvested cells than in dark-harvested cells. The inactivation of glutamine synthetase did not occur in cultures growing either heterotrophically in continuous darkness or photoautotrophically in continuous light. This enzyme appears to be under thiol control only in cells grown under alternating light–dark conditions, irrespective of whether this light regime results in synchronous cell division or not.


1968 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liane Reif-Lehrer ◽  
Harold Amos

Hydrocortisone has been found to induce glutamine synthetase activity in chick-embryo retinas in culture. Evidence is presented to show that the hydrocortisone is definitely required for transcription; its requirement for translation has not been ruled out. The possible identity of hydrocortisone with an active component of calf-serum diffusate reported earlier is discussed. The data also indicate that the glutamine synthetase messenger RNA is stable for at least several hours.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document