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Seasonal variation in ammonia compensation point and nitrogen pools in beech leaves (Fagus sylvatica)

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Abstract

Ammonia (NH3) fluxes between beech leaves (Fagus sylvatica) and the atmosphere were investigated in a 90-year-old forest canopy and related to leaf nitrogen (N) pools and glutamine synthetase (GS) activities. The stomatal ammonia compensation point, χNH3, was measured by both a twig cuvette and bioassay techniques involving measurements of pH and ammonium (NH +4 ) concentration in the leaf apoplastic solution. The χNH3 determined on the basis of the gas exchange measurements followed a seasonal variation with early-season peaks during leaf expansion (9.6 nmol NH3 mol−1 air) and late-season peaks during leaf senescence (7.3 nmol NH3 mol−1 air). In the mid-season, the χNH3 of mature green leaves was much lower (around 3 nmol NH3 mol−1 air) and dropped below the NH3 concentration in the ambient atmosphere. For comparison, χNH3 obtained by the apoplastic bioassay were 7.0, 3.7 and 6.4 nmol NH3 mol−1 air in early-, mid-, and late -season, thus agreeing reasonably well with χNH3 values derived from the gas exchange measurements. Potential NH3 emission fluxes during early and late season were 1.31 and 0.51 nmol m−2 leaf surface area s−1, respectively, while leaves were a sink for NH3 during mid-season. During leaf establishment and senescence, both apoplastic and bulk tissue NH +4 concentrations were relatively high coinciding with low activities of glutamine synthetase, which is a key enzyme in leaf N metabolism. In conclusion, the exchange of NH3 between beech leaves and the atmosphere followed a seasonal variation with NH3 emission peaks being related to N mobilization during early leaf establishment and remobilization during late leaf senescence.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported financially by the European Union Framework Programme 6 as part of the Integrated Project NitroEurope (www.nitroeurope.eu). The assistance of Dr. Kent Høier Nielsen with the gas exchange measurements and manuscript preparation is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Plant and Soil Science Section, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1871, Frederiksberg C, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Liang Wang, Yingchun Xu & Jan Kofod Schjoerring

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  1. Liang Wang
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  2. Yingchun Xu
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Correspondence to Jan Kofod Schjoerring.

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Wang, L., Xu, Y. & Schjoerring, J.K. Seasonal variation in ammonia compensation point and nitrogen pools in beech leaves (Fagus sylvatica). Plant Soil 343, 51–66 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0693-7

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