Nitrogen dynamics vary across hydrologic gradients and by forest community composition in the perhumid coastal temperate rainforest of southeast Alaska

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) limitation constrains plant growth, but complex interactions among species and ecosystems hinder our ability to identify primary drivers of N availability. Hydrologic, biogeochemical, and ecological processes interact spatially and temporally, requiring measurements of N across diverse ecosystem types and as a function of both site conditions and vegetation composition. We measured initial exchangeable and mineralized N along a hydrologic gradient in the Alaskan perhumid coastal temperate rainforest to test a conceptual model of linkages between N availability and landscape, hydrologic, and ecosystem characteristics in temperate forests. Mineralization was closely associated with inorganic N concentrations. Inorganic N as NH4+ generally increased with increasing depth to groundwater but was strongly determined by plant–water interactions. Exchangeable and mineralized N were closely linked to tree species, forest biomass, and hydrologic regime regardless of ecosystem type. The emergence of tree species as indicators of N cycling highlights the effect that species have on nutrient dynamics, while the trend of increasing inorganic N with increasing soil saturation points to the role of hydrology in driving N availability. Our research quantified N dynamics for an understudied, yet critical, system and provides a framework for exploring feedbacks among soil saturation, forest composition, and nutrient cycling in temperate forests.