Barbara J. Hawkins

From Carnivore to Detritivore? Isotopic Evidence for Leaf Litter Utilization by the Tropical Pitcher Plant Nepenthes ampullaria

Nepenthes pitcher plants trap prey in specialized leaves formed into pitchers. Most lowland species live in open, sunny habitats and capture prey to obtain nutrients, principally nitrogen (N). Nepenthes ampullaria is commonly found under closed canopy forest and possesses morphological traits that indicate adaptation to trap leaf litter as a nutrient source. We tested this hypothesis by comparing foliar stable N isotope abundance (δ15N) between plants growing under forest canopy at 20 sites (litterfall present) and those growing in 20 open areas (no litterfall) in Borneo. Foliar δ15N values were significantly lower and total N concentrations were higher for the plants with access to litterfall. Using a mixing model, we estimated that N. ampullaria plants growing under forest canopy derived \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape

Evolutionary classification of ammonium, nitrate, and peptide transporters in land plants

35.7\% \pm 0.1\%

Ion fluxes across the pitcher walls of three Bornean Nepenthes pitcher plant species: flux rates and gland distribution patterns reflect nitrogen sequestration strategies

\end{document} of their foliar N from leaf litter inputs.

Potential near‐future carbon uptake overcomes losses from a large insect outbreak in British Columbia, Canada

The effects of differing, exponentially increasing rates of N addition (0.025, 0.05, 0.07 and 0.09 gN gN-1day-1) on photosynthesis, discrimination against13C and partitioning of foliar N to chlorophyll and major photosynthetic proteins were compared in seedlings of the evergreen conifersPicea sitchensis, Thuja plicata andTsuga heterophylla. T. heterophylla had the lowest range of foliar N concentrations (Nlm). Across species, photosynthetic rates (A) increased linearly with Nlm to a maximum at 21 mg g-1 and declined at higher Nlms. Species differences inA resulted from differences in Nlm, not from differences in photosynthetic N use efficiency. Self-shading may have causedA to decline at a high Nlm inP. sitchensis andT. plicata. Measurements of gas exchange and δ13C suggested that carboxylation capacity increased more than did stomatal conductance as Nlm increased. The responses were small and confined to Nlms associated with the lesser rates of N addition. Concentrations of total protein, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RUBISCO) and the light harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complex (LHC) increased with Nlm, but the fraction of foliar N allocated to RUBISCO and LHC increased with Nlm only inP. sitchensis and only between the 0.025 and 0.05N regimes. The responsiveness ofA and concentrations of RUBISCO to Nlm were less than reported for deciduous C3 species.

Species turnover (β‐diversity) in ectomycorrhizal fungi linked to NH4+ uptake capacity

BackgroundNitrogen uptake, reallocation within the plant, and between subcellular compartments involves ammonium, nitrate and peptide transporters. Ammonium transporters are separated into two distinct families (AMT1 and AMT2), each comprised of five members on average in angiosperms. Nitrate transporters also form two discrete families (NRT1 and NRT2), with angiosperms having four NRT2s, on average. NRT1s share an evolutionary history with peptide transporters (PTRs). The NRT1/PTR family in land plants usually has more than 50 members and contains also members with distinct activities, such as glucosinolate and abscisic acid transport.ResultsPhylogenetic reconstructions of each family across 20 land plant species with available genome sequences were supplemented with subcellular localization and transmembrane topology predictions. This revealed that both AMT families diverged prior to the separation of bryophytes and vascular plants forming two distinct clans, designated as supergroups, each. Ten supergroups were identified for the NRT1/PTR family. It is apparent that nitrate and peptide transport within the NRT1/PTR family is polyphyletic, that is, nitrate and/or peptide transport likely evolved multiple times within land plants. The NRT2 family separated into two distinct clans early in vascular plant evolution. Subsequent duplications occurring prior to the eudicot/monocot separation led to the existence of two AMT1, six AMT2, 31 NRT1/PTR, and two NRT2 clans, designated as groups.ConclusionPhylogenetic separation of groups suggests functional divergence within the angiosperms for each family. Distinct groups within the NRT1/PTR family appear to separate peptide and nitrate transport activities as well as other activities contained within the family, for example nitrite transport. Conversely, distinct activities, such as abscisic acid and glucosinolate transport, appear to have recently evolved from nitrate transporters.

Nitrogen uptake over entire root systems of tree seedlings

The effect of pH on nitrate and ammonium uptake in the high-affinity transport system and low-affinity transport system ranges was compared in two conifers and one crop species. Many conifers grow on acidic soils, thus their preference for ammonium vs nitrate uptake can differ from that of crop plants, and the effect of pH on nitrogen (N) uptake may differ. Proton, ammonium and nitrate net fluxes were measured at seedling root tips and 5, 10, 20 and 30 mm from the tips using a non-invasive microelectrode ion flux measurement system in solutions of 50 or 1500 microM NH(4)NO(3) at pH 4 and 7. In Glycine max and Pinus contorta, efflux of protons was observed at pH 7 while pH 4 resulted in net proton uptake in some root regions. Pseudotsuga menziesii roots consistently showed proton efflux behind the root tip, and thus appear better adapted to maintain proton efflux in acid soils. P. menziesiis ability to maintain ammonium uptake at low pH may relate to its ability to maintain proton efflux. In all three species, net nitrate uptake was greatest at neutral pH. Net ammonium uptake in G. max and net nitrate uptake in P. menziesii were greatly reduced at pH 4, particularly at high N concentration, thus N concentration should be considered when determining optimum pH for N uptake. In P. menziesii and G. max, net N uptake was greater in 1500 than 50 microM NH(4)NO(3) solution, but flux profiles of all ions varied among species.

Cold Hardiness of Yellow-Cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach)

Nepenthes pitcher plant species differ in their prey capture strategies, prey capture rates, and pitcher longevity. In this study, it is investigated whether or not interspecific differences in nutrient sequestration strategy are reflected in the physiology and microstructure of the pitchers themselves. Using a non-invasive technique (MIFE), ion fluxes in pitchers of Nepenthes ampullaria Jack, Nepenthes bicalcarata Hook.f., and Nepenthes rafflesiana Jack were measured. Scanning electron microscopy was also used to characterize the distribution of glandular and other structures on the inner pitcher walls. The results demonstrate that nutrient sequestration strategy is indeed mirrored in pitcher physiology and microstructure. Species producing long-lived pitchers with low prey capture rates (N. ampullaria, N. bicalcarata) showed lower rates of NH4+ uptake than N. rafflesiana, a species producing short-lived pitchers with high capture rates. Crucially, species dependent upon aquatic commensals (N. ampullaria, N. bicalcarata) actively manipulated H+ fluxes to maintain less acid pitcher fluid than found in ‘typical’ species; in addition, these species lacked the lunate cells and epicuticular waxes characteristic of ‘typical’ insectivorous congeners. An unexpected finding was that ion fluxes occurred in the wax-covered, non-glandular zones in N. rafflesiana. The only candidates for active transport of aqueous ions in these zones appear to be the epidermal cells lying beneath the lunate cells, as these are the only sites not visibly coated with epicuticular waxes.

Ectomycorrhizae and tree seedling nitrogen nutrition in forest restoration

The current capacity of northern high-latitude forests to sequester carbon has been suggested to be undermined by the potential increase in fire and insect outbreaks. Here we investigate the response of the terrestrial ecosystems in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada, to the recent large mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak that started in 1999 as well as changing climate and continually increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration up to 2050, in a combined framework, using a process-based model. Model simulations suggest that the recent MPB outbreak results in BCs forests accumulating 328 Tg less carbon over the 1999–2020 period. Over this same period changing climate and increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration, however, yield enhanced carbon uptake equal to a cumulative sink of around 900–1060 Tg C, depending on the future climate change scenario, indicating that the reduced carbon uptake by land due to the MPB disturbance may already be surpassed by 2020.