Most forests are recovering from human land use, making it critical to understand the effect of disturbance on forest recovery. Forests of the eastern United States have a long history of land use, but it is unknown whether historical disturbances have contributed to their transition from ectomycorrhizal (ECM) to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) tree dominance. Disturbance may promote nitrogen (N)‐fixing trees in early succession, which can elevate soil N availability even after they die. Higher soil N availability may facilitate the competitive success of AM trees over ECM trees, but such ‘N fixer founder effects’ have not been empirically tested. Here, we analysed data from three land‐use disturbances in a temperate forest historically dominated by ECM trees: selective‐cutting (ranging from 0 to 52 m2 ha−1), clear‐cutting and agricultural abandonment. These disturbances occurred at different times, but long‐term data capture 3–7 decades of forest recovery. We found that the AM tree fraction in contemporary forests was 2, 4, and 6‐fold higher following selective‐cutting, clear‐cutting and agricultural abandonment, respectively, compared to forest composition in 1934. Across these disturbances we also observed an increasing abundance of the N fixer black locust immediately following disturbance. Using a simulation model parameterized by data from black locust, we estimated historical rates of symbiotic N fixation to understand the relationship between N fixation and AM dominance in individual plots. We found that N fixation was positively associated with the growth of ECM trees generally, and oak and hickory specifically, only following light selective‐cutting (<12 or <18 m2 ha−1basal area extraction, respectively). Following higher levels of selective‐cutting and clear‐cutting, N fixation was positively associated with the growth of AM trees, particularly red maple and tulip poplar. Agricultural abandonment led to AM dominance regardless of N fixation rates.
Carbon uptake by the terrestrial biosphere depends on supplies of new nitrogen (N) from symbiotic N fixation, but we lack a framework for scaling fixation accurately and for predicting its response to global change. We scaled symbiotic N fixation from individual N fixers (i.e. plants that host N‐fixing bacteria), by quantifying three key parameters—the abundance of N fixers, whether they are fixing N and their N fixation rates. We apply this framework to black locust, a widespread N‐fixing tree in temperate forests of the eastern United States, and harness long‐term data from southern Appalachian forests to scale fixation from trees to the landscape and over succession. Symbiotic N fixation at the landscape scale peaked in the first decade following forest disturbance, and then declined. This pattern was due to the declining density and declining fixation rates of individual black locust trees over succession. Independent of forest succession, and coincident with chronic atmospheric N deposition, we have evidence suggesting that nodule biomass produced by black locust trees has declined by 83% over the last three decades. This difference in nodule biomass translates to a maximum fixation rate of 11 kg N ha−1 year−1and a landscape average of 1.5 kg N ha−1 year−1in contemporary forests.
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10364477
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Ecology
- Volume:
- 110
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0022-0477
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 569-581
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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