Resource-based niches provide a basis for plant species diversity and dominance in arctic tundra

Robert B. McKane (), Loretta C. Johnson, Gaius R. Shaver, Knute J. Nadelhoffer, Edward B. Rastetter, Brian Fry, Anne E. Giblin, Knut Kielland, Bonnie L. Kwiatkowski, James A. Laundre and Georgia Murray
Additional contact information
Robert B. McKane: US Environmental Protection Agency
Loretta C. Johnson: Kansas State University
Gaius R. Shaver: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory
Knute J. Nadelhoffer: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory
Edward B. Rastetter: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory
Brian Fry: Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, USDA Forest Service
Anne E. Giblin: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory
Knut Kielland: Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska
Bonnie L. Kwiatkowski: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory
James A. Laundre: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory
Georgia Murray: Appalachian Mountain Club

Nature, 2002, vol. 415, issue 6867, 68-71

Abstract: Abstract Ecologists have long been intrigued by the ways co-occurring species divide limiting resources. Such resource partitioning, or niche differentiation, may promote species diversity by reducing competition1,2. Although resource partitioning is an important determinant of species diversity and composition in animal communities3, its importance in structuring plant communities has been difficult to resolve4. This is due mainly to difficulties in studying how plants compete for belowground resources5. Here we provide evidence from a 15N-tracer field experiment showing that plant species in a nitrogen-limited, arctic tundra community were differentiated in timing, depth and chemical form of nitrogen uptake, and that species dominance was strongly correlated with uptake of the most available soil nitrogen forms. That is, the most productive species used the most abundant nitrogen forms, and less productive species used less abundant forms. To our knowledge, this is the first documentation that the composition of a plant community is related to partitioning of differentially available forms of a single limiting resource.

Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1038/415068a

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