Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2007, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (6): 1168-1173.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2007.0145

Special Issue: 稳定同位素生态学

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

CONTENTS AND ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF C AND N IN MOSS (HAPLOCLADIUM MICROPHYLLUM) TISSUES AND SOIL RHIZOSPHERE

LIU Xue-Yan1,2, XIAO Hua-Yun1,*(), LIU Cong-Qiang1, LI You-Yi1,2   

  1. 1State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002, China
    2Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2007-01-10 Accepted:2007-03-17 Online:2007-01-10 Published:2007-11-30
  • Contact: XIAO Hua-Yun

Abstract:

Aims We investigated the new and senescent tissues of moss and the soil rhizosphere to determine 1) the elemental and isotopic composition characteristics during senescence and 2) the final contribution to soil.

Methods C and N contents and isotopic composition (δ13C and δ15N) of Haplocladium microphyllum and its soil rhizosphere were analyzed at Guiyang, China.

Important findings The C and N contents were higher in new growing tissues than in senescent tissues, and there were significant correlations between the two types of tissues, indicating physiological malfunction (e.g., loss of photosynthesis) and internal element redistribution during moss senescence. No significant difference was found between new and senescent tissues in isotopic composition, but their δ13C values or δ15N values were correlated, suggesting special isotopic regulation in the simple and nonvascular structure of mosses. In contrast, there was no C or N correlation between the moss tissues and soil. This was attributed to long-term nutrient retention and slow deposition to form soil, indicating the moss layer in this area has a small contribution to soil carbon and nitrogen.

Key words: stable isotope, moss, senescence, decomposition, rhizosphere