Foliar and fungal 15N:14N ratios reflect development of mycorrhizae and nitrogen supply during primary succession: testing analytical models.

Nitrogen isotopes (15N/14N ratios, expressed as delta15N values) are useful markers of the mycorrhizal role in plant nitrogen supply because discrimination against 15N during creation of transfer compounds within mycorrhizal fungi decreases the 15N/14N in plants (low delta15N) and increases the 15N/14N of the fungi (high delta15N). Analytical models of 15N distribution would be helpful in interpreting delta15N patterns in fungi and plants. To compare different analytical models, we measured nitrogen isotope patterns in soils, saprotrophic fungi, ectomycorrhizal fungi, and plants with different mycorrhizal habits on a glacier foreland exposed during the last 100 years of glacial retreat and on adjacent non-glaciated terrain. Since plants during early primary succession may have only limited access to propagules of mycorrhizal fungi, we hypothesized that mycorrhizal plants would initially be similar to nonmycorrhizal plants in delta15N and then decrease, if mycorrhizal colonization were an important factor influencing plant delta15N. As hypothesized, plants with different mycorrhizal habits initially showed similar delta15N values (-4 to -6 per thousand relative to the standard of atmospheric N2 at 0 per thousand), corresponding to low mycorrhizal colonization in all plant species and an absence of ectomycorrhizal sporocarps. In later successional stages where ectomycorrhizal sporocarps were present, most ectomycorrhizal and ericoid mycorrhizal plants declined by 5-6 per thousand in delta15N, suggesting transfer of 15N-depleted N from fungi to plants. The values recorded (-8 to -11 per thousand) are among the lowest yet observed in vascular plants. In contrast, the delta15N of nonmycorrhizal plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal plants declined only slightly or not at all. On the forefront, most ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi were similar in delta15N (-1 to -3 per thousand), but the host-specific ectomycorrhizal fungus Cortinarius tenebricus had values of up to 7 per thousand. Plants, fungi and soil were at least 4 per thousand higher in delta15N from the mature site than in recently exposed sites. On both the forefront and the mature site, host-specific ectomycorrhizal fungi had higher delta15N values than ectomycorrhizal fungi with a broad host range. From these isotopic patterns, we conclude: (1) large enrichments in 15N of many ectomycorrhizal fungi relative to co-occurring ectomycorrhizal plants are best explained by treating the plant-fungal-soil system as a closed system with a discrimination against 15N of 8-10 per thousand during transfer from fungi to plants, (2) based on models of 15N mass balance, ericoid and ectomycorrhizal fungi retain up to two-thirds of the N in the plant-mycorrhizal system under the N-limited conditions at forefront sites, (3) sporocarps are probably enriched in 15N by an additional 3 per thousand relative to available nitrogen, and (4) host-specific ectomycorrhizal fungi may transfer more N to plant hosts than non-host-specific ectomycorrhizal fungi. Our study confirms that nitrogen isotopes are a powerful tool for probing nitrogen dynamics between mycorrhizal fungi and associated plants.