Complementarity in mineral nitrogen use among dominant plant species in a subalpine community

The underlying mechanisms that enable plant species to coexist are poorly understood. Complementarity in resource use is among the major mechanisms proposed that could favor species coexistence but is insufficiently documented. In alpine soil, low temperatures are a major constraint for the supply of plant nitrogen. We carried out N-15 labeling of soil mineral N to determine to what extent four major species of a subalpine community compete for N, or develop ionic (NH4+ vs. NO3-) or temporal complementarity. The Poaceae took up much more N-15 per soil area unit than the ericaceous species, and all species displayed three major strategies in exploiting N-15: (1) uptake mainly early in the growing season (Vaccinium myrtillus), (2) uptake at a slow and similar rate throughout the growing season (Rhododendron ferrugineum), and (3) uptake at high rates over the growing season (Festuca eskia and Nardus stricta). However, while F. eskia used (NH4+)-N-15 mainly early and (NO3-)-N-15 mainly late in the growing season. the reverse was observed for N. stricta. Taking into account N-15 dilution in soil NH4+ and NO3- pools, we calculated that NH4+ provided more than 80% of the mineral N uptake in Ericaceae and about 60% in grasses. Together, such ionic and temporal complementarity would reduce competition between species and could be a major mechanism promoting species diversity.