Differences in C, N,δ13C, andδ15N among plant functional types after a wildfire in a black spruce forest, interior Alaska
- 1 March 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Canadian Science Publishing in Canadian Journal of Forest Research
- Vol. 52 (3), 357-364
- https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2021-0134
Abstract
We measured differences in %C, %N, 13C and 15N of plant functional types 17 (PFTs) between burned and unburned ground surfaces soon after a wildfire on a north-18 facing slope in interior Alaska. The C and N were measured for 16 species and 19 Sphagnum litter. 13C differed among the PFTs and was low for trees and shrubs, 20 suggesting that woody stems slowed C dynamics or showed low water use efficiency. 21 15N concentrations suggested that the herbaceous plants depended less on the 22 mycorrhizal associations that became weak on the burned surfaces. The shrub leaves 23 showed the lowest 15N of PFTs and showed higher 15N on the burned surface, showing 24 that N transfer from the soils to the leaves in the shrubs was slowed by the wildfire. 25 Mosses showed the highest C/N ratio. Sphagnum litter decomposed faster on the burned 26 surface, and %N and 15N in the litter increased from the second to third year on both 27 burned and unburned surfaces, while %C changed little. In conclusion, the responses to 28 the wildfire differed among the PFTs as characterized by their C and N dynamics. 2930Key words: Burned and unburned ground surface, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), Alaskan 31 taiga, plant functional type, stable isotopeThis publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
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