title: Differences in the growth response of three bryophyte species to nitrogen.
abstract: The effect of nitrogen on biomass production, shoot elongation and relative density of the mosses Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens and Dicranum polysetum was studied in a chamber experiment. Monocultures were exposed to 10 N levels ranging from 0.02 to 7.35 g N m(-2) during a 90-day period. All the growth responses were unimodal, but the species showed differences in the shape parameters of the curves. Hylocomium and Pleurozium achieved optimum biomass production at a lower N level than Dicranum. Pleurozium had the highest biomass production per tissue N concentration. Tolerance to N was the widest in Dicranum, whereas Hylocomium had the narrowest tolerance. Dicranum retained N less efficiently from precipitation than the other two species, which explained its deviating response. All species translocated some N from parent to new shoots. The results emphasize that the individual responses of bryophytes to N should be known when species are used as bioindicators.
authors.affiliation: Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, PO Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland. maija.salemaa@metla.fi
authors.forename: Maija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salemaa
authors.forename: Raisa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mäkipää
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oksanen
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D044002:Bryophyta / Q000254:growth & development*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D009584:Nitrogen