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  • Title: Moderate water stress does not inhibit nitrogen remobilization, allowing fast growth in high nitrogen content Quercus variabilis seedlings under dry conditions.
    Author: Wang J, Villar-Salvador P, Li G, Liu Y.
    Journal: Tree Physiol; 2019 Apr 01; 39(4):650-660. PubMed ID: 30551133.
    Abstract:
    Remobilization of stored nitrogen (N) plays an important role in the early growth of deciduous trees in spring. Several environmental factors can modulate N remobilization, but whether water stress is one such factors is unknown. This study analyzes how the size of N storage in Quercus variabilis Blume seedlings interacts with water stress to affect N remobilization, uptake and new growth. This information is important for improving success of forest tree plantations under dry spring conditions. During the first growing season, we produced seedlings with distinct N content by applying two fall N fertilization rates (12 or 24 mg N per seedling) using 15N-enriched fertilizer. At the beginning of the second growing season, a new experiment was started where seedlings were transplanted into larger pots and subjected to two watering levels (85 or 40% of field capacity). The plants were sampled at 4 weeks (T1), 8 weeks (T2) and 12 weeks (T3) after transplanting. Low watering reduced the growth of high and low N seedlings, but high N seedlings showed greater growth than low N seedlings. During bud burst and initial shoot elongation (T1), restricted watering, which induced a moderate water stress, did not affect the amount of N remobilized from roots, the major source of stored N source at this growth stage. This suggests that high N storage can partially counteract the negative effect of moderate water stress on early growth. At T1, water stress did not affect N uptake, and high N content seedlings absorbed significantly less soil N than did low N content seedlings. At T3, in contrast, water stress was the main determinant for N uptake, with drought-stressed plants showing lower uptake than well-watered plants. We conclude that moderate drought does not inhibit N remobilization from the major storage organ at early growth stages in spring, and that increasing N storage of planted seedlings through fall fertilization can mitigate the negative effect of moderate spring drought on growth.
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