Seminar with Dr Judy Simon

Interactions in the rhizosphere - Responses of woody seedlings to climate change and invasive species

Dr Judy Simon

Heisenberg Fellow, University of Konstanz, Germany
Plant Interactions Ecophysiology Group Leader

http://www.plantinteractionsecophysiology.com/

 
Global change, such as climate change and/or biological invasions of species, affects plant fitness and competitiveness, especially in highly vulnerable seedlings, resulting in severe effects on forest ecosystems in the future. Facing these challenges and the accompanying ecosystem changes, more detailed knowledge of the basic processes and underlying mechanisms is required to understand ecosystem functioning, and thus develop and evaluate strategies for sustainable ecosystem management to secure ecosystem services for modern society. Most studies on plant interactions with regard to nitrogen acquisition and/or partitioning have focused on inorganic N, and only recently organic N acquisition of plants has come into the focus of research. Furthermore, plants have developed different mechanisms to optimise the utilisation of limited nitrogen (N) resources; however, the complex interactions between different species, particularly long-living woody species, with regard to the competition for N in the rhizosphere are currently only little understood. The research presented here provides new insights into the understanding of the processes involved in the regulation of belowground competition for nitrogen in temperate forests. We studied different tree species and their N acquisition strategies (i. e. inorganic and organic N forms) in intra- and interspecific competition. Further results from experiments including important abiotic factors provide evidence that these N uptake strategies strongly depend on the environment. Moreover, N acquisition in the rhizosphere of forests can also be influenced by invasive tree species.