NITROGEN-UTILIZATION BY PLANT-SPECIES FROM ACID HEATHLAND SOILS .1. COMPARISON BETWEEN NITRATE AND AMMONIUM NUTRITION AT CONSTANT LOW PH

Seven heathland species, four herbaceous plants and three dwarf shrubs, were tested for their capacity to utilize NH4+ or NO3-. When cultured in solution at pH 4.0 with 2 mol m(-3) N, all species showed similar growth responses with respect to N source. Nitrate was assimilated almost equally well as ammonium, with relative growth rate generally averaging 5-8% lower for NO3- grown plants, albeit not always significantly, However, N source was significantly and consistently correlated with biomass partitioning, as NH4+-fed plants allocated more dry matter to shoots and less to roots when compared to NO3--fed plants, The strong difference in biomass partitioning may relate to the relative surplus of carbon per unit plant N (or, alternatively, the relatively suboptimal rate of N assimilation per unit plant C) in NO3--fed plants. Inherently slow-growing dwarf shrubs accumulated virtually no free nitrate in their tissues and reduction of nitrate was strictly root-based, Faster-growing herbaceous plants, however, partitioned the assimilation of nitrate over both shoots and roots, thereby accumulating relatively high tissue NO3--levels. ion uptake rates depended clearly on the 'relative shoot demand', At similar shoot demands, especially in the herbaceous species, specific uptake rates for N and total inorganic (non-N) anions were higher in NH4+-fed plants, whereas the uptake rate for total (non-N) cations was higher in NO3--fed plants, Rate of P uptake was enhanced with increasing plant demand, but was independent of the N source, Net H+ extrusions ranged from 1.00 to 1.34 H+ per NH4+, and from -0.48 to -0.77 H+ per NO3- taken up.