Nitrogen nutrition during ontogeny of hemiepiphytic Clusia species

Abstract

We investigated the nitrogen (N) nutrition of Clusia osaensis, C. peninsulae and C. valerii during the seedling, epiphytic and hemiepiphytic phase in a lowland tropical forest in Costa Rica in order to elucidate nutritional adaptations of different plant growth stages to their habitat. Although all Clusia individuals were non-mycorrhizal, excised roots of seedlings, but also of epiphytic and hemiepiphytic stages, showed a distinct preference for glycine uptake. The shift in main rooting site from canopy soil to terrestrial soil was not reflected by changes in uptake rate or preference, although N availability and the composition of the available N pool changed significantly. High foliar N co..