Nitrogen fixation associated with Scirpus atrovirens and other nonnodulated plants in Massachusetts

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Abstract
Nitrogen fixation was measured using the acetylene reduction technique in soil cores of 13 nonnodulated, herbaceous plant species growing in mesic and wetland habitats. Six species that grew in a well-drained portion of an old field exhibited low rates of N2 fixation (7 g N∙ha−1∙day−1). A bulrush, Scirpus atrovirens, which grew in an area of compacted soil in the old field, showed a moderate rate of N2 fixation (30–100 g N∙ha−1∙day−1). These old field species exhibited a lag of only a few hours before a constant rate of acetylene reduction occurred. The estimated rates for the six wetland species were generally higher, and there was a lag such that the activity was still increasing after 20 h of incubation. N2 fixation in cores of S. atrovirens was primarily associated with the roots and adhering soil. Incubation of the cores in N2 for 24 h caused a fourfold increase in the acetylene reduction rate over that in air, although the rates during the first 4 h were similar.