Consequences of competition and abiotic stress on the acquisition and internal allocation of nitrogen in temperate woody species

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Global change places new challenges on ecosystems by affecting plant growth and development, and thus fitness and productivity. Hence, understanding the processes and mechanisms underlying the interactions between plants within the ecosystem and how they might be affected by environmental factors will aid to develop strategies for sustainable ecosystems. Facing these challenges in the view of the daily competition for limiting resources, particularly plant growth limiting nitrogen, plants have developed different mechanisms to optimise their utilisation in the rhizosphere, for example by avoiding competition by taking up nitrogen from different depths, preferring different nitrogen sources, exuding inhibitors, and/or via supporting facilitating microorganisms. However, the consequences of climate change (e.g. drought and enhanced temperature) on these complex interactions between different competitors in forest ecosystems are still only little understood, although the topic has recently come into the focus of attention. Furthermore, studies on the competition for nitrogen between woody species are rare. This project aims to provide new insights into the understanding of the processes involved in the regulation of belowground competition for nitrogen in plant interactions in forest ecosystems. Furthermore, the influence of key abiotic factors (i.e. nitrogen availability, drought and enhanced temperature) on these processes in the rhizosphere will be studied.