Direct evidence for phosphorus limitation on Amazon forest productivity

Cunha, Hellen Fernanda Viana; Andersen, Kelly M.; Lugli, Laynara F.; Santana, Flávia Delgado; Aleixo, Izabela; Moraes, Anna Martins; Garcia, Sabrina; Ponzio, Raffaello Di; Mendoza, Erick Oblitas; Brum, Bárbara; Rosa, Jéssica Schmeisk; Cordeiro, Amanda L.; Portela, Bruno Takeshi Tanaka; Ribeiro, Gyovanni; Coelho, Sara Deambrozi; Souza, Sheila Trierveiler de; Silva, Lara Siebert; Antonieto, Felipe; Pires, Maria Rita Silvério; Salomão, Ana Cláudia; Miron, Ana Caroline; Assis, Rafael Leandro de; Domingues, Tomas F.; Aragão, Luiz E. O. C.; Meir, Patrick; Camargo, José Luís; Manzi, A. O.; Nagy, László; Mercado, Lina M.; Hartley, Iain P.; Quesada, Carlos Alberto

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05085-2

Cited by 93 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Dry biomass accumulation and growth rates in diameter and height are parameters that have already been applied to several tropical tree species in order to analyze and understand the balance between, and the levels of, nutrients in the soil and in the plant [ 23 , 39 ]. In this context, the plant responses almost always suggest that their physiological performance is limited by P [ 9 , 40 ]. This reinforces the hypothesis that B. excelsa , despite having high growth rates in relation to other native and exotic species, even in places with low availability of P, is limited by P. Thus, P fertilization in B. excelsa plantations can provide a considerable increase in production.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Phosphate Fertilization on Physiological Responses of the Young Bertholletia excelsa Plants Grown in a P-Deficient Amazon Ferralsol

Corrêa¹,

Gonçalves

Costa

et al. 2022

Plants

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Phosphorus (P) reacts with soil minerals, which makes it less available to plants. Considering that Amazonian soils have a low pH and nutrient availability, both of these properties contribute to an increase in P limitation. Here, we investigate how the addition of P to the substrate affects morpho-physiological traits of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl.). The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse with 24-month-old saplings, and the P treatments consisted of a control (Ferrasol without P addition) and 100, 200, 400, and 500 mg P kg−1 of added to the soil. When B. excelsa saplings were fertilized with phosphate, the N:P leaf ratio reduced from 50 to 26. Addition of P favored the photochemical efficiency of PSII (FV/FM), and the application of 200 mg kg−1 increased photosynthesis (PN) by 50%. Furthermore, phosphorus enhanced light and nutrient use efficiency. An increase in B. excelsa dry biomass was observed when 200 mg P kg−1 was added, with maximum yield occurring at 306.2 mg P kg−1. Physiological parameters suggest robust responses by B. excelsa to P fertilization. In addition, our findings reveal the critical role of P on B. excelsa growth in Ferralsol, as well as the potential of P fertilization to improve functional traits of this important Amazonian tree.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 6 ]. Not coincidentally, soil availability of P has been used to explain variations and limitations in forest biomass and growth across the Amazon basin [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. However, the question of whether plants will fulfill the P demand for an increase in biomass under elevated CO 2 conditions remains to be answered [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Phosphate Fertilization on Physiological Responses of the Young Bertholletia excelsa Plants Grown in a P-Deficient Amazon Ferralsol

Corrêa¹,

Gonçalves

Costa

et al. 2022

Plants

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“…For example, Lugli et al (2020) found increasing fine root production with increasing soil P but did not report relative allocation of fine roots to leaves, so we do not know if their relationship was due to an increase in total production (including fine root production) or whether biomass partitioning changed. Cunha et al (2022) reported strong increase of NPP exclusively with P fertilization, and fine root production was found to have greater response to P increase than canopy production (29% and 19%, respectively). Their findings showed a preferred biomass allocation to root when P availability increases, which is what our model with a "pos" parametrization simulates.…”

Section: Model Validationmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…In previously published versions of the model, r2l is a constant. Because several fertilization studies found that fine root production increases with soil P (Waring et al, 2019;Lugli et al, 2021;Cunha et al, 2022), we modified the code so that r2l would be related to soil soluble P (psol, unit: gP / kg soil) following:…”

Section: Model Modificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At this point, we cannot say whether ED2 would generate similar biases in fine root production at other tropical forest sites. More observations of biomass partitioning (including fine root production) under P fertilization would be helpful for testing the model, and such observations are becoming increasingly available (Yuan and Chen, 2012;Wright, 2019;Cunha et al, 2022).…”

Section: Model Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tropical Dry Forest Response to Nutrient Fertilization: A Model Validation and Sensitivity Analysis

Waring

Powers

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Abstract. Soil nutrients, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), regulate plant growth and hence influence carbon fluxes between the land surface and atmosphere. However, how forests adjust biomass partitioning to leaves, wood, and fine roots in response to N and/or P fertilization remains puzzling. Recent work in tropical forests suggests that trees increase fine root production under P fertilization, but it is unclear whether mechanistic models can reproduce this dynamic. In order to better understand mechanisms governing nutrient effects on plant allocation and improve models, we used the nutrient enabled ED2 model to simulate a fertilization experiment being conducted in a secondary tropical dry forest in Costa Rica. We evaluated how different allocation parameterizations affected model performance. These parameterizations prescribed a linear relationship between relative allocation to fine roots and soil P concentrations. The slope of the linear relationship was allowed to be positive, negative, or zero. Some parameterizations realistically simulated leaf, wood and fine root production, and these parameterizations all assumed a positive relationship between relative allocation to fine roots and soil P concentration. On a thirty-year timescale, under unfertilized conditions, our model predicted the largest aboveground biomass (AGB) accumulation when relative allocation to fine roots was positively related to soil P concentration. However, this result was mostly driven by increased water use rather than decreased nutrient limitation. On a thirty-year timescale with P fertilization, the assumption of a positive correlation between relative allocation to fine roots and soil P concentration led to over-investment to fine roots and reductions in vegetation biomass. Our study demonstrates the need of simultaneous measurements of leaf, wood, and fine root production in nutrient fertilization experiments. Models that do not accurately represent allocation to fine roots may be highly biased in their simulations of AGB, especially when simulating a range of sites with significantly different soil P concentrations.

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Phosphorus scarcity contributes to nitrogen limitation in lowland tropical rainforests

Vallicrosa

Lugli

Fuchslueger

et al. 2023

Ecology

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There is increasing evidence to suggest that soil nutrient availability can limit the carbon sink capacity of forests, a particularly relevant issue considering today's changing climate. This question is especially important in the tropics, where most part of the Earth's plant biomass is stored. To assess whether tropical forest growth is limited by soil nutrients and to explore N and P limitations, we analyzed stem growth and foliar elemental composition of the five stem widest trees per plot at two sites in French Guiana after 3 years of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and N + P addition. We also compared the results between potential N-fixer and non-N-fixer species. We found a positive effect of N fertilization on stem growth and foliar N, as well as a positive effect of P fertilization on stem growth, foliar N, and foliar P. Potential N-fixing species had greater stem growth, greater foliar N, and greater foliar P concentrations than non-N-fixers. In terms of growth, there was a negative interaction between N-fixer status, N + P, and P fertilization, but no interaction with N fertilization. Because N-fixing plants do not show to be completely N saturated, we do not anticipate N providing from N-fixing plants would supply non-N-fixers. Although the soil-age hypothesis only anticipates P limitation in highly weathered systems, our results for stem growth and foliar elemental composition indicate the existence of considerable N and P co-limitation, which is alleviated in N-fixing plants. The evidence suggests that certain mechanisms invest in N to obtain the scarce P through soil phosphatases, which potentially contributes to the N limitation detected by this study.

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Direct evidence for phosphorus limitation on Amazon forest productivity

Cited by 93 publications

References 68 publications

The Role of Phosphate Fertilization on Physiological Responses of the Young Bertholletia excelsa Plants Grown in a P-Deficient Amazon Ferralsol

The Role of Phosphate Fertilization on Physiological Responses of the Young Bertholletia excelsa Plants Grown in a P-Deficient Amazon Ferralsol

Tropical Dry Forest Response to Nutrient Fertilization: A Model Validation and Sensitivity Analysis

Phosphorus scarcity contributes to nitrogen limitation in lowland tropical rainforests

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