The role of tectonic uplift, climate, and vegetation in the long-term terrestrial phosphorous cycle

Buendía, Corina; Kleidon, Axel; Porporato, Amilcare

doi:10.5194/bg-7-2025-2010

Cited by 47 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(84 reference statements)

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“…On ecological timescales, P availability depends on the efficient mineralization and recycling of organic matter (Cuevas and Medina, 1988), while over geologic timescales it depends mainly on rock weathering which is the only P source (Gardner, 1990;Schlesinger, 1997;Buendía et al,…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the potential vegetation feedbacks that enhance phosphorus availability – insights from a process-based model linking geological and ecological timescales

et al. 2014

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Abstract. In old and heavily weathered soils, the availability of P might be so small that the primary production of plants is limited. However, plants have evolved several mechanisms to actively take up P from the soil or mine it to overcome this limitation. These mechanisms involve the active uptake of P mediated by mycorrhiza, biotic de-occlusion through root clusters, and the biotic enhancement of weathering through root exudation. The objective of this paper is to investigate how and where these processes contribute to alleviate P limitation on primary productivity. To do so, we propose a process-based model accounting for the major processes of the carbon, water, and P cycles including chemical weathering at the global scale. Implementing P limitation on biomass synthesis allows the assessment of the efficiencies of biomass production across different ecosystems. We use simulation experiments to assess the relative importance of the different uptake mechanisms to alleviate P limitation on biomass production. We find that active P uptake is an essential mechanism for sustaining P availability on long timescales, whereas biotic de-occlusion might serve as a buffer on timescales shorter than 10 000 yr. Although active P uptake is essential for reducing P losses by leaching, humid lowland soils reach P limitation after around 100 000 yr of soil evolution. Given the generalized modelling framework, our model results compare reasonably with observed or independently estimated patterns and ranges of P concentrations in soils and vegetation. Furthermore, our simulations suggest that P limitation might be an important driver of biomass production efficiency (the fraction of the gross primary productivity used for biomass growth), and that vegetation on old soils has a smaller biomass production rate when P becomes limiting. With this study, we provide a theoretical basis for investigating the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to P availability linking geological and ecological timescales under different environmental settings.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the potential vegetation feedbacks that enhance phosphorus availability – insights from a process-based model linking geological and ecological timescales

et al. 2014

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“…This measurement contrast to trends observed in soil chronosequences like the Hawaiin Islands and Franz Joseph Glacier retrogression (Walker and Syers, 1976;Wardle, 2004;Wardle et al, 2009), where at terminal steady state no weathering is detectable. The Amazon basin experiences continental isostatic rebound, where the slow erosion rates are compensated by slow uplift and weathering of new material (Porder et al, 2007;Buendía et al, 2010). However, because bedrock can be as deep as 100 m, it is not clear whether or not P released by weathering can reach the terrestrial biotic cycle (Gardner, 1990).…”

Section: Weatheringmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sensitivities to parameters like soil moisture, vegetation active uptake, and runoff are presented in Buendía et al (2010), and the values chosen for simulations are listed in Table 1.…”

Section: Balance Equationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The model includes a "local" P cycling module (based on Buendía et al, 2010), a description of plant-animal and detritus-animal interactions, and an animal-driven P redistribution mechanism between seasonally flooded and terra firme ecosystems. The local module, indicated by an E subscript to identify a specific ecosystem type, consists of six ordinary differential equations representing the dynamics of weatherable material, secondary minerals, occluded P, P in available forms (P dE ), P in vegetation biomass (P vE ), and P in soil and litter biomass (P oE ).…”

Section: Modeling Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the effect of nutrient redistribution by animals on the phosphorus cycle of lowland Amazonia

Buendía¹,

Kleidon²,

Manzoni³

et al. 2018

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Phosphorus (P) availability decreases with soil age and potentially limits the productivity of ecosystems growing on old and weathered soils. Despite growing on ancient soils, ecosystems of lowland Amazonia are highly productive and are among the most biodiverse on Earth. P eroded and weathered in the Andes is transported by the rivers and deposited in floodplains of the lowland Amazon basin creating hotspots of P fertility. We hypothesize that animals feeding on vegetation and detritus in these hotspots may redistribute P to P-depleted areas, thus contributing to dissipate the P gradient across the landscape. Using a mathematical model, we show that animal-driven spatial redistribution of P from rivers to land and from seasonally flooded to terra firme (upland) ecosystems may sustain the P cycle of Amazonian lowlands. Our results show how P imported to land by terrestrial piscivores in combination with spatial redistribution of herbivores and detritivores can significantly enhance the P content in terra firme ecosystems, thereby highlighting the importance of food webs for the biogeochemical cycling of Amazonia.

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“…In a sensitivity study we double and halve these numbers. We estimate P losses from the system (K ) based on equations from Buendia et al (2010). In a lower bound sensitivity study, we also use a constant K ¼ 0.0014 yr À1 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of large animal extinctions on nutrient fluxes in early river valley civilizations

Doughty¹,

Wolf²,

Malhi³

2013

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Urbanization began independently in four river valley civilizations ;3,500-5,000 years before the present (ybp) in fertile river valleys that originally had free-ranging large animals, including elephants, that eventually went locally extinct. Such large animals are disproportionally important in the lateral spread of nutrients away from nutrient concentration gradients common near floodplains, and the local extinction of the animals would have reduced this flow of nutrients into surrounding regions. Prior to the use of manure as a fertilizer, this natural spread of nutrients would have increased productivity and food yield, and its absence would have immediately decreased fertility to regions outside the floodplains. Here we calculate this changing nutrient flux using a ''random walk'' model and estimate that phosphorus (P) concentrations in the vegetation were reduced by .40% outside the floodplain following the loss of these animals and the process could take between 840 and 6,800 years depending on the region and the model parameters used. In the short term, we hypothesize that the decreased fertility may have reduced food yields and driven early agriculturalists from the outer regions away from rivers towards the more fertile floodplains. In the long term, yield and populations in outer regions would have decreased, constraining the potential growth of these civilizations, thus demonstrating how the loss of a key ecosystem service could have important repercussions for humanity that continue over thousands of years.

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The role of tectonic uplift, climate, and vegetation in the long-term terrestrial phosphorous cycle

Cited by 47 publications

References 44 publications

On the potential vegetation feedbacks that enhance phosphorus availability – insights from a process-based model linking geological and ecological timescales

On the potential vegetation feedbacks that enhance phosphorus availability – insights from a process-based model linking geological and ecological timescales

Evaluating the effect of nutrient redistribution by animals on the phosphorus cycle of lowland Amazonia

The impact of large animal extinctions on nutrient fluxes in early river valley civilizations

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