Species-specific responses of foliar nutrients to long-term nitrogen and phosphorus additions in a lowland tropical forest

• Published in: The Journal of ecology Vol. 102; no. 1; pp. 36 - 44
• Main Authors: Mayor, Jordan R., Wright, S. Joseph, Turner, Benjamin L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford John Wiley & Sons Ltd 01.01.2014; Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Fertilization; Forest ecology; Forest litter; Forestry; Forests; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; General forest ecology; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; gigante fertilization experiment; Human ecology; Leaves; Limiting nutrients; luxury consumption; Nitrogen; Nutrient availability; Nutrient concentrations; Nutrients; Phosphorus; Plant ecology; Plant nutrition; Plant species; Plant–soil (below-ground) interactions; plant–soil interactions; Rainforests; resorption; Soil ecology; Soil nutrients; stoichiometry; Tetragastris; Trees; Tropical forests; Stoichiometry; plant―soil interactions; Fertilization; luxury consumption; gigante fertilization experiment; Resorption; Phosphorus; Tropical forest; Species specificity; Nitrogen; Long term; Nutrient; Soil plant relation; Lowland
• ISSN: 0022-0477; 1365-2745
• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12190

1. The concentration, stoichiometry and resorption of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in plant leaves are often used as proxies of the availability of these growth-limiting nutrients, but the responses of these metrics to changes in nutrient availability remain largely untested for tropical forest trees. 2. We evaluated changes in N and P concentrations, N/P ratios and resorption for four common tree species after 13 years of factorial N and P additions in a lowland tropical forest in Panama. 3. Chronic P addition increased foliar P concentrations, decreased P resorption proficiency and decreased N/P ratios in three locally common eudicot tree species (Alseis blackiana, Heisteria concinna, Tetragastris panamensis). The increase in foliar P involved similar proportional increases in organic and inorganic P in two species and a disproportionately large increase in inorganic P in A. blackiana. 4. Nitrogen addition did not alter foliar N concentrations in any species, but did decrease N resorption proficiency in H. concinna. 5. A fourth species, the palm Oenocarpus mapora, demonstrated remarkably static foliar nutrient concentrations, responding only with a marginal decrease in P resorption proficiency under N plus P co-addition. 6. Synthesis. Collectively, these results suggest that adjustment of N/P ratios can be expected in eudicots exposed to elevated P, but foliar N appears to already be at optimal levels in these lowland rain forest tree species. The complexity of species-specific responses to altered nutrient availability highlights the difficulty in predicting future responses of tropical forest trees to a changing world.