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Physiological linkage in co-variation of foliar nitrogen and phosphorus in tropical tree species along a gradient of soil phosphorus availability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2015

Amane Hidaka  and
Kanehiro Kitayama
Amane Hidaka*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan
Kanehiro Kitayama
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan
*
1Corresponding author. Current address: Network Center of Forest and Grassland Survey in Monitoring Sites 1000 Project, Japan Wildlife Research Center, c/o Tomakomai Research Station, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Tomakomai, Hokkaido 053-0035, Japan. Email: amanehidaka.ecology@gmail.com
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Abstract:

In order to understand the stoichiometric balance between foliar nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) on P-poor soils, we investigated how foliar N and P attributes (i.e. N and P concentrations in green and senesced leaves, N and P resorption efficiencies) of 30 tropical tree species co-vary along a gradient of soil P availability across three forests on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. We found strong and positive correlations between foliar N and P in the concentrations and resorption efficiencies within each forest and across the three forests. Slopes of standardized major axis between foliar N and P concentrations for both green and senesced leaves were not different among the three forests, although the values of the scaling exponent in the relationships of foliar N to P across the three forests were significantly lower than 1. We suggest that down-regulation of N concentrations in green leaves on P-poor soils is one of several possible mechanisms explaining why N concentrations decrease with decreasing P concentrations in both green and senesced leaves toward a lower P availability in soils. On the other hand, the physiological and ecological reasons why N and P resorption efficiencies are positively correlated with each other across tree species remain unclear.

Keywords

leaf traitslitternitrogennutrient limitationphosphorusresorptionstoichiometrytropical montane rain forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , May 2015 , pp. 221 - 229
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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