Dataset Information

Soil properties explain tree growth and mortality, but not biomass, across phosphorus-depleted tropical forests.

ABSTRACT: We observed strong positive relationships between soil properties and forest dynamics of growth and mortality across twelve primary lowland tropical forests in a phosphorus-poor region of the Guiana Shield. Average tree growth (diameter at breast height) increased from 0.81 to 2.1?mm?yr^-1 along a soil texture gradient from 0 to 67% clay, and increasing metal-oxide content. Soil organic carbon stocks in the top 30?cm ranged from 30 to 118 tons C ha^-1, phosphorus content ranged from 7 to 600?mg?kg^-1 soil, and the relative abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ranged from 0 to 50%, all positively correlating with soil clay, and iron and aluminum oxide and hydroxide content. In contrast, already low extractable phosphorus (Bray P) content decreased from 4.4 to <0.02?mg?kg^-1 in soil with increasing clay content. A greater prevalence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in more clayey forests that had higher tree growth and mortality, but not biomass, indicates that despite the greater investment in nutrient uptake required, soils with higher clay content may actually serve to sustain high tree growth in tropical forests by avoiding phosphorus losses from the ecosystem. Our study demonstrates how variation in soil properties that retain carbon and nutrients can help to explain variation in tropical forest growth and mortality, but not biomass, by requiring niche specialization and contributing to biogeochemical diversification across this region.

SUBMITTER: Soong JL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7010742 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Soil properties explain tree growth and mortality, but not biomass, across phosphorus-depleted tropical forests.

Soong Jennifer L JL Janssens Ivan A IA Grau Oriol O Margalef Olga O Stahl Clément C Van Langenhove Leandro L Urbina Ifigenia I Chave Jerome J Dourdain Aurelie A Ferry Bruno B Freycon Vincent V Herault Bruno B Sardans Jordi J Peñuelas Josep J Verbruggen Erik E

Scientific reports 20200210 1

We observed strong positive relationships between soil properties and forest dynamics of growth and mortality across twelve primary lowland tropical forests in a phosphorus-poor region of the Guiana Shield. Average tree growth (diameter at breast height) increased from 0.81 to 2.1 mm yr<sup>-1</sup> along a soil texture gradient from 0 to 67% clay, and increasing metal-oxide content. Soil organic carbon stocks in the top 30 cm ranged from 30 to 118 tons C ha<sup>-1</sup>, phosphorus content rang ...[more]

PMID: 32041976

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe availability of soil phosphorus (P) often limits the productivities of wet tropical lowland forests. Little is known, however, about the metabolomic profile of different chemical P compounds with potentially different uses and about the cycling of P and their variability across space under different tree species in highly diverse tropical rainforests.ResultsWe hypothesised that the different strategies of the competing tree species to retranslocate, mineralise, mobilise, and take up P from the soil would promote distinct soil 31P profiles. We tested this hypothesis by performing a metabolomic analysis of the soils in two rainforests in French Guiana using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). We analysed 31P NMR chemical shifts in soil solutions of model P compounds, including inorganic phosphates, orthophosphate mono- and diesters, phosphonates, and organic polyphosphates. The identity of the tree species (growing above the soil samples) explained > 53% of the total variance of the 31P NMR metabolomic profiles of the soils, suggesting species-specific ecological niches and/or species-specific interactions with the soil microbiome and soil trophic web structure and functionality determining the use and production of P compounds. Differences at regional and topographic levels also explained some part of the the total variance of the 31P NMR profiles, although less than the influence of the tree species. Multivariate analyses of soil 31P NMR metabolomics data indicated higher soil concentrations of P biomolecules involved in the active use of P (nucleic acids and molecules involved with energy and anabolism) in soils with lower concentrations of total soil P and higher concentrations of P-storing biomolecules in soils with higher concentrations of total P.ConclusionsThe results strongly suggest "niches" of soil P profiles associated with physical gradients, mostly topographic position, and with the specific distribution of species along this gradient, which is associated with species-specific strategies of soil P mineralisation, mobilisation, use, and uptake.

Dataset Information

Soil properties explain tree growth and mortality, but not biomass, across phosphorus-depleted tropical forests.

Publications

Soil properties explain tree growth and mortality, but not biomass, across phosphorus-depleted tropical forests.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets