Dataset Information

Photosynthesis of subtropical forest species from different successional status in relation to foliar nutrients and phosphorus fractions.

ABSTRACT: The ecophysiological linkages of leaf nutrients to photosynthesis in subtropical forests along succession remain elusive. We measured photosynthetic parameters (Amax, Vcmax, Jmax, PPUE), leaf phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), foliar P fractions and LMA from 24 species (pioneer, generalist, and climax). Amax was significantly related to N and P for the pooled data, while significant relationship between Amax and P was only found in climax species. The mixed-effect model including variables (N, P, and SLA or LMA) for predicting Vcmax and Jmax best fitted but varied remarkably across succession. Climax species had higher N: P ratios, indicating an increasing P limitation at later succession stage; photosynthesis, however, did not show stronger P than N limitations across all species. Nevertheless, climax species appeared to increase nucleic acid P allocation and residual P utilization for growth, thereby reducing the overall demand for P. Our results indicate that the scaling of photosynthesis with other functional traits could not be uniform across succession, growth variables (e.g. photosynthesis) and species trait identity (e.g. successional strategy) should be considered in combination with N: P ratio when we investigate P limitation in subtropical forests, and variations in P allocation state further influencing photosynthetic rates and P-use efficiency.

SUBMITTER: Zhang G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6041293 | biostudies-other | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Photosynthesis of subtropical forest species from different successional status in relation to foliar nutrients and phosphorus fractions.

Zhang Guihua G Zhang Lingling L Wen Dazhi D

Scientific reports 20180711 1

The ecophysiological linkages of leaf nutrients to photosynthesis in subtropical forests along succession remain elusive. We measured photosynthetic parameters (Amax, Vcmax, Jmax, PPUE), leaf phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), foliar P fractions and LMA from 24 species (pioneer, generalist, and climax). Amax was significantly related to N and P for the pooled data, while significant relationship between Amax and P was only found in climax spec ...[more]

PMID: 29993018

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Project description:How plants develop adaptive strategies to efficiently use nutrients on infertile soils is an important topic in plant ecology. It has been suggested that, with decreasing phosphorus (P) availability, plants increase photosynthetic P-use efficiency (PPUE) (i.e., the ratio of instantaneous photosynthetic carbon assimilation rate per unit foliar P). However, the mechanism to increase PPUE remains unclear. In this study, we tested whether high PPUE is explained by an optimized allocation of P in cells among P-containing biochemical compounds (i.e., foliar P fractions). We investigated the relationships among mass-based photosynthetic carbon assimilation rate (A mass), PPUE, total foliar P concentration, and foliar P fractions in 10 tree species in two tropical montane rain forests with differing soil P availability (five species on sedimentary soils and five species on P-poorer ultrabasic serpentine soils) on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. We chemically fractionated foliar P into the following four fractions: metabolic P, lipid P, nucleic acid P, and residual P. A mass was positively correlated with the concentrations of total foliar P and of metabolic P across 10 tree species. Mean A mass and mean concentrations of total foliar P and of each foliar P fraction were lower on the P-poorer ultrabasic serpentine soils than on the sedimentary soils. There was a negative relationship between the proportion of metabolic P per total P and the proportion of lipid P per total P. PPUE was positively correlated with the ratio of metabolic P to lipid P. High PPUE is explained by the net effect of a relatively greater investment of P into P-containing metabolites and a relatively lesser investment into phospholipids in addition to generally reduced concentrations of all P fractions. We conclude that plants optimize the allocation of P among foliar P fractions for maintaining their productivity and growth and for reducing demand for P as their adaptation to P-poor soils.

Project description:Phosphorus (P) is an important nutrient, whose plant-available form phosphate is often low in natural forest ecosystems. Mycorrhizal fungi mine the soil for P and supply their host with this resource. It is unknown how ectomycorrhizal communities respond to changes in P availability. Here, we used young beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees in natural forest soil from a P-rich and P-poor site to investigate the impact of P amendment on soil microbes, mycorrhizas, beech P nutrition, and photosynthesis. We hypothesized that addition of P to forest soil increased P availability, thereby, leading to enhanced microbial biomass and mycorrhizal diversity in P-poor but not in P-rich soil. We expected that P amendment resulted in increased plant P uptake and enhanced photosynthesis in both soil types. Young beech trees with intact soil cores from a P-rich and a P-poor forest were kept in a common garden experiment and supplied once in fall with triple superphosphate. In the following summer, labile P in the organic layer, but not in the mineral top soil, was significantly increased in response to fertilizer treatment. P-rich soil contained higher microbial biomass than P-poor soil. P treatment had no effect on microbial biomass but influenced the mycorrhizal communities in P-poor soil and shifted their composition toward higher similarities to those in P-rich soil. Plant uptake efficiency was negatively correlated with the diversity of mycorrhizal communities and highest for trees in P-poor soil and lowest for fertilized trees. In both soil types, radioactive P tracing (H333PO4) revealed preferential aboveground allocation of new P in fertilized trees, resulting in increased bound P in xylem tissue and enhanced soluble P in bark, indicating increased storage and transport. Fertilized beeches from P-poor soil showed a strong increase in leaf P concentrations from deficient to luxurious conditions along with increased photosynthesis. Based on the divergent behavior of beech in P-poor and P-rich forest soil, we conclude that acclimation of beech to low P stocks involves dedicated mycorrhizal community structures, low P reserves in storage tissues and photosynthetic inhibition, while storage and aboveground allocation of additional P occurs regardless of the P nutritional status.

Dataset Information

Photosynthesis of subtropical forest species from different successional status in relation to foliar nutrients and phosphorus fractions.

Publications

Photosynthesis of subtropical forest species from different successional status in relation to foliar nutrients and phosphorus fractions.

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