High variation in foliage and leaf litter chemistry among 45 tree species of a neotropical rainforest community.

The New Phytologist
Stephan HättenschwilerDamien Bonal

Abstract

Distinct ecosystem level carbon : nitrogen : phosphorus (C : N : P) stoichiometries in forest foliage have been suggested to reflect ecosystem-scale selection for physiological strategies in plant nutrient use. Here, this hypothesis was explored in a nutrient-poor lowland rainforest in French Guiana. Variation in C, N and P concentrations was evaluated in leaf litter and foliage from neighbour trees of 45 different species, and the litter concentrations of major C fractions were also measured. Litter C ranged from 45.3 to 52.4%, litter N varied threefold (0.68-2.01%), and litter P varied seven-fold (0.009-0.062%) among species. Compared with foliage, mean litter N and P concentrations decreased by 30% and 65%, respectively. Accordingly, the range in mass-based N : P shifted from 14 to 55 in foliage to 26 to 105 in litter. Resorption proficiencies indicated maximum P withdrawal in most species, but with a substantial increase in variation in litter P compared with foliage. These data suggest that constrained ecosystem-level C : N : P ratios do not preclude the evolution of highly diversified strategies of nutrient use and conservation among tropical rainforest tree species. The resulting large variation in litter quality will in...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 18, 2010·Tree Physiology·Anna E RichardsMichael Scherer-Lorenzen
May 5, 2009·Oecologia·Wim H van der PuttenD A Wardle
Jun 7, 2011·Comptes rendus biologies·Stephan HättenschwilerSandra Barantal
Nov 21, 2009·Plant Physiology and Biochemistry : PPB·Christina SchädelGünter Hoch
Dec 2, 2010·The New Phytologist·Gregory P Asner, Roberta E Martin
May 20, 2015·Global Ecology and Biogeography : a Journal of Macroecology·J Sardans, J Peñuelas
Jun 4, 2015·Current Opinion in Plant Biology·Christian Körner
Aug 1, 2015·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Bonnie G WaringJennifer S Powers
May 10, 2017·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Shan SunBrian D Badgley
Oct 31, 2018·Molecular Ecology·Lucie ZingerJérôme Chave
Feb 23, 2019·The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology·Laura M WalkerSteven L Stephenson
Sep 7, 2017·Scientific Reports·Luz BoyeroRichard G Pearson
Aug 11, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Jingfan ZhangFaming Wang
Nov 12, 2021·Journal of Plant Research·Ye TaoYuan-Ming Zhang
Dec 18, 2021·Frontiers in Plant Science·Yihua XiaoTushou Luo

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