Abstract
Wood contains the majority of the nutrients in tropical trees, yet controls over wood nutrient concentrations and their function are poorly understood. We measured wood nutrient concentrations in 106 tree species in 10 forest plots spanning a regional fertility gradient in Panama. For a subset of species, we quantified foliar nutrients and wood density to test whether wood nutrients scale with foliar nutrients at the species level, or wood nutrient storage increases with wood density as predicted by the wood economics spectrum. Wood nutrient concentrations varied enormously among species from fourfold in nitrogen (N) to > 30-fold in calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P). Community-weighted mean wood nutrient concentrations correlated positively with soil Ca, K, Mg and P concentrations. Wood nutrients scaled positively with leaf nutrients, supporting the hypothesis that nutrient allocation is conserved across plant organs. Wood P was most sensitive to variation in soil nutrient availability, and significant radial declines in wood P indicated that tropical trees retranslocate P as sapwood transitions to heartwood. Wood P decreased with increasing wood density, suggesting that low wood P and dense wood are traits associated with tree species persistence on low fertility soils. Substantial variation among species and communities in wood nutrient concentrations suggests that allocation of nutrients to wood, especially P, influences species distributions and nutrient dynamics in tropical forests.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 440-454 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | The New phytologist |
| Volume | 211 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1 2016 |
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Keywords
- Fortuna Forest Reserve
- environmental gradients
- functional traits
- nutrient limitation
- phosphorus cycling
- stoichiometry
- wood density
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Plant Science
Cite this
Variation in wood nutrients along a tropical soil fertility gradient. / Heineman, Katherine D.; Turner, Benjamin L.; Dalling, James W.
In: The New phytologist, Vol. 211, No. 2, 01.07.2016, p. 440-454.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Variation in wood nutrients along a tropical soil fertility gradient
AU - Heineman, Katherine D.
AU - Turner, Benjamin L.
AU - Dalling, James W
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - Wood contains the majority of the nutrients in tropical trees, yet controls over wood nutrient concentrations and their function are poorly understood. We measured wood nutrient concentrations in 106 tree species in 10 forest plots spanning a regional fertility gradient in Panama. For a subset of species, we quantified foliar nutrients and wood density to test whether wood nutrients scale with foliar nutrients at the species level, or wood nutrient storage increases with wood density as predicted by the wood economics spectrum. Wood nutrient concentrations varied enormously among species from fourfold in nitrogen (N) to > 30-fold in calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P). Community-weighted mean wood nutrient concentrations correlated positively with soil Ca, K, Mg and P concentrations. Wood nutrients scaled positively with leaf nutrients, supporting the hypothesis that nutrient allocation is conserved across plant organs. Wood P was most sensitive to variation in soil nutrient availability, and significant radial declines in wood P indicated that tropical trees retranslocate P as sapwood transitions to heartwood. Wood P decreased with increasing wood density, suggesting that low wood P and dense wood are traits associated with tree species persistence on low fertility soils. Substantial variation among species and communities in wood nutrient concentrations suggests that allocation of nutrients to wood, especially P, influences species distributions and nutrient dynamics in tropical forests.
AB - Wood contains the majority of the nutrients in tropical trees, yet controls over wood nutrient concentrations and their function are poorly understood. We measured wood nutrient concentrations in 106 tree species in 10 forest plots spanning a regional fertility gradient in Panama. For a subset of species, we quantified foliar nutrients and wood density to test whether wood nutrients scale with foliar nutrients at the species level, or wood nutrient storage increases with wood density as predicted by the wood economics spectrum. Wood nutrient concentrations varied enormously among species from fourfold in nitrogen (N) to > 30-fold in calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P). Community-weighted mean wood nutrient concentrations correlated positively with soil Ca, K, Mg and P concentrations. Wood nutrients scaled positively with leaf nutrients, supporting the hypothesis that nutrient allocation is conserved across plant organs. Wood P was most sensitive to variation in soil nutrient availability, and significant radial declines in wood P indicated that tropical trees retranslocate P as sapwood transitions to heartwood. Wood P decreased with increasing wood density, suggesting that low wood P and dense wood are traits associated with tree species persistence on low fertility soils. Substantial variation among species and communities in wood nutrient concentrations suggests that allocation of nutrients to wood, especially P, influences species distributions and nutrient dynamics in tropical forests.
KW - Fortuna Forest Reserve
KW - environmental gradients
KW - functional traits
KW - nutrient limitation
KW - phosphorus cycling
KW - stoichiometry
KW - wood density
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027944145&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027944145&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/nph.13904
DO - 10.1111/nph.13904
M3 - Article
C2 - 26922861
AN - SCOPUS:85027944145
VL - 211
SP - 440
EP - 454
JO - New Phytologist
JF - New Phytologist
SN - 0028-646X
IS - 2
ER -