Tropical wood stores substantial amounts of nutrients, but we have limited understanding why
2022
Bauters, Marijn | Grau, Oriol | Doetterl, S. | Heineman, K.D. | Dalling, J.W. | Prada, C.M. | Griepentrog, M. | Malhi, Y. | Riutta, T. | Scalon, M. | Oliveras Menor, Imma | Inagawa, T. | Majalap, N. | Beeckman, H. | van den Bulcke, J. | Perring, M.P. | Dourdain, Aurélie, K. | Hérault, Bruno | Vermeir, P. | Makelele, I.A. | Fernández, P.R. | Sardans, J. | Peñuelas, J. | Janssens, I.A. | Universiteit Gent = Ghent University = Université de Gand (UGent) | Instituto de Historia, CSIC (IH-CSIC) ; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas [España] = Spanish National Research Council [Spain] (CSIC) | Department of Environmental Systems Science [ETH Zürich] (D-USYS) ; Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich] (ETH Zürich) | San Diego Zoo Global Institute for Conservation Research | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [Urbana] (UIUC) ; University of Illinois System | Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Occitanie])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université de Montpellier (UM) | University of Oxford | Forest Research Centre (FRC) | Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Forêts et Sociétés (UPR Forêts et Sociétés) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | Universiteit Antwerpen = University of Antwerp | European Project: 610028,ERC-2013-SyG,ERC-2013-SyG,IMBALANCE-P(2014)
Rock-derived nutrients such as calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) are essential plant resources, yet depleted in highly weathered tropical soils, leading to nutrient limitation of productivity or other ecosystem processes. Despite this, substantial amounts of rock-derived nutrients occur within wood, which raises questions about the role that wood nutrients play in the ecology of tropical forests. Using data from forests across the tropics, we quantify wood nutrient stocks at individual tree and ecosystem levels. At the ecosystem level, we show that tropical wood can store substantial amounts of rock-derived nutrients. Furthermore, on a tree level, tree species vary widely in woody nutrient concentrations. These observations raise important questions as to the biogeochemical or ecological drivers that lead to this variability, as well as the role that woody tissue plays in the buffering and cycling of nutrients. We offer some potential explanations and direction for future research to explore this under-appreciated but sizable store of inorganic nutrients in tropical biomass.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by AgroParisTech