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Biomass allocation and phosphorus economics of rain-forest seedlings: effects of fertilization and radiation on soil specialists and soil generalists

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Sean M. Gleason ,
Jennifer Read  and
Adrian Ares
Sean M. Gleason
Affiliation:
Monash University, School of Biological Sciences, Building 18, Victoria 3800, Australia
Jennifer Read
Affiliation:
Monash University, School of Biological Sciences, Building 18, Victoria 3800, Australia
Adrian Ares
Affiliation:
Oregon State University, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA
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Abstract:

Concurrent nutrient and radiation limitation in forests may engender trade-offs between P-use and radiation-use efficiency in tree species. To quantify these trade-offs, structural and physiological traits were examined among five rain-forest species subjected to four levels of fertilization and two levels of radiation in a glasshouse experiment. Schist specialists, Cryptocarya lividula and Ceratopetalum virchowii, occur only on P-poor schist soils, whereas soil generalists, Cryptocarya mackinnoniana, Franciscodendron laurifolium and Myristica insipida, occur on both P-poor schist and P-rich basalt soils. Wild seedlings less than 20 cm tall and 1 y old were collected from field sites, treated with fungicide, sorted into treatments (48 plants per species), and grown for 11 mo. We hypothesized that soil specialists would possess mainly non-plastic traits conferring high P-use efficiency, whereas soil generalists would possess markedly plastic traits conferring high radiation capture and use, enabling them to outcompete specialists on P-rich soils. Only generalist C. mackinnoniana and specialist C. virchowii supported these hypotheses. Cryptocarya mackinnoniana had more plastic root mass fraction, leaf area ratio, P uptake, and higher C assimilation than C. virchowii, which resulted in greater relative growth rates in high P treatments, but lower P-use efficiency in low P treatments. In contrast, specialist C. lividula demonstrated similar trait plasticity as C. mackinnoniana, suggesting that plasticity in these traits may be poor indicators of fitness on P-poor soils.

Keywords

photosynthesisphysiologyplant–soil associationsspecializationsoil contrast
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , March 2011 , pp. 147 - 161
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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