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Nutritional status of Abies pinsapo forests along a nitrogen deposition gradient: do C/N/P stoichiometric shifts modify photosynthetic nutrient use efficiency?

  • Physiological ecology - Original research
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Abstract

Chronic atmospheric N deposition has modified relative N availability, altering the biogeochemical cycles of forests and the stoichiometry of nutrients in trees, inducing P limitation, and modifying the N:P ratios of plant biomass. This study examines how the variation in the foliar stoichiometry of Abies pinsapo across an N deposition gradient affects foliar traits and photosynthetic rate. We measured the maximum net assimilation rates (A max) and the foliar nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in A. pinsapo needles of five age classes. The leaf mass per area and photosynthetic N and P use efficiencies (PNUE and PPUE, respectively) were also estimated. The results from the N-saturated stand (Sierra Bermeja, B) differed from the comparable N-limited stands under investigation (Yunquera, Y, and Sierra Real, SR). The trees from Y and SR exhibited a reduction in the N content in older needles, whereas the foliar N concentration at the B site increased with needle age. N and P were positively correlated at Y and SR, but not at B, suggesting that the overload of N in the trees at site B has exceeded the homeostatic regulation capacity of the N-saturated stand in terms of foliar stoichiometry. A max and PNUE were correlated positively with P and negatively with the N/P ratio at the three study sites. The foliar N concentration was positively correlated with A max at Y and SR. However, this relationship was negative for the B site. These findings suggest that the nutritional imbalance caused by increased chronic deposition of N and an insufficient supply of P counteracts the potential increase in net photosynthesis induced by the accumulation of foliar N.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank A. Luque, J.G.P. Rodriguez, and C. Serichol for their help and support. This research was financed by the Andalusian Regional Government (PP06-RNM-02183) and a research grant awarded by the University of Jaén to M.C.B.

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  1. Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología (Ecología), Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Jaén, 23009, Jaén, Spain

    Mª Carmen Blanes, Benjamín Viñegla & José A. Carreira

  2. Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013, Sevilla, Spain

    José Merino

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  1. Mª Carmen Blanes
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  2. Benjamín Viñegla
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  3. José Merino
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Correspondence to Mª Carmen Blanes.

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Communicated by Andrea Polle.

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Blanes, M.C., Viñegla, B., Merino, J. et al. Nutritional status of Abies pinsapo forests along a nitrogen deposition gradient: do C/N/P stoichiometric shifts modify photosynthetic nutrient use efficiency?. Oecologia 171, 797–808 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2454-1

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