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Aluminum toxicity to tropical montane forest tree seedlings in southern Ecuador:

Response of nutrient status to elevated Al concentrations

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Abstract

Aims

We determined the reasons why in nutrient solution increasing Al concentrations >300 μ M inhibited shoot biomass production of Cedrela odorata L., Heliocarpus americanus L., and Tabebuia chrysantha (Jacq.) G. Nicholson while 300 μ M Al stimulated root biomass production of Tabebuia chrysantha.

Methods

Nutrient concentrations in plant tissue after a hydroponic growth experiment were determined.

Results

Increasing Al concentrations significantly decreased Mg concentrations in leaves. Phosphorus concentrations in roots of C. odorata and T. chrysantha were significantly highest in the treatment with 300 μ M Al and correlated significantly with root biomass.

Conclusions

Shoot biomass production was likely inhibited by reduced Mg uptake, impairing photosynthesis. The stimulation of root growth at low Al concentrations can be possibly attributed to improved P uptake.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Karoline Klaus, Katharina Kitzinger, Jose Luis Peña Caivinagua and Orly Mendoza Aguirre for support in set up of the experiment, Nature and Culture International in Loja, EC, for providing the study area and the research station, Ecuadorian authorities for the research permit and the German Research Foundation (DFG) for funding (FOR 816, Wi 1601/8-2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geographic Institute, University of Bern, Hallerstr. 12, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Agnes Rehmus & Moritz Bigalke

  2. Dirección General de Investigaciones, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Ciudadela Universitaria Guillermo Falconí, sector La Argelia, Loja, Ecuador

    Carlos Valarezo

  3. Institute of Silviculture, Technische Universität München, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Julio Mora Castillo

  4. Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Reinhard-Baumeister-Platz 1, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Wolfgang Wilcke

Authors
  1. Agnes Rehmus
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  2. Moritz Bigalke
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  3. Carlos Valarezo
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  4. Julio Mora Castillo
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  5. Wolfgang Wilcke
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Correspondence to Wolfgang Wilcke.

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Responsible Editor: Jian Feng Ma

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Rehmus, A., Bigalke, M., Valarezo, C. et al. Aluminum toxicity to tropical montane forest tree seedlings in southern Ecuador:. Plant Soil 388, 87–97 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2276-5

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