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Water, nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies of four tree species in response to variable water and nutrient supply

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Abstract

Background and Aims

The commonly observed trade-off between plant water use efficiency (WUE) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has been attributed to physiological constraints in the leaf. We examined if a similar trade-off can occur between WUE and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) and if changes in NUE and PUE in response to water and nutrient supply can be related to microbial N and P immobilisation.

Methods

We studied water and nutrient use efficiencies in leaves of four tree species (Eucalyptus sideroxylon, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Casuarina cunninghamiana, and Pinus radiata) that were grown under rainout shelters for 16 months at low and high levels of water and nutrient supply.

Results

Across all four species, WUE increased when water supply was low and nutrient supply was high, while NUE increased when water supply was high and nutrient supply was low. As a consequence, a trade-off was found between WUE and NUE for all four species. In contrast, no trade-off was found between WUE and PUE, likely because PUE and microbial P immobilisation in the soil unexpectedly increased with high nutrient supply.

Conclusions

With variable water and nutrient supply, physiological constraints generate a trade-off between WUE and NUE, but not between WUE and PUE; the latter may have been obscured by microbial control over P supply to plants.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council (FT100100779) awarded to F.A.D. and ARC grants (DP0879531 and LP0989881) to D.T.T.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Carbon, Water and Food, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, 380 Werombi Road, Camden, NSW, 2570, Australia

    Feike A. Dijkstra, Alberto Canarini & Hero Tahaei

  2. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Hawkesbury Campus, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia

    Yolima Carrillo, Michael J. Aspinwall, Chelsea Maier, Brendan Choat & David T. Tissue

Authors
  1. Feike A. Dijkstra
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  2. Yolima Carrillo
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  3. Michael J. Aspinwall
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  4. Chelsea Maier
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  5. Alberto Canarini
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  6. Hero Tahaei
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  7. Brendan Choat
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  8. David T. Tissue
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Correspondence to Feike A. Dijkstra.

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Dijkstra, F.A., Carrillo, Y., Aspinwall, M.J. et al. Water, nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies of four tree species in response to variable water and nutrient supply. Plant Soil 406, 187–199 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2873-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2873-6

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