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Contrasting phosphorus (P) accumulation in response to soil P availability in ‘metal crops’ from P-impoverished soils

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Abstract

Background and aims

Phosphorus is one of the major nutrients that directly or indirectly affects all aspects of plant growth. Tropical nickel hyperaccumulators, including Phyllanthus rufuschaneyi and Rinorea cf. bengalensis from Borneo Island (in the Malaysian state of Sabah), have evolved to grow in extremely P-impoverished ultramafic soils. This study aimed to establish the response of the root and shoot ionome of these two agromining ‘metal crops’ to soil P availability.

Methods

We undertook a soil P dosing trial on P. rufuschaneyi and R. cf. bengalensis in Sabah (Malaysia) over a period of 12 months. We measured the elemental concentrations in the soil solution and roots, as well as in the developed and developing stems and leaves.

Results

The results show that root and shoot P accumulation increased markedly as soil P availability increased by 80-fold in P. rufuschaneyi, whereas R. cf. bengalensis did not increase as strongly to P supply, despite a 135-fold increase in soil solution P. The contrasting observations on the root and shoot P accumulation patterns in these species suggests distinct P acquisition strategies in these species. The non-responsiveness of R. cf. bengalensis to increasing soil P availability may be related to its possible association with mycorrhizal fungi.

Conclusion

The findings of this study reveal the complexities of phosphate uptake, transport and accumulation in these ‘metal crops’. This information is essential to develop appropriate nutrient management in nickel agromining operations.

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Data availability

The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Code availability

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Sabah Parks for granting permission to conduct research in Kinabalu Park, and the Sabah Biodiversity Council for research permits (JKM/MBS.1000-2/2 Jld. 4 (186)). We thank Deisy Suin for taking care of the nursery. We also thank Richard Yulong, Weiter Minas and Vinson Yempios for their help in the nursery. The French National Research Agency through the national ‘Investissements d’avenir’ program (ANR-10-LABX-21, LABEX RESSOURCES21) is acknowledged for funding support to A. van der Ent and P.N. Nkrumah. P.N. Nkrumah was the recipient of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and UQ Centennial Scholarship at The University of Queensland, Australia.

Funding

The French National Research Agency through the national ‘Investissements d’avenir’ program (ANR-10-LABX-21, LABEX RESSOURCES21) is acknowledged for funding support to A. van der Ent and P.N. Nkrumah. P.N. Nkrumah was the recipient of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and UQ Centennial Scholarship at The University of Queensland, Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Philip Nti Nkrumah, Peter D. Erskine & Antony van der Ent

  2. Laboratoire Sols Et Environnement, Université de Lorraine-INRAE, 54000, Nancy, France

    Guillaume Echevarria & Antony van der Ent

  3. Chaney Environmental, Beltsville, MD, USA

    Rufus L. Chaney

  4. Sabah Parks, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

    Sukaibin Sumail

Authors
  1. Philip Nti Nkrumah
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  2. Guillaume Echevarria
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  3. Peter D. Erskine
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  4. Rufus L. Chaney
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  5. Sukaibin Sumail
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  6. Antony van der Ent
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Contributions

PNN, GE, PDE, AvdE conceived the study. PNN, GE, PDE, RLC, AvdE designed the study. PNN, PDE, SS, AvdE acquired the data. All authors contributed to data analysis, interpretation of data, drafting of article and final approval of the version submitted.

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Correspondence to Philip Nti Nkrumah.

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Communicated by Hans Lambers.

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Nkrumah, P.N., Echevarria, G., Erskine, P.D. et al. Contrasting phosphorus (P) accumulation in response to soil P availability in ‘metal crops’ from P-impoverished soils. Plant Soil 467, 155–164 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05075-9

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