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Rapid development of phosphorus limitation in temperate rainforest along the Franz Josef soil chronosequence

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine how shifts in soil nutrient availability along a soil chronosequence affected temperate rainforest vegetation. Soil nutrient availability, woody plant diversity, composition and structure, and woody species leaf and litter nutrient concentrations were quantified along the sequence through ecosystem progression and retrogression. In this super-wet, high leaching environment, the chronosequence exhibited rapid soil development and decline within 120,000 years. There were strong gradients of soil pH, N, P and C, and these had a profound effect on vegetation. N:Pleaf increased along the chronosequence as vegetation shifted from being N- to P- limited. However, high N:Pleaf ratios, which indicate P-limitation, were obtained on soils with both high and low soil P availability. This was because the high N-inputs from an N-fixing shrub caused vegetation to be P-limited in spite of high soil P availability. Woody species nutrient resorption increased with site age, as availability of N and P declined. Soil P declined 8-fold along the sequence and P resorption proficiency decreased from 0.07 to 0.01%, correspondingly. N resorption proficiency decreased from 1.54 to 0.26%, corresponding to shifts in mineralisable N. Woody plant species richness, vegetation cover and tree height increased through ecosystem progression and then declined. During retrogression, the forest became shorter, more open and less diverse, and there were compositional shifts towards stress-tolerant species. Conifers (of the Podocarpaceae) were the only group to increase in richness along the sequence. Conifers maintained a lower N:Pleaf than other groups, suggesting superior acquisition of P on poor soils. In conclusion, there was evidence that P limitation and retrogressive forests developed on old soils, but N limitation on very young soils was not apparent because of inputs from an abundant N-fixing shrub.

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Acknowledgements

P. Almond shared his invaluable knowledge of the area and enabled us to incorporate later sites into the sequence. We thank D. Wardle for help with site selection, S. Wiser for suggestions about ordination techniques, J. Barringer for providing precipitation data, B. Daly for laboratory analyses, P. Clinton for information about shotgun sampling techniques, and P. Bellingham, F. Carswell, K. Orwin, D. Wardle, W. Williamson and J. Wilmshurst for comments and advice. M. Brignall-Theyer, J. Bee, J. Cruickshank and L. Nicholls provided excellent assistance in the field and laboratory. The project was funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund and Landcare Research’s investment of retained earnings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Landcare Research, P.O. Box 69, Lincoln, Canterbury 8152, New Zealand

    Sarah J. Richardson, Duane A. Peltzer, Robert B. Allen & Matt S. McGlone

  2. Landcare Research, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Roger L. Parfitt

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  1. Sarah J. Richardson
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  2. Duane A. Peltzer
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Correspondence to Sarah J. Richardson.

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Richardson, S.J., Peltzer, D.A., Allen, R.B. et al. Rapid development of phosphorus limitation in temperate rainforest along the Franz Josef soil chronosequence. Oecologia 139, 267–276 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1501-y

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