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Reproductive response to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization along the Hawaiian archipelago’s natural soil fertility gradient

  • Ecosystem ecology - Original research
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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the most important nutrients involved in plant reproduction and typically the most limiting in terrestrial ecosystems. The natural soil fertility gradient of the Hawaiian archipelago, in which younger islands are N limited and older islands are P limited, provides a model system to examine questions regarding allocation of nutrients. Using fertilized plots (+N or +P) at the extreme sites of the Hawaiian archipelago, vegetative productivity (e.g., net primary productivity, growth, and litterfall) and foliar nutrient responses have previously been studied for the dominant canopy tree, Metrosideros polymorpha. Here, we investigated whether the reproductive response of M. polymorpha mirrors the previously found vegetative productivity and foliar nutrient responses, by quantifying: (1) inflorescence and seed productivity, and (2) nutrient concentration of reproductive structures. Fertilization with N and P did not significantly affect the productivity of inflorescences or seeds, or seed viability at either site. However, nutrient concentrations increased after fertilization; %P increased in inflorescences in the +P treatment at the P-limited site. Seeds and inflorescences generally contained higher nutrient concentrations than leaves at both sites. Unlike foliar data, reproductive strategies of M. polymorpha differed depending on soil nutrient limitation with emphasis on quality (higher seed viability/greater nutrient concentrations) at the P-limited site. We suggest that in response to P additions M. polymorpha employs a nutrient conservation strategy for its inflorescences and an investment strategy for its seeds. Examining N and P simultaneously challenges a basic assumption that reproductive allocation follows a similar pattern to the often measured aboveground productivity.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER 0546868 to Rebecca Ostertag, but was facilitated by research infrastructure developed through NSF EPS 0237065, 0554657, and 0903833. The experiments comply with the state (Hawai‘i) and national (US) laws in which they were performed. We thank Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Koke‘e State Park, and Department of Land and Natural Resources for field-site access, Heraldo Farrington and Peter Vitousek for assisting in the use of the fertilizer plots, staff at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Analytical lab for conducting elemental analyses, Jodie Schulten for technical support, and Patrick Hart, Elizabeth Stacy, and Stephanie Yelenik for editorial advice. We also thank the Oecologia editors and two reviewers for their extensive review, which greatly improved the manuscript.

Author contribution statement

R. O. achieved funding; N. M. D. and R. O. conceived and designed the study; N. M. D. performed the experiments and analyzed data; N. M. D. and R. O. wrote the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Hilo, HI, 96720, USA

    Rebecca Ostertag

  2. Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science Program, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Hilo, HI, 96720, USA

    Nicole M. DiManno & Rebecca Ostertag

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  1. Nicole M. DiManno
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  2. Rebecca Ostertag
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Correspondence to Nicole M. DiManno.

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Communicated by John Dwyer.

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DiManno, N.M., Ostertag, R. Reproductive response to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization along the Hawaiian archipelago’s natural soil fertility gradient. Oecologia 180, 245–255 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3449-5

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