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Variations in aboveground vegetation structure along a nutrient availability gradient in the Brazilian pantanal

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Abstract

Background and aims

Forest expansion into seasonally flooded (hyperseasonal) savanna of the Brazilian Pantanal has been occurring for decades. Our goal was to evaluate how ecosystem physiognomy varied across a nutrient availability gradient and if hyperseasonal savanna had adequate nutrient stocks to support forest expansion.

Methods

We quantified soil properties, aboveground ecosystem structure, and nutrient stocks of three savanna and three forest stands in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil, and used correlation analysis to assess how aboveground vegetation structure varied across a soil nutrient availability gradient.

Results

Wood and foliage carbon storage and leaf area index were positively correlated with soil extractable phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+) concentrations but not soil organic matter or texture. Soil profiles indicated that vegetation enriched surface P and K+ availability but not Ca2+ and Mg2+. Savanna ecosystems had adequate K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ to support gallery and riparian forests but not palm forest, while the savanna P stock was inadequate to support forest expansion.

Conclusions

Hyperseasonal savanna has adequate nutrients (except P) to support forest expansion. Forest trees likely invade P-deficient savanna by surviving in P-rich microsites. Over time, biotic enrichment of soil may accelerate forest expansion into P-poor savanna.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by a National Science Foundation-Office of International Science and Engineering (NSF-OISE) grant to GLV and a CNPq Science Without Borders grant to FAL, JSN, and GLV. Additional logistic support provided by the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Física Ambiental (UFMT-PGFA) is gratefully appreciated. The authors thank SESC-Pantanal for access to the field sites and logistical support, all of the undergraduate and graduate students who helped in the collection of field samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, San Marcos, CA, 92096, USA

    George L Vourlitis & Anthony Zappia

  2. Faculdade de Agronomia, Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia Departamento de Solos e Engenharia Rural, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso, Brazil

    Francisco de Almeida Lobo

  3. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Física Ambiental – PGFA, Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso, Brazil

    Osvaldo Borges Pinto Jr., Higo J Dalmagro, Paulo Henrique Zanella de Arruda & Jose de Souza Nogueira

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  1. George L Vourlitis
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  2. Francisco de Almeida Lobo
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  3. Osvaldo Borges Pinto Jr.
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  4. Anthony Zappia
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  5. Higo J Dalmagro
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  6. Paulo Henrique Zanella de Arruda
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  7. Jose de Souza Nogueira
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Correspondence to George L Vourlitis.

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Vourlitis, G.L., de Almeida Lobo, F., Pinto, O.B. et al. Variations in aboveground vegetation structure along a nutrient availability gradient in the Brazilian pantanal. Plant Soil 389, 307–321 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2364-6

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