Abstract
Background and aims
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availabilities limit plant productivity, especially in primary succession; however, our understanding of species-specific strategies regarding their allocation and coordination with other functional traits remains limited.
Methods
Community-weighted mean traits were compared to decipher the ecophysiological mechanisms of forest succession in nine dominant species along 120-y successional stages across a glacier-retreating chronosequence.
Results
High foliar N and P concentrations in N2-fixing plants on a 12-year-old surface did not result in high photosynthetic capacity due to the inefficient allocation, as indicated by their low photosynthetic N- and P-use efficiencies. On a 40-year-old surface, exploitative strategies, manifested in a higher specific leaf area and greater N allocation to Rubisco, as well as quick-return energy economics, helped deciduous forests dominate. When P availability decreased on a 120-year-old surface, evergreens maintained high photosynthetic P-use efficiency, by reducing overall P concentration and its allocation to structural fraction. Efficient P allocation and a higher ratio of leaf lifespan to payback time facilitated the dominance of evergreens in low P-sites.
Conclusions
Optimizing allocation of limiting N or P among foliar fractions and fast–slow economic strategies drive primary succession after glacier retreat. Integrating the above- and below-ground subsystems through food webs will provide further insights into ecosystem dynamics.
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Acknowledgements
This study was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31971632), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0302), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFE0203200), Sichuan Science & Technology Bureau (2019YFH0042, 2019YFH0132 and 2019YFS0468) and Jiuzhaigou Post-Disaster Restoration and Reconstruction Program. We want to thank Dr Weitao Li, Dr Yonglei Jiang and Mr. Quan Lan for their generous help during plant sampling and data analysis. We also thank Editage (https://www.editage.cn) and Letpub (http://www.letpub.com.cn/) for the linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.
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Yanbao Lei had the main responsibility for experimental design, data collection, analysis and writing, Liushan Du, and Ke Chen contributed to data collection and analysis, Anđelka Plenković-Moraj contributed to the manuscript preparation, and Geng Sun (the corresponding author) had the overall responsibility for experimental design and project management.
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Lei, Y., Du, L., Chen, K. et al. Optimizing foliar allocation of limiting nutrients and fast‐slow economic strategies drive forest succession along a glacier retreating chronosequence in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Plant Soil 462, 159–174 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04827-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04827-3