Abstract
Both carbon storage and sequestration are major ecosystem services provided by forests. The NUMEX (Ecuadorian NUtrient Manipulation EXperiment) study aims to identify the underlying mechanisms for the variation of these services as affected by future changes in nutrient availability. The ongoing experiment is being conducted in southern Ecuador to improve our understanding of the effects of continuous moderate N and P addition to tropical montane forest ecosystems. This chapter summarizes the short-term effects of nutrient addition evident at the end of the experiment’s first year. The rapid responses of the studied Andean montane forests to N and P addition observed at this early stage of the experiment illustrate the vulnerability of the forests to higher nutrient deposition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aber J, McDowell W, Nadelhoffer K, Magill A, Berntson G, Kamakea M, McNulty S, Currie W, Rustad L, Fernandez I (1998) Nitrogen saturation in temperate forest ecosystems – hypotheses revisited. Bioscience 48(11):921–934
Adamek M, Corre MD, Hölscher D (2009) Early effect of elevated nitrogen input on above-ground net primary production of a lower montane rain forest, Panama. J Trop Ecol 25:637–647
Boy J, Rollenbeck R, Valarezo C, Wilcke W (2008) Amazonian biomass burning-derived acid and nutrient deposition in the north Andean montane forest of Ecuador. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 22, GB4011
Bräuning A, Volland-Voigt F, Burchardt I, Ganzhi O, Nauss T, Peters T (2009) Climatic control of radial growth of Cedrela montana in a humid mountain rain forest in southern Ecuador. Erdkunde 63:337–345
Cavelier J, Tanner E, Santamaria J (2000) Effect of water, temperature and fertilizers on soil nitrogen net transformations and tree growth in an elfin cloud forest of Colombia. J Trop Ecol 16:83–99
Cleveland CC, Townsend AR (2006) Nutrient additions to a tropical rain forest drive substantial soil carbon dioxide losses to the atmosphere. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:10316–10321
Cleveland CC, Reed SC, Townsend AR (2006) Nutrient regulation of organic matter decomposition in a tropical rain forest. Ecology 87:492–503
Corre MD, Veldkamp E, Arnold J, Wright SJ (2010) Impact of elevated N input on soil N cycling and losses in old-growth lowland and montane forests in Panama. Ecology 91:1715–1729
Cusack D, Torn MS, McDowell WH, Silver WL (2010) The response of heterotrophic activity and carbon cycling to nitrogen additions and warming in two tropical soils. Glob Chang Biol 16:2555–2572
Cusack DF, Silver WL, Torn MS, McDowell WH (2011) Effects of nitrogen additions on above- and belowground carbon dynamics in two tropical forests. Biogeochemistry 104:203–225
Deslauriers A, Rossi S, Anfodillo T (2007) Dendrometer and intra annual tree growth: what kind of information can be inferred? Dendrochronologia 25:113–124
Elser JJ, Bracken MES, Cleland EE, Gruner DS, Harpole WS, Hillebrand H, Ngai JT, Seabloom EW, Shurin JB, Smith JE (2007) Global analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Ecol Lett 10:1135–1142
Emck P (2007) A climatology of South Ecuador. With special focus on the major Andean ridge as Atlantic-Pacific climate divide. Dissertation, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 275 pp
Gamboa AM, Hidalgo C, de Leon F, Etchevers JD, Gallardo JF, Campo J (2010) Nutrient addition differentially affects soil carbon sequestration in secondary tropical dry forests: early- versus late-succession stages. Restor Ecol 18(2):252–260
Giardina CP, Binkley D, Ryan MG, Fownes JH, Senock RS (2004) Belowground carbon cycling in a humid tropical forest decreases with fertilization. Oecologia 139:545–550
Gower ST, Vitousek PM (1989) Effects of nutrient amendments on fine root biomass in a primary successional forest in Hawaii. Oecologia 81:566–568
Gruber N, Galloway N (2008) An earth-system perspective of the global nitrogen cycle. Nature 451:293–296
Högberg P, Fan H, Quist M, Binkley D, Tamm CO (2006) Tree growth and soil acidification in response to 30 years of experimental nitrogen loading on boreal forest. Glob Chang Biol 12:489–499
Homeier J, Werner FA, Gradstein SR, Breckle S-W, Richter M (2008) Potential vegetation and floristic composition of Andean forests in South Ecuador, with a focus on the RBSF. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological studies, vol 198. Springer, Berlin, pp 87–100
Homeier J, Hertel D, Camenzind T, Cumbicus NL, Maraun M, Martinsin GO, Poma LN, Rillig MC, Sandmann D, Scheu S, Veldkamp E, Wilcke W, Wullaert H, Leuschner C (2012) Tropical Andean forests are highly susceptible to nutrient inputs - rapid effects of experimental N and P addition to an Ecuadorian montane forest. PLoS One 7:e47128
Hyvönen R, Agren GI, Linder S, Persson T, Cotrufo MF, Ekblad A, Freeman M, Grelle A, Janssens IA, Jarvis PG, Kellomäki S, Lindroth A, Loustau D, Lundmark T, Norby RJ, Oren R, Pilegaard K, Ryan MG, Sigurdsson BD, Strömgren M, van Oijen M, Wallin G (2007) The likely impact of elevated CO2, nitrogen deposition, increased temperature and management on carbon sequestration in temperate and boreal forest ecosystems: a literature review. New Phytol 173:463–480
Koehler B, Corre MD, Veldkamp E, Sueta JP (2009) Chronic nitrogen addition causes a reduction in soil carbon dioxide efflux during the high stem-growth period in a tropical montane forest but no response from a tropical lowland forest on a decadal time scale. Biogeosciences 6:2973–2983
LeBauer DS, Treseder KK (2008) Nitrogen limitation of net primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems is globally distributed. Ecology 89:371–379
Lewis SL, Malhi Y, Phillips OL (2004) Fingerprinting the impacts of global change on tropical forests. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 359:437–462
Li Y, Xu M, Zou X (2006) Effects of nutrient additions on ecosystem carbon cycle in a Puerto Rican tropical wet forest. Glob Chang Biol 12:284–293
Magill AH, Aber JD, Currie WS, Nadelhoffer KJ, Martin ME, McDowell WH, Melillo JM, Steudler P (2004) Ecosystem response to 15 years of chronic nitrogen additions at the Harvard Forest LTER, Massachusetts, USA. For Ecol Manage 196:7–28
McGroddy M, Silver WL (2000) Variations in belowground carbon storage and soil CO2 flux rates along a wet tropical climate gradient. Biotropica 32:614–624
Mirmanto E, Proctor J, Green J, Nagy L, Suriantata (1999) Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization in a lowland evergreen rainforest. Phil Trans R Soc Lond 354:1825–1829
Moser G, Hertel D, Leuschner C (2007) Altitudinal change in LAI and stand leaf biomass in tropical montane forests: a transect study in Ecuador and a pan-tropical meta-analysis. Ecosystems 10:924–935
Moser G, Leuschner C, Hertel D, Graefe S, Soethe N, Iost S (2011) Elevation effects on the carbon budget of tropical mountain forests (S Ecuador): the role of the belowground compartment. Glob Chang Biol 17:2211–2226
Pardo LH, McNulty SG, Boggs JL, Duke S (2007) Regional patterns in foliar 15N across a gradient of nitrogen deposition in the northeastern US. Environ Pollut 149:293–302
Röderstein M, Hertel D, Leuschner C (2005) Above- and below-ground litter production in three tropical montane forests in southern Ecuador. J Trop Ecol 21:483–492
Tanner EVJ, Kapos V, Freskos S, Healey JR, Theobald AM (1990) Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization of Jamaican montane forest trees. J Trop Ecol 6:231–238
Tanner EVJ, Kapos V, Franco W (1992) Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization effects on Venezuelan montane forest trunk growth and litterfall. Ecology 73:78–86
Tanner EVJ, Vitousek PM, Cuevas E (1998) Experimental investigation of nutrient limitation of forest growth on wet tropical mountains. Ecology 79:10–22
Unger M, Homeier J, Leuschner C (2013) Relationships among leaf area index, below-canopy light availability and tree diversity along a transect from tropical lowland to montane forests in NE Ecuador. Trop Ecol 54(1):33–45
Vitousek PM, Farrington H (1997) Nutrient limitation and soil development: experimental test of a biogeochemical theory. Biogeochemistry 37:63–75
Volland-Voigt F, Bräuning A, Ganzhi O, Peters T, Maza H (2011) Radial stem variations of Tabebuia chrysantha (Bignoniaceae) in different tropical forest ecosystems of southern Ecuador. Trees 25:39–48
Wolf K, Veldkamp E, Homeier J, Martinson GO (2011) Nitrogen availability links forest productivity, soil nitrous oxide and nitric oxide fluxes of a tropical montane forest in southern Ecuador. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 25, GB4009
Wright SJ (2005) Tropical forests in a changing environment. Trends Ecol Evol 20:553–560
Xia J, Wan S (2008) Global response patterns of terrestrial plant species to nitrogen addition. New Phytol 179:428–439
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Homeier, J. et al. (2013). Effects of Nutrient Addition on the Productivity of Montane Forests and Implications for the Carbon Cycle. In: Bendix, J., et al. Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity and Environmental Change in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of South Ecuador. Ecological Studies, vol 221. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38137-9_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38137-9_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-38136-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-38137-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)