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Phosphorus Cycling in Tropical Forests Growing on Highly Weathered Soils

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Phosphorus in Action

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 26))

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for living cells, and to some extent the abundance and activity of all organisms are regulated by P availability. However, the importance of P in terrestrial ecosystems may be most profound in tropical rain forests, where P supply is often very low. Thus, soil P availability could strongly limit various aspects of ecosystem function in tropical forests, as well as regulate tropical forest responses to anthropogenic perturbation. In this chapter, we describe P cycling in tropical forests growing on highly weathered soil (e.g., Ultisols and Oxisols). We focus on P inputs, transformations, and losses, and highlight aspects of the P cycle that are somewhat unique to this biome. In addition, we consider the implications of tropical P limitation at present and in the context of global change.

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Acknowledgments

Projects supported by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology and the Andrew Mellon Foundation contributed to the thoughts and ideas discussed in this chapter. We are grateful to Astrid Oberson and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful suggestions and to Natalie Mahowald and Gregory Okin for providing a high resolution version of Figure 14.3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, UT, 84532, USA

    Sasha C. Reed

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA

    Alan R. Townsend & Philip G. Taylor

  3. Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    Cory C. Cleveland

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  1. Sasha C. Reed
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Correspondence to Sasha C. Reed .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Pflanzenwissenschaften, ETH Zürich, Eschikon 33, Lindau, 8315, Switzerland

    Else Bünemann

  2. Inst. Pflanzenwissenschaften, ETH Zürich, Eschikon 33, Lindau, 8315, Switzerland

    Astrid Oberson

  3. Inst. Pflanzenwissenschaften, ETH Zürich, Eschikon 33, Lindau, 8315, Switzerland

    Emmanuel Frossard

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Reed, S.C., Townsend, A.R., Taylor, P.G., Cleveland, C.C. (2011). Phosphorus Cycling in Tropical Forests Growing on Highly Weathered Soils. In: Bünemann, E., Oberson, A., Frossard, E. (eds) Phosphorus in Action. Soil Biology, vol 26. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15271-9_14

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