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Increasing phosphorus limitation along three successional forests in southern China

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Abstract

Background and Aims

Phosphorus (P) is commonly one of most limiting nutrients in tropical and subtropical forests, but whether P limitation would be exacerbated during forest succession remains unclear.

Methods

Soil phosphatase activity is often used as an indicator of P limitation. Here we examined soil acid phosphatase activity (APA) underneath tree species in pine forest (PF), mixed pine and broadleaf forest (MF) and monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest (MEBF) which represented the early, middle and late successional stages of subtropical forests in China, respectively. We also analyzed other indicators of P status (soil available P and N and P stoichiometry of the tree species).

Results

APA or APA per unit soil organic carbon under tree species was relatively low in the early successional forest. Different from PF and MF, soil available P beneath the tree species was lower than in the bulk soils in MEBF. Soil APA was closely related to N:P ratios of tree species across all three forests.

Conclusions

Our results imply that P limitation increases during forest succession at our site. The dominant tree species with low soil APAs in MEBF are likely more P-limited than other tree species.

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Abbreviations

APA:

acid phosphatase activity

SOC:

soil organic carbon

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Acknowledgments

Funding for the study is provided by projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31070439), the “Strategic Priority Research Program” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA05050208) and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Nos. KSCX2-EW-Q-8). This study also belongs to a part of CERN (Chinese Ecosystem Research Network). We thank Mr. Shizhong Liu and Mr. Dingsheng Mo for the field sample collection. We also appreciate the anonymous reviewers for their time and constructive comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China

    Wenjuan Huang, Juxiu Liu, Guoyi Zhou, Tianfeng Han & Yin Li

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Wenjuan Huang

  3. Marine and Atmospheric Research, CSIRO, Aspendale, VIC, 3195, Australia

    Ying Ping Wang

  4. College of Forestry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Tianfeng Han & Yin Li

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  1. Wenjuan Huang
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  2. Juxiu Liu
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  3. Ying Ping Wang
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  4. Guoyi Zhou
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  5. Tianfeng Han
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  6. Yin Li
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Correspondence to Guoyi Zhou.

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Responsible Editor: Hans Lambers.

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Huang, W., Liu, J., Wang, Y.P. et al. Increasing phosphorus limitation along three successional forests in southern China. Plant Soil 364, 181–191 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1355-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1355-8

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