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Soil organic phosphorus transformations in a boreal forest chronosequence

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Abstract

Background and Aims

Soil phosphorus (P) composition changes with ecosystem development, leading to changes in P bioavailability and ecosystem properties. Little is known, however, about how soil P transformations proceed with ecosystem development in boreal regions.

Methods

We used 1-dimensional 31P and 2-dimensional 1H, 31P correlation nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to characterise soil organic P transformations in humus horizons across a 7,800 year-old chronosequence in Västerbotten, northern Sweden.

Results

Total soil P concentration varied little along the chronosequence, but P compounds followed three trends. Firstly, the concentrations of DNA, 2-aminoethyl phosphonic acid, and polyphosphate, increased up to 1,200–2,700 years and then declined. Secondly, the abundances of α– and β—glycerophosphate, nucleotides, and pyrophosphate, were higher at the youngest site compared with all other sites. Lastly, concentrations of inositol hexakisphosphate fluctuated with site age. The largest changes in soil P composition tended to occur in young sites which also experience the largest shifts in plant community composition.

Conclusions

The apparent lack of change in total soil P is consistent with the youth and nitrogen limited nature of the Västerbotten chronosequence. Based on 2D NMR spectra, around 40 % of extractable soil organic P appeared to occur in live microbial cells. The observed trends in soil organic P may be related to shifts in plant community composition (and associated changes in soil microorganisms) along the studied chronosequence, but further studies are needed to confirm this.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Leo Condron and to three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on previous versions of this manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by the Kempe Foundation (AGV), the Swedish Research Council VR (JS, GG, RG, PP, MJ), the Swedish Research Council FORMAS (JS) and the Centre for Environmental Research in Umeå (CMF) (JV).

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Author notes

  1. Andrea G. Vincent

    Present address: Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden

    Andrea G. Vincent

  2. Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden

    Johan Vestergren, Gerhard Gröbner & Per Persson

  3. Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund University, 22362, Lund, Sweden

    Per Persson

  4. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden

    Jürgen Schleucher

  5. Climate Impacts Research Centre, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, 981 07, Abisko, Sweden

    Reiner Giesler

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  1. Andrea G. Vincent
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Correspondence to Andrea G. Vincent.

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Section Editor's name: Hans Lambers.

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Vincent, A.G., Vestergren, J., Gröbner, G. et al. Soil organic phosphorus transformations in a boreal forest chronosequence. Plant Soil 367, 149–162 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1731-z

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