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Dinitrogen‐fixing Acacia species from phosphorus‐impoverished soils resorb leaf phosphorus efficiently
Author(s) -
HE HONGHUA,
BLEBY TIM M.,
VENEKLAAS ERIK J.,
LAMBERS HANS
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3040.2011.02403.x
Subject(s) - plant litter , soil water , nutrient , phosphorus , resorption , acacia , agronomy , botany , cycling , nutrient cycle , litter , biology , chemistry , ecology , forestry , geography , organic chemistry , endocrinology
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) resorption from senescing leaves were studied, and the contribution of N and P cycling through litterfall to soil nutrient patchiness was investigated for four Acacia species in the Great Sandy Desert in north‐western Australia. N and P concentrations of mature and recently shed leaves were analysed and compared; soils under the canopies of the shrubs and soils in gaps (open areas) between the shrubs were also analysed and compared for N and P concentrations. Mature leaf P concentrations of the plants were considerably lower than the global average values, and N : P ratios of mature leaves were high. Plants derived 0–75% of their leaf N from symbiotic N 2 ‐fixation. N‐resorption efficiency was between 0 and 43%, and P‐resorption efficiency was between 32 and 79%; all plants were more efficient at P resorption than at N resorption, and litter N : P ratios were significantly higher than mature leaf N : P ratios. Soils of the study sites were P‐impoverished. Total soil N and P concentrations were higher under the canopy than in gaps, but bicarbonate‐extractable P concentration was higher in gaps. Nutrient cycling through litterfall results in soil nutrient patchiness and forms ‘islands of fertility’ under the canopies of the shrubs.