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Scaling leaf respiration with nitrogen and phosphorus in tropical forests across two continents
Author(s) -
Rowland Lucy,
ZaragozaCastells Joana,
Bloomfield Keith J.,
Turnbull Matthew H.,
Bonal Damien,
Burban Benoit,
Salinas Norma,
Cosio Eric,
Metcalfe Daniel J.,
Ford Andrew,
Phillips Oliver L.,
Atkin Owen K.,
Meir Patrick
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.13992
Subject(s) - rainforest , photosynthesis , biology , ecology , canopy , tropical rainforest , botany
Summary Leaf dark respiration ( R dark ) represents an important component controlling the carbon balance in tropical forests. Here, we test how nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) affect R dark and its relationship with photosynthesis using three widely separated tropical forests which differ in soil fertility. R dark was measured on 431 rainforest canopy trees, from 182 species, in French Guiana, Peru and Australia. The variation in R dark was examined in relation to leaf N and P content, leaf structure and maximum photosynthetic rates at ambient and saturating atmospheric CO 2 concentration. We found that the site with the lowest fertility (French Guiana) exhibited greater rates of R dark per unit leaf N, P and photosynthesis. The data from Australia, for which there were no phylogenetic overlaps with the samples from the South American sites, yielded the most distinct relationships of R dark with the measured leaf traits. Our data indicate that no single universal scaling relationship accounts for variation in R dark across this large biogeographical space. Variability between sites in the absolute rates of R dark and the R dark : photosynthesis ratio were driven by variations in N‐ and P‐use efficiency, which were related to both taxonomic and environmental variability.