Global meta-analysis shows pervasive phosphorus limitation of aboveground plant production in natural terrestrial ecosystems
By E. Hou, Yiqi Luo, Y. Kuang, Chengrong Chen, Xiankai Lu, Lifen Jiang, Xianzhen Luo, Dazhi Wen. Nature Communications, 2020
609 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Phosphorus (P) limitation of aboveground plant production is usually assumed to occur in tropical regions but rarely elsewhere. Here we report that such P limitation is more widespread and much stronger than previously estimated. In our global meta-analysis, almost half (46.2%) of 652 P-addition field experiments reveal a significant P limitation on aboveground plant production. Globally, P additions increase aboveground plant production by 34.9% in natural terrestrial ecosystems, which is 7.0–15.9% higher than previously suggested. In croplands, by contrast, P additions increase aboveground plant production by only 13.9%, probably because of historical fertilizations. The magnitude of P limitation also differs among climate zones and regions, and is driven by climate, ecosystem properties, and fertilization regimes. In addition to confirming that P limitation is widespread in tropical regions, our study demonstrates that P limitation often occurs in other regions. This suggests that previous studies have underestimated the importance of altered P supply on aboveground plant production in natural terrestrial ecosystems. Plants are thought to be limited by phosphorus (P) especially in tropical regions. Here, Hou et al. report a meta-analysis of P fertilization experiments to show widespread P limitation on plant growth across terrestrial ecosystems modulated by climate, ecosystem properties, and fertilization regimes
Subfields: Environmental Chemistry, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Soil Science
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Citations in the corpus
- Technologies and perspectives for achieving carbon neutrality (2021, background): “Themagnitude of nutrient limitation is determined by the environmental conditions, the variability of plant properties, and the potential physio-biochemical machinery of the autotrophs.(168) Grasslands are one of the largest terrestrial ecosystems, and grazing is the primary land use of grasslands g”