Abstract
Partitioning of soil phosphorus (P) pools has been proposed as a key mechanism maintaining plant diversity, but experimental support is lacking. Here, we provided different chemical forms of P to 15 tree species with contrasting root symbiotic relationships to investigate plant P acquisition in both tropical and subtropical forests. Both ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) trees responded positively to addition of inorganic P, but strikingly, ECM trees acquired more P from a complex organic form (phytic acid). Most ECM tree species and all AM tree species also showed some capacity to take up simple organic P (monophosphate). Mycorrhizal colonisation was negatively correlated with soil extractable P concentration, suggesting that mycorrhizal fungi may regulate organic P acquisition among tree species. Our results support the hypothesis that ECM and AM plants partition soil P sources, which may play an ecologically important role in promoting species coexistence in tropical and subtropical forests.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 713-723 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Ecology Letters |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 13 Mar 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2018 |
Bibliographical note
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.Keywords
- Mycorrhizal fungi
- phosphate
- resource partitioning
- seedling growth
- soil organic phosphorus
- tropical and subtropical forests
