title: Co-limitation of photosynthetic capacity by nitrogen and phosphorus in West Africa woodlands.
abstract: Photosynthetic leaf traits were determined for savanna and forest ecosystems in West Africa, spanning a large range in precipitation. Standardized major axis fits revealed important differences between our data and reported global relationships. Especially for sites in the drier areas, plants showed higher photosynthetic rates for a given N or P when compared with relationships from the global data set. The best multiple regression for the pooled data set estimated V(cmax) and J(max) from N(DW) and S. However, the best regression for different vegetation types varied, suggesting that the scaling of photosynthesis with leaf traits changed with vegetation types. A new model is presented representing independent constraints by N and P on photosynthesis, which can be evaluated with or without interactions with S. It assumes that limitation of photosynthesis will result from the least abundant nutrient, thereby being less sensitive to the allocation of the non-limiting nutrient to non-photosynthetic pools. The model predicts an optimum proportionality for N and P, which is distinct for V(cmax) and J(max) and inversely proportional to S. Initial tests showed the model to predict V(cmax) and J(max) successfully for other tropical forests characterized by a range of different foliar N and P concentrations.
authors.affiliation: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, Scotland, UK. tdomingu@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Tomas Ferreira
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Domingues
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meir
authors.forename: Ted R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Feldpausch
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saiz
authors.forename: Elmar M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Veenendaal
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schrodt
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Djagbletey
authors.forename: Fidele
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hien
authors.forename: Halidou
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Compaore
authors.forename: Adama
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diallo
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lloyd
mesh_terms: D000354:Africa, Western; D018533:Biomass; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000378:metabolism*; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012621:Seasons; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen