The role of nutrients, productivity and climate in determining tree fruit production in European forests.
Fruit production (NPPf), the amount of photosynthates allocated to reproduction (%GPPf) and their controls for spatial and species-specific variability (e.g. nutrient availability, climate) have been poorly studied in forest ecosystems. We characterized fruit production and its temporal behaviour for several tree species and resolved the effects of gross primary production (GPP), climate and foliar nutrient concentrations. We used data for litterfall and foliar nutrient concentration from 126 European forests and related them to climatic data. GPP was estimated for each forest using a regression model. Mean NPPfranged from c. 10 to 40 g C m-2yr-1and accounted for 0.5-3% of GPP. Forests with higher GPPs produced larger fruit crops. Foliar zinc (Zn) and phosphorus (P) concentrations were associated positively with NPPf, whereas foliar Zn and potassium (K) were negatively related to its temporal variability. Maximum NPPfand interannual variability of NPPfwere higher in Fagaceae than in Pinaceae species. NPPfand %GPPfwere similar amongst the studied species despite the different reproductive temporal behaviour of Fagaceae and Pinaceae species. We report that foliar concentrations of P and Zn are associated with %GPPf, NPPfand its temporal behaviour.
CSIC, Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Catalonia, Spain.|CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Catalonia, Spain.
Marcos
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5661-3610
M
Fernández-Martínez
Centre of Excellence PLECO (Plant and Vegetation Ecology), Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Sara
S
Vicca
Centre of Excellence PLECO (Plant and Vegetation Ecology), Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Ivan A
IA
Janssens
CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Catalonia, Spain.
Josep Maria
JM
Espelta
CSIC, Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Catalonia, Spain.|CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Catalonia, Spain.
Josep
J
Peñuelas
D002980:Climate; D065928:Forests; D005638:Fruit / Q000254:growth & development*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*
D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen
crop size; fertility; fruiting; reproductive effort; seeds; spatial variability