Nutrient-cycling mechanisms other than the direct absorption from soil may control forest structure and dynamics in poor Amazonian soils.
Tropical forests store large amounts of biomass despite they generally grow in nutrient-poor soils, suggesting that the role of soil characteristics in the structure and dynamics of tropical forests is complex. We used data for >34 000 trees from several permanent plots in French Guiana to investigate if soil characteristics could predict the structure (tree diameter, density and aboveground biomass), and dynamics (growth, mortality, aboveground wood productivity) of nutrient-poor tropical forests. Most variables did not covary with site-level changes in soil nutrient content, indicating that nutrient-cycling mechanisms other than the direct absorption from soil (e.g. the nutrient uptake from litter, the resorption, or the storage of nutrients in the biomass), may strongly control forest structure and dynamics. Ecosystem-level adaptations to low soil nutrient availability and long-term low levels of disturbance may help to account for the lower productivity and higher accumulation of biomass in nutrient-poor forests compared to nutrient-richer forests.
CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.|CREAF, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.
Oriol
O
Grau
CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.|CREAF, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.
Josep
J
Peñuelas
AgroParisTech, ENGREF, UMR, 54000, Nancy, France.
Bruno
B
Ferry
CIRAD, UR Forêts et sociétés, 34398, Montpellier, France.
Vincent
V
Freycon
CIRAD, UR Forêts et sociétés, 34398, Montpellier, France.
Lilian
L
Blanc
CIRAD, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, 97387, Kourou, French Guiana, France.
Mathilde
M
Desprez
International Center for Tropical Botany, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 11200, Miami, USA.
Christopher
C
Baraloto
CNRS, Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, 31062, Toulouse, France.
Jérôme
J
Chave
ONF Guyane, Réserve de Montabo, 97307, Cayenne, French Guiana, France.
Laurent
L
Descroix
CIRAD, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, 97387, Kourou, French Guiana, France.
Aurélie
A
Dourdain
INRA-ONF, UMR Amap, 34398, Montpellier, France.
Stéphane
S
Guitet
University of Antwerp, Department of Biology, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Ivan A
IA
Janssens
CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.|CREAF, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.
Jordi
J
Sardans
CIRAD, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, 97387, Kourou, French Guiana, France.
Bruno
B
Hérault
D018533:Biomass; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests; D005616:French Guiana; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D012621:Seasons; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D014329:Tropical Climate
D012987:Soil