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Biome-specific effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on the photosynthetic characteristics of trees at a forest-savanna boundary in Cameroon

Ferreira Domingues, Tomas; Ishida, F. Yoko; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Grace, John; Meir, Patrick; Saiz, Gustavo; Sene, Olivier; Schrodt, Franziska; Sonk�, Bonaventure; Taedoumg, Herman; Veenendaal, Elmar M.; Lewis, Simon; Lloyd, Jon

Authors

Tomas Ferreira Domingues

F. Yoko Ishida

Ted R. Feldpausch

John Grace

Patrick Meir

Gustavo Saiz

Olivier Sene

Bonaventure Sonk�

Herman Taedoumg

Elmar M. Veenendaal

Simon Lewis

Jon Lloyd



Abstract

Photosynthesis/nutrient relationships of proximally growing forest and savanna trees were determined in an ecotonal region of Cameroon (Africa). Although area-based foliar N concentrations were typically lower for savanna trees, there was no difference in photosynthetic rates between the two vegetation formation types. Opposite to N, area-based P concentrations were—on average—slightly lower for forest trees; a dependency of photosynthetic characteristics on foliar P was only evident for savanna trees. Thus savanna trees use N more efficiently than their forest counterparts, but only in the presence of relatively high foliar P. Along with some other recent studies, these results suggest that both N and P are important modulators of woody tropical plant photosynthetic capacities, influencing photosynthetic metabolism in different ways that are also biome specific. Attempts to find simple unifying equations to describe woody tropical vegetation photosynthesis-nutrient relationships are likely to meet with failure, with ecophysiological distinctions between forest and savanna requiring acknowledgement.

Citation

Ferreira Domingues, T., Ishida, F. Y., Feldpausch, T. R., Grace, J., Meir, P., Saiz, G., …Lloyd, J. (2015). Biome-specific effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on the photosynthetic characteristics of trees at a forest-savanna boundary in Cameroon. Oecologia, 178(3), 659-672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3250-5

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 28, 2015
Online Publication Date Mar 10, 2015
Publication Date Jul 31, 2015
Deposit Date Dec 14, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Oecologia
Print ISSN 0029-8549
Electronic ISSN 1432-1939
Publisher BMC
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 178
Issue 3
Pages 659-672
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3250-5
Keywords Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1415462
Publisher URL https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00442-015-3250-5

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