DSpace Repository

Multiple nutrients limit litterfall and decomposition in a tropical forest

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author Kaspari, Michael E.
dc.contributor.author Garcia, Milton N.
dc.contributor.author Harms, Kyle Edward
dc.contributor.author Santana, Mirna
dc.contributor.author Wright, S. Joseph
dc.contributor.author Yavitt, Joseph B.
dc.date.accessioned 2011-02-09T20:04:15Z
dc.date.available 2011-02-09T20:04:15Z
dc.date.issued 2008
dc.identifier 1461-023X
dc.identifier.citation Kaspari, Michael E., Garcia, Milton N., Harms, Kyle Edward, Santana, Mirna, Wright, S. Joseph, and Yavitt, Joseph B. 2008. "<a href="https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/11967">Multiple nutrients limit litterfall and decomposition in a tropical forest</a>." <em>Ecology Letters</em>, 11, (1) 35–43.
dc.identifier.issn 1461-023X
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10088/11967
dc.description.abstract Abstract To explore the importance of 12 elements in litter production and decomposition, we fertilized 36 1600 m2-plots with combinations of N, P, K, or micronutrients (i.e. B, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, S, Zn) for 6 years in a lowland Panamanian forest. The 90% of litter falling as leaves and twigs failed to increase with fertilization, but reproductive litter (fruits and flowers) increased by 43% with N. K enhanced cellulose decomposition; one or more micronutrients enhanced leaf-litter decomposition; P enhanced both. Our results suggest tropical forests are a non-Liebig world of multiple nutrient limitations, with at least four elements shaping rates of litterfall and decomposition. Multiple metallomic enzymes and cofactors likely create gradients in the break down of leaf litter. Selection favours individuals that make more propagules, and even in an N-rich forest, N is a non-substitutable resource for reproduction.
dc.format.extent 35–43
dc.relation.ispartof Ecology Letters 11 (1)
dc.title Multiple nutrients limit litterfall and decomposition in a tropical forest
dc.type article
sro.identifier.refworksID 46945
sro.identifier.itemID 55528
sro.description.unit NH-EOL
sro.description.unit STRI
sro.identifier.url https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/11967


Files in this item

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search DSpace


Browse

My Account