Nottingham, A.T. orcid.org/0000-0001-9421-8972, Montero‐Sanchez, M. orcid.org/0000-0001-8254-6346, Slot, M. orcid.org/0000-0002-5558-1792 et al. (3 more authors) (Cover date: September 2023) Seedling growth declines in warmed tropical forest soils. Biotropica, 55 (5). pp. 897-910. ISSN 0006-3606
Abstract
The response of plants to a warming climate could have a large feedback on further climatic change. This feedback is especially important for tropical forests, where the global peak in plant productivity and biodiversity occurs. Here we test the response of tropical forest tree seedling growth, photosynthesis and herbivory to 3 years of in situ full-soil profile warming. We studied six species, three of which are known nitrogen-fixers and we hypothesized that the warming response of growth will be mediated by nutrient availability to plants. Across species, growth was significantly lower in warmed soil compared to soil at ambient temperature, and the same pattern was observed for light-saturated photosynthesis, pointing toward a growth decline associated with decreased C fixation. Within species, the relative growth decline was significant for two species, Inga laurina and Tachigali versicolor, both of which are N-fixers. Together our results suggest a growth decline may have resulted from a negative effect of warming on N-fixation, rather than via changes in nutrient mineralization from soil organic matter, which was unchanged for N and increased for P during the dry-to-wet season transition. Overall, our study demonstrates that belowground warming causes species-specific declines in the growth and photosynthesis of seedlings, with a suggestion—requiring further investigation—that this growth decline is larger in N-fixing species.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. Biotropica published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | climate warming; Inga laurina; Lacmellea panamensis; lowland tropical forest; nitrogen fixation; Panama; photosynthesis; plant productivity; Protium pittieri; Tachigali versicolor; Virola surinamensis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Ecology & Global Change (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Oct 2023 14:51 |
Last Modified: | 05 Oct 2023 11:44 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/btp.13238 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:203910 |