Nutrient dynamics of a Puerto Rican subtropical dry forest
- 1 February 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Tropical Ecology
- Vol. 2 (1), 55-72
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467400000602
Abstract
The distribution of the nutrients N, P and K in soil and vegetation and their mobility through litterfall and decomposition in mature and successional stands of a subtropical dry forest were studied in Guánica, Puerto Rico. Soils of the Guánica forest have high total amounts of N (9100 kg/ha), P (1820 kg/ha), and K (7460 kg/ha). However, high extractable Ca (>4000 mg/g) and pH (> 7–8) may explain why only 1.3 and 25% of the total P and K, respectively, were extractable. Total ecosystem storage of N, P and K was 10,300, 1900 and 7700 kg/ha, respectively, of which vegetation stored only 10, 2 and 3%, respectively. Litterfall returned 26, 18 and 180% per year of the N, P and K stored in the ground litter compartment. Trees retranslocated about 30 and 65% of the N and P required to satisfy aboveground net primary production and immobilized P in dead roots. Slow leaf decomposition (7.3 yr for 95% decomposition) released K faster than mass, P as fast as mass, and ash and N slower than mass. The use efficiency of P by litterfall was high compared with other tropical forests, while that of N and K was similar to other tropical and temperate forests. Cutting and regrowth of vegetation resulted in differences in the nutrient concentration in litterfall and nutrient use efficiency of successional vegetation.Keywords
This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit:
- Nitrogen and phosphorus content in plant species of Mediterranean ecosystems in GreecePlant Ecology, 1984
- Nutrient Balance and Physiological Processes at the Leaf LevelPublished by Springer Nature ,1984
- The nitrogen cycle in a ‘Terra Firme’ rainforest on oxisol in the Amazon territory of VenezuelaPlant and Soil, 1982
- Slash and Burn Impacts on a Costa Rican Wet Forest SiteEcology, 1981
- General morphology, anatomical structure, and nutrient content of sclerophyllous leaves of the ?bana? vegetation of amazonasOecologia, 1980
- Decomposition in Terrestrial EcosystemsPublished by University of California Press ,1979
- Soil Phosphate and Its Role in Molding Segments of the Australian Flora and Vegetation, with Special Reference to Xeromorphy and SclerophyllyEcology, 1966
- Methods of Soil AnalysisPublished by Wiley ,1965
- Further Evidence to Support a Nutritional Interpretation of SclerophyllyAnnals of Botany, 1962
- A Nutritional Interpretation of Sclerophylly Based on Differences in the Chemical Composition of Sclerophyllous and Mesophytic LeavesAnnals of Botany, 1961