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Soil phosphorous as a control of productivity and openness in temperate interglacial forest ecosystems..

Kuneš, P. ; Odgaard, B.V. and Gaillard, M. J. (2011) In Journal of Biogeography 38(11). p.2150-2164
Abstract
Aim  Observations of long chronosequences in forest ecosystems show that, after some millennia of build-up, biomass declines in relation to the slow depletion of soil phosphorus. Plants that dominate during this period of soil impoverishment have specialized strategies for P acquisition, including ectomycorrhiza or root clusters. We use quantitative, pollen-based reconstructions of regional vegetation in four Quaternary warm stages (Holocene, Eemian, Holsteinian, Harreskovian) to test whether inferred forest cover and productivity changes are consistent with long-term modification of soil nutrient pools.



Location  Southern Scandinavia (Denmark, southern Sweden).



Methods  The REVEALS model was used to... (More)
Aim  Observations of long chronosequences in forest ecosystems show that, after some millennia of build-up, biomass declines in relation to the slow depletion of soil phosphorus. Plants that dominate during this period of soil impoverishment have specialized strategies for P acquisition, including ectomycorrhiza or root clusters. We use quantitative, pollen-based reconstructions of regional vegetation in four Quaternary warm stages (Holocene, Eemian, Holsteinian, Harreskovian) to test whether inferred forest cover and productivity changes are consistent with long-term modification of soil nutrient pools.



Location  Southern Scandinavia (Denmark, southern Sweden).



Methods  The REVEALS model was used to estimate regional vegetation abundances of 25 pollen-type-equivalent taxa from pollen records of large sedimentary basins in southernmost Scandinavia. Based on the estimated regional vegetation, we then calculated time-series of Ellenberg indicator values for L (light), R (soil reaction) and N (a productivity proxy). We classified the vegetation records into distinct phases and compared these phases and the samples using hierarchical clustering and ordination.



Results  All three interglacials developed coniferous or mixed forests. However, pure deciduous forests were never reached during the Holsteinian, while pure coniferous forests never developed in the Holocene. Above-ground productivity was inferred to be low initially, peaking in the first third of the warm stages and then slowly declining (except during the Holocene). Dominant trees of the post-peak phases all had ectomycorrhiza as a strategy for P acquisition, indicating that easily accessible P pools had become depleted. Increases in fire regimes may have amplified the inferred final drop in productivity. Mid/late Holocene productivity changes were much influenced by agricultural activities.



Main conclusions  REVEALS vegetation estimates combined with Ellenberg indicator values suggest a consistent pattern in warm stages of initially rising productivity, followed by a long and slow decline. The P-acquisition strategies of dominant trees indicate that the decline reflects increasing P depletion of soils. (Less)
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author
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Biogeography
volume
38
issue
11
pages
2150 - 2164
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:80053908763
ISSN
1365-2699
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02557.x
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
434c314f-4e5b-4603-af90-3d4f90171070 (old id 4155801)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:10:03
date last changed
2022-01-29 19:53:41
@article{434c314f-4e5b-4603-af90-3d4f90171070,
  abstract     = {{Aim  Observations of long chronosequences in forest ecosystems show that, after some millennia of build-up, biomass declines in relation to the slow depletion of soil phosphorus. Plants that dominate during this period of soil impoverishment have specialized strategies for P acquisition, including ectomycorrhiza or root clusters. We use quantitative, pollen-based reconstructions of regional vegetation in four Quaternary warm stages (Holocene, Eemian, Holsteinian, Harreskovian) to test whether inferred forest cover and productivity changes are consistent with long-term modification of soil nutrient pools.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Location  Southern Scandinavia (Denmark, southern Sweden).<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Methods  The REVEALS model was used to estimate regional vegetation abundances of 25 pollen-type-equivalent taxa from pollen records of large sedimentary basins in southernmost Scandinavia. Based on the estimated regional vegetation, we then calculated time-series of Ellenberg indicator values for L (light), R (soil reaction) and N (a productivity proxy). We classified the vegetation records into distinct phases and compared these phases and the samples using hierarchical clustering and ordination.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Results  All three interglacials developed coniferous or mixed forests. However, pure deciduous forests were never reached during the Holsteinian, while pure coniferous forests never developed in the Holocene. Above-ground productivity was inferred to be low initially, peaking in the first third of the warm stages and then slowly declining (except during the Holocene). Dominant trees of the post-peak phases all had ectomycorrhiza as a strategy for P acquisition, indicating that easily accessible P pools had become depleted. Increases in fire regimes may have amplified the inferred final drop in productivity. Mid/late Holocene productivity changes were much influenced by agricultural activities.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Main conclusions  REVEALS vegetation estimates combined with Ellenberg indicator values suggest a consistent pattern in warm stages of initially rising productivity, followed by a long and slow decline. The P-acquisition strategies of dominant trees indicate that the decline reflects increasing P depletion of soils.}},
  author       = {{Kuneš, P. and Odgaard, B.V. and Gaillard, M. J.}},
  issn         = {{1365-2699}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{2150--2164}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Biogeography}},
  title        = {{Soil phosphorous as a control of productivity and openness in temperate interglacial forest ecosystems..}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02557.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02557.x}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}