Plant species richness in a natural Argentinian matorral shrub-land correlates negatively with levels of plant phosphorus
(2011) In Plant and Soil 345(1-2). p.11-21- Abstract
- The aim of this study was to ascertain whether there is a relationship between plant species richness and plant-available N, P and water in an environment subject to little anthropogenic disturbance. To accomplish this we studied the vegetation in matorral shrub-lands in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Due to the variation in slope, precipitation and aspect between the sites water status was determined using the C-12/C-13 fraction, delta C-13, to investigate whether this was a confounding factor. The numbers of herb, shrub, liana and tree species were determined at 20 sites along an estimated precipitation gradient. Leaf P and N content and the delta C-13 of Berberis buxifolia were determined, as well as the soil P and N content at the... (More)
- The aim of this study was to ascertain whether there is a relationship between plant species richness and plant-available N, P and water in an environment subject to little anthropogenic disturbance. To accomplish this we studied the vegetation in matorral shrub-lands in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Due to the variation in slope, precipitation and aspect between the sites water status was determined using the C-12/C-13 fraction, delta C-13, to investigate whether this was a confounding factor. The numbers of herb, shrub, liana and tree species were determined at 20 sites along an estimated precipitation gradient. Leaf P and N content and the delta C-13 of Berberis buxifolia were determined, as well as the soil P and N content at the different sites. A negative correlation was found between species richness and Berberis buxifolia foliar P concentration (52% of the species richness variation was accounted for), and a positive correlation was found between plant species richness and Berberis buxifolia foliar N: P ratios (54% of the species richness variation was accounted for). The relationship between species richness and foliar P was seen when all layers of vegetation were included (trees, lianas, shrubs and herbs). Foliar N showed no correlation with species richness, while soil extractable NH4 showed a weak positive correlation with the number of shrub layer species (lianas, shrubs and trees). The species richness of the shrub layer increased with decreasing values of delta C-13. Low soil P availability thus affects local species richness in the matorral shrub-lands of Patagonia in Argentina although the growth of vegetation in the area has been shown to be limited by N. We suggest that low P levels increase plant species richness because low soil P concentration is associated with a high P partitioning and high potential for niche separation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2071792
- author
- Blanck, Ylva-Li ; Gowda, Juan ; Mårtensson, Linda-Maria LU ; Sandberg, Jakob LU and Fransson, Ann-Mari
- organization
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Available P, Available N, Species richness, C-13/C-12, Water, availability, Multiple resources, Andean mountains
- in
- Plant and Soil
- volume
- 345
- issue
- 1-2
- pages
- 11 - 21
- publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000292999700002
- scopus:79960562810
- ISSN
- 0032-079X
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11104-010-0671-0
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ab1dd0f3-5b98-4915-bffa-06553a745a04 (old id 2071792)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 13:41:27
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:15:17
@article{ab1dd0f3-5b98-4915-bffa-06553a745a04,
abstract = {{The aim of this study was to ascertain whether there is a relationship between plant species richness and plant-available N, P and water in an environment subject to little anthropogenic disturbance. To accomplish this we studied the vegetation in matorral shrub-lands in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Due to the variation in slope, precipitation and aspect between the sites water status was determined using the C-12/C-13 fraction, delta C-13, to investigate whether this was a confounding factor. The numbers of herb, shrub, liana and tree species were determined at 20 sites along an estimated precipitation gradient. Leaf P and N content and the delta C-13 of Berberis buxifolia were determined, as well as the soil P and N content at the different sites. A negative correlation was found between species richness and Berberis buxifolia foliar P concentration (52% of the species richness variation was accounted for), and a positive correlation was found between plant species richness and Berberis buxifolia foliar N: P ratios (54% of the species richness variation was accounted for). The relationship between species richness and foliar P was seen when all layers of vegetation were included (trees, lianas, shrubs and herbs). Foliar N showed no correlation with species richness, while soil extractable NH4 showed a weak positive correlation with the number of shrub layer species (lianas, shrubs and trees). The species richness of the shrub layer increased with decreasing values of delta C-13. Low soil P availability thus affects local species richness in the matorral shrub-lands of Patagonia in Argentina although the growth of vegetation in the area has been shown to be limited by N. We suggest that low P levels increase plant species richness because low soil P concentration is associated with a high P partitioning and high potential for niche separation.}},
author = {{Blanck, Ylva-Li and Gowda, Juan and Mårtensson, Linda-Maria and Sandberg, Jakob and Fransson, Ann-Mari}},
issn = {{0032-079X}},
keywords = {{Available P; Available N; Species richness; C-13/C-12; Water; availability; Multiple resources; Andean mountains}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1-2}},
pages = {{11--21}},
publisher = {{Springer Science and Business Media B.V.}},
series = {{Plant and Soil}},
title = {{Plant species richness in a natural Argentinian matorral shrub-land correlates negatively with levels of plant phosphorus}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0671-0}},
doi = {{10.1007/s11104-010-0671-0}},
volume = {{345}},
year = {{2011}},
}