Am. J. Bot. Li-Cor Advertisement
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (15)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hevia, F.
Right arrow Articles by Boerner, R. E. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hevia, F.
Right arrow Articles by Boerner, R. E. J.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Hevia, F.
Right arrow Articles by Boerner, R. E. J.
(American Journal of Botany. 1999;86:447-455.)
© 1999 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Foliar nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics of three Chilean Nothofagus (Fagaceae) species in relation to leaf lifespan1

Felicitas Hevia 2 , M. Loreto Minoletti O. 2 , Kelly L. M. Decker 3 and Ralph E. J. Boerner 3, 4

2Universidad de Concepcion, Campus Chillan, Chillan, Chile; and 3Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1293

This study examined foliar nutrient dynamics and nutrient resorption (retranslocation) in three species of Chilean Nothofagus (Fagaceae) that differed in leaf lifespan and elevational distribution. In our central Chile study area the elevations at which these three species are most abundant increase from N. obliqua (deciduous) at low elevations to N. dombeyi at intermediate elevation and N. pumilio (deciduous) at higher elevations up to treeline. We sampled a single stand at 1680 m in which all three species co-occurred. Nothofagus dombeyi leaves were structurally heavier, with specific leaf mass approximately twice that of the two deciduous species. On a concentration basis, foliar N increased in the order N. dombeyi < N. pumilio < N. obliqua and foliar P increased in the order N. dombeyi < N. obliqua < N. pumilio. However, when the differences in specific leaf mass among species were taken into account by calculating N and P content on a leaf area basis, N. dombeyi had the greatest N and P content. N and P remained relatively constant throughout most of the 4-yr N. dombeyi leaf lifespan, then decreased prior to abscission. Nothofagus dombeyi resorbed significantly less N (44–50%) than did the two deciduous species (63–78%), both on proportional and absolute bases. In contrast, N. pumilio and N. dombeyi resorbed similar amounts of P prior to abscission (40–50%), whereas no significant resorption of P from leaves of N. obliqua was noted. We use these results to clarify the relative importance of environmental gradients associated with elevation vs. genetically fixed leaf lifespans in controlling the nutrient dynamics of these congeneric tree species.

Key Words: Chile • Fagaceae • nitrogen • Nothofagus • phosphorus • resorption






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1999 by the Botanical Society of America, Inc.