Low Phosphorus Availability Decreases Susceptibility of Tropical Primary Productivity to Droughts

Abstract Large uncertainties in the susceptibility of tropical forest productivity to precipitation changes hamper climate change projection. Interactions between the availabilities of water and phosphorus could theoretically either increase or decrease the susceptibility of tropical gas exchange to...

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Main Authors: D. S. Goll, E. Joetzjer, M. Huang, P. Ciais
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-08-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077736
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author D. S. Goll
E. Joetzjer
M. Huang
P. Ciais
author_facet D. S. Goll
E. Joetzjer
M. Huang
P. Ciais
author_sort D. S. Goll
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Large uncertainties in the susceptibility of tropical forest productivity to precipitation changes hamper climate change projection. Interactions between the availabilities of water and phosphorus could theoretically either increase or decrease the susceptibility of tropical gas exchange to variation of precipitation. The inclusion of phosphorus‐water interactions in a land surface model reduces the coefficient of variance, a measure of variability, of biweekly gross primary productivity by a factor of 1.5–2.3 at three tropical forest sites in Brazil, bringing it closer to estimates from eddy covariance measurements and remote sensing. Soil drought conditions are attenuated due to 8–30% lower water consumption during wet periods in presence of phosphorus limitation. When soils are dry, plant phosphorus acquisition is impaired by reduced ion mobility, despite an increase in net phosphorus mineralization. We conclude that water‐phosphorus interactions cannot be omitted in analysis of the resilience of tropical ecosystems to precipitation changes.
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publishDate 2018-08-01
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spelling doaj-art-afdf2837310a4573aca229efc02c093f2025-08-20T02:57:52ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072018-08-0145168231824010.1029/2018GL077736Low Phosphorus Availability Decreases Susceptibility of Tropical Primary Productivity to DroughtsD. S. Goll0E. Joetzjer1M. Huang2P. Ciais3Le Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, IPSL‐LSCE CEA/CNRS/UVSQ Saclay Gif sur Yvette FranceLe Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, IPSL‐LSCE CEA/CNRS/UVSQ Saclay Gif sur Yvette FranceSino‐French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences Peking University Beijing ChinaLe Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, IPSL‐LSCE CEA/CNRS/UVSQ Saclay Gif sur Yvette FranceAbstract Large uncertainties in the susceptibility of tropical forest productivity to precipitation changes hamper climate change projection. Interactions between the availabilities of water and phosphorus could theoretically either increase or decrease the susceptibility of tropical gas exchange to variation of precipitation. The inclusion of phosphorus‐water interactions in a land surface model reduces the coefficient of variance, a measure of variability, of biweekly gross primary productivity by a factor of 1.5–2.3 at three tropical forest sites in Brazil, bringing it closer to estimates from eddy covariance measurements and remote sensing. Soil drought conditions are attenuated due to 8–30% lower water consumption during wet periods in presence of phosphorus limitation. When soils are dry, plant phosphorus acquisition is impaired by reduced ion mobility, despite an increase in net phosphorus mineralization. We conclude that water‐phosphorus interactions cannot be omitted in analysis of the resilience of tropical ecosystems to precipitation changes.https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077736carbon cyclephosphorus cyclenutrient limitationland surface modeltropical ecosystemwater availability
spellingShingle D. S. Goll
E. Joetzjer
M. Huang
P. Ciais
Low Phosphorus Availability Decreases Susceptibility of Tropical Primary Productivity to Droughts
Geophysical Research Letters
carbon cycle
phosphorus cycle
nutrient limitation
land surface model
tropical ecosystem
water availability
title Low Phosphorus Availability Decreases Susceptibility of Tropical Primary Productivity to Droughts
title_full Low Phosphorus Availability Decreases Susceptibility of Tropical Primary Productivity to Droughts
title_fullStr Low Phosphorus Availability Decreases Susceptibility of Tropical Primary Productivity to Droughts
title_full_unstemmed Low Phosphorus Availability Decreases Susceptibility of Tropical Primary Productivity to Droughts
title_short Low Phosphorus Availability Decreases Susceptibility of Tropical Primary Productivity to Droughts
title_sort low phosphorus availability decreases susceptibility of tropical primary productivity to droughts
topic carbon cycle
phosphorus cycle
nutrient limitation
land surface model
tropical ecosystem
water availability
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077736
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AT ejoetzjer lowphosphorusavailabilitydecreasessusceptibilityoftropicalprimaryproductivitytodroughts
AT mhuang lowphosphorusavailabilitydecreasessusceptibilityoftropicalprimaryproductivitytodroughts
AT pciais lowphosphorusavailabilitydecreasessusceptibilityoftropicalprimaryproductivitytodroughts