Wet tropical forests play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle, but given current rates of land‐use change, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation could reduce productivity in regenerating forests in this biome. Whereas the strong controls of climate and parent material over forest recovery are well known, the influence of vegetation can be difficult to determine. We addressed species‐specific differences in plant traits and their relationships to ecosystem properties and processes, relevant to N and P supply to regenerating vegetation in experimental plantations in a single site in lowland wet forest in Costa Rica. Single‐tree species were planted in a randomized block design, such that climate, soil (an Oxisol), and land‐use history were similar for all species. In years 15–25 of the experiment, we measured traits regarding N and P acquisition and use in four native, broad‐leaved, evergreen tree species, including differential effects on soil pH, in conjunction with biomass and soil stocks and fluxes of N and P. Carbon biomass stocks increased significantly with increasing soil pH (p = 0.0184, previously reported) as did biomass P stocks (p = 0.0011). Despite large soil N pools, biomass P stocks were weakly dependent on traits associated with N acquisition and use (N2 fixation and leaf C:N, p < 0.09). Mass‐balance budgets indicated that soil organic matter (SOM) could supply the N and P accumulated in biomass via the process of SOM mineralization. Secondary soil P pools were weakly correlated with biomass C and P stocks (R = 0.47, p = 0.08) and were large enough to have supplied sufficient P in these rapidly growing plantations, suggesting that alteration of soil pH provided a mechanism for liberation of soil P occluded in organo‐mineral soil complexes and thus supply P for plant uptake. These results highlight the importance of considering species' effect on soil pH for restoration projects in highly weathered soils. This study demonstrates mechanisms by which individual species can alter P availability, and thus productivity and C cycling in regenerating humid tropical forests, and the importance of including traits into global models of element cycling.

中文翻译：

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树种对潮湿热带森林中氮和磷循环的控制


潮湿的热带森林在全球碳 （C） 循环中起着重要作用，但鉴于目前的土地利用变化率，氮 （N） 和磷 （P） 的限制可能会降低该生物群落中再生森林的生产力。虽然气候和母质对森林恢复的强有力控制是众所周知的，但植被的影响可能很难确定。我们解决了植物性状的物种特异性差异及其与生态系统特性和过程的关系，与哥斯达黎加低地湿润森林单个地点的实验种植园中再生植被的 N 和 P 供应有关。单树物种以随机区组设计种植，因此所有物种的气候、土壤 （Oxisol） 和土地利用历史相似。在实验的第 15-25 年，我们测量了四种本地阔叶常绿树种中 N 和 P 的获取和使用特性，包括对土壤 pH 值的不同影响，以及生物量和土壤储量以及 N 和 P 的通量。碳生物量储量随着土壤 pH 值的增加而显着增加（p = 0.0184，先前报道过），生物量 P 储量 （p = 0.0011） 也是如此。尽管土壤氮库很大，但生物量 P 储量对与氮获取和使用相关的性状（N2 固定和叶片 C：N，p < 0.09）的依赖性较弱。质量平衡预算表明，土壤有机质 （SOM） 可以通过 SOM 矿化过程提供生物质中积累的 N 和 P。次生土壤 P 库与生物量 C 和 P 储量呈弱相关 （R = 0.47，p = 0。08） 并且足够大，可以在这些快速生长的种植园中提供足够的 P，这表明土壤 pH 值的改变提供了一种释放被封闭在有机矿物土壤复合物中的 P 的机制，从而为植物吸收提供 P。这些结果强调了在高度风化土壤中恢复项目中考虑物种对土壤 pH 值的影响的重要性。本研究证明了单个物种可以改变 P 可用性的机制，从而改变再生潮湿热带森林中的生产力和 C 循环，以及将性状纳入元素循环全球模型的重要性。