Trees show higher resilience than herbs under phosphorus deficit induced by 12‐year simulated acid rain
Acid rain, with 60% deposition in Asia, may exacerbate plant phosphorus (P) limitation; however, its long-term effects on different plant life-forms remain largely undetermined. Understanding these effects is essential for predicting ecosystem resilience and promoting forest health under environmental change. Herein, we investigated the P status in two tree and two herb species and their rhizosphere soils after 12 years of acid treatment at three pH levels (pH: 4.0, 3.5, and 3.0) in a tropical forest in Southern China. We found that leaf, litter, and root P; leaf N and P resorption efficiency; and their ratios remained stable in trees; however, herb leaf and litter P levels declined. Acid addition reduced inorganic P in tree rhizosphere soil and inorganic and organic P in herb rhizosphere soil. Rhizosphere soil P fractions were more regulated by soil physicochemical properties and less regulated by microbial community in trees than in herbs. Under long-term simulated acid rain, stable tree P status benefited from soil inorganic P depletion, and herbs partially met their P requirements via biological mineralization of soil organic P. These distinct P-associated responses and acquisition strategies provide insights into safeguarding forest health among plants of different functional types under long-term acid rain events.
Authors
- Guangcan Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0149-1994)
- Mengxiao Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9721-9353)
- Jun Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3385-5318)
- Shuo Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2374-9028)
- Jingtao Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0377-9681)
- Songjia Chen
- Pingping Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3221-2193)
- Ying‐Ping Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4614-6203)
- Enqing Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4864-2347)
- Mianhai Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1437-8018)
- Linhua Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7901-2551)
- Nannan Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4311-058X)
- Deqiang Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8849-2366)
- Fengcai Liu
- Junhua Yan
- Ye Shu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7333-0324)
Institutions
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
- Pingdingshan University (CN)
- Zhaoqing University (CN)
- South China Botanical Garden (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- China National Botanical Garden
Publication Details
- Journal
- Ecology
- Published
- 2025-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70071
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.37
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province