Global Phosphorus Enrichment Reshapes Terrestrial Phosphorus Cycling

Anthropogenic phosphorus (P) inputs are rapidly altering terrestrial P cycling through plant - soil - microbial interactions; however, global patterns and underlying mechanisms driving these changes remain poorly understood. By performing a global meta-analysis of 1315 observations from 176 studies across diverse natural terrestrial ecosystems, we found that P addition increased P concentrations in foliage, stems, roots, and litter by 62%, 114%, 100% and 63%, respectively. Soil total P, plant-available P, and microbial P concentrations rose by 43%, 221%, and 70%, while leaf P-resorption efficiency and soil phosphatase activity declined by 23% and 15%, respectively. Stem P and soil phosphatase activity exhibited consistent trends across tropical, temperate, and boreal zones, suggesting climate-specific P acquisition strategies. In addition, foliar P responses diverged among ecosystem and plant functional types. These responses were primarily regulated by background soil total P concentration, precipitation, soil pH, and P addition duration and rate. Our findings provide critical insights into the potential consequences of increasing anthropogenic P inputs in natural terrestrial ecosystems, improving our understanding of nutrient cycling and informing future ecosystem management under ongoing global change.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Global Change Biology
Published
2026-04-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70827
Primary Topic
Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Global Phosphorus Enrichment Reshapes Terrestrial Phosphorus Cycling

Julian Helfenstein, Adam R. Martin, Josep Peñuelas, Zixin Chen et al.
Global Change Biology
Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
article

Global Phosphorus Enrichment Reshapes Terrestrial Phosphorus Cycling

Julian Helfenstein, Adam R. Martin, Josep Peñuelas, Zixin Chen, Constantin M. Zohner, Dafeng Hui, Mingkai Jiang, Qin Deng, Laurent Augusto, Kai Dong, Qingshui Yu, Zhengbing Yan, Jiguang Feng, Haihua Shen, Jingyun Fang, Manuel Delgado‐Baquerizo, Xinli Chen, Frank Hagedorn, Hans Lambers, Enqing Hou, Jordi Sardans
article en

Abstract

Anthropogenic phosphorus (P) inputs are rapidly altering terrestrial P cycling through plant - soil - microbial interactions; however, global patterns and underlying mechanisms driving these changes remain poorly understood. By performing a global meta-analysis of 1315 observations from 176 studies across diverse natural terrestrial ecosystems, we found that P addition increased P concentrations in foliage, stems, roots, and litter by 62%, 114%, 100% and 63%, respectively. Soil total P, plant-available P, and microbial P concentrations rose by 43%, 221%, and 70%, while leaf P-resorption efficiency and soil phosphatase activity declined by 23% and 15%, respectively. Stem P and soil phosphatase activity exhibited consistent trends across tropical, temperate, and boreal zones, suggesting climate-specific P acquisition strategies. In addition, foliar P responses diverged among ecosystem and plant functional types. These responses were primarily regulated by background soil total P concentration, precipitation, soil pH, and P addition duration and rate. Our findings provide critical insights into the potential consequences of increasing anthropogenic P inputs in natural terrestrial ecosystems, improving our understanding of nutrient cycling and informing future ecosystem management under ongoing global change.

Global Change BiologyVol. 32(4)
Inner Mongolia Agricultural University (CN), Zhejiang A & F University (CN), The University of Western Australia (AU), University of Toronto (CA), Inner Mongolia University (CN), Scarborough Health Network (CA), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (CH), Beijing Botanical Garden (CN), ETH Zurich (CH), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie (FR), Ministry of Education (RO), Santé et Agroécologie du Vignoble (FR), South China Botanical Garden (CN), Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications (ES), Unité mixte de recherche Œnologie (FR), Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (ES), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, China National Botanical Garden, Lakehead University (CA), Tennessee State University (US), Zhejiang University (CN), Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Openalex Percentile: Top 30%
Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.