Authors: Kathryn L Amatangelo Peter M Vitousek
Publish Date: 2008/07/23
Volume: 157, Issue: 4, Pages: 619-627
Abstract
We asked if element concentrations in ferns differ systematically from those in woody dicots in ways that could influence ecosystem properties and processes Phylogenetically ferns are deeply separated from angiosperms for our analyses we additionally separated leptosporangiate ferns into polypod ferns a monophyletic clade of ferns which radiated after the rise of angiosperms and all other leptosporangiate nonpolypod ferns We sampled both nonpolypod and polypod ferns on a natural fertility gradient and within fertilized and unfertilized plots in Hawaii and compared our data with shrub and tree samples collected previously in the same plots Nonpolypod ferns in particular had low Ca concentrations under all conditions and less plasticity in their N and P stoichiometry than did polypod ferns or dicots Polypod ferns were particularly rich in N and P with low NP ratios and their stoichiometry varied substantially in response to differences in nutrient availability Distinguishing between these two groups has the potential to be useful both in and out of Hawaii as they have distinct properties which can affect ecosystem function These differences could contribute to the widespread abundance of polypod ferns in an angiospermdominated world and to patterns of nutrient cycling and limitation in sites where ferns are abundantWe thank R Aguraiuja L Arnold H Farrington M Meyer and D Turner for help in the field and in the lab and J Benner C Lunch J Funk K Pryer and two anonymous reviewers for comments on a draft of the manuscript This work was supported by NSF DEB0508954 and NSF DEB0516491
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