Authors: ShangWen Xia Jin Chen Doug Schaefer Matteo Detto
Publish Date: 2015/02/15
Volume: 391, Issue: 1-2, Pages: 51-61
Abstract
Soil spatial heterogeneity is an important factor partitioning environmental niches and facilitating species coexistence especially in tropical rainforests However finescale spatial variability of soil macronutrients and its causative factors are not well understood We investigate this finescale variability and how it relates to environmental factorsWe conducted intensive soil sampling 361 samples in a 1 ha plot in a tropical rainforest in Southwest China to investigate patterns of spatial heterogeneity in soil acidity and macronutrients and explored how the soil properties were influenced by topography and litterfall using a scalewise wavelet analysisTopography showed great variability at larger scales 25 m compared to litterfall properties which peaked at about 25 m Soil pH showed variation at large scales and was significantly correlated with topography whereas soil total nitrogen ammonium nitrogen available phosphorus and potassium showed variation at finer scales and were significantly correlated with litterfall chemical fluxes A dominant species of canopy tree was nonrandomly distributed in high litterfall input sitesThis study shows that finescale spatial variability of soil macronutrients is strongly influenced by litterfall chemical fluxes highlighting the importance of biotic factors for understanding finescale patterns of soil heterogeneity in tropical rainforestsThis study was founded by National Science Foundation of China 31270566 We thank Lang Ma for his assistance in field We also thank Hans Lambers James W Dalling Eben Goodale Uromi M Goodale Alice C Hughes Jennifer S Powers Lixin Wang Richard Corlett and anonymous reviewers for improving earlier versions of the manuscript We appreciate the Biogeochemistry Laboratory of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden for nutrient analysis the Xishuangbanna Station for Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystem Studies XSTRE for providing plot elevation tree species information and assistance in the field study and CTFSCForBio analytical workshop IV participants for their useful suggestions
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