TY - JOUR
T1 - Crown Exposure Regulates Aboveground Wood Productivity Responses to Soil Fertility in Lowland Tropical Forests
AU - Medina-Vega, José A.
AU - Duque, Álvaro
AU - Zuleta, Daniel
AU - Castaño, Nicolás
AU - Valencia, Renato
AU - Aguilar, Salomón
AU - Mitre, David
AU - Pérez, Rolando
AU - Lum, Shawn K.Y.
AU - Burslem, David F.R.P.
AU - O'Brien, Michael J.
AU - Reynolds, Glen
AU - Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh
AU - Pongpattananurak, Nantachai
AU - Phumsathan, Sangsan
AU - Ewango, Corneille E.N.
AU - Makana, Jean Remy M.
AU - Itoh, Akira
AU - Mohamad, Mohizah Bt
AU - Tan, Sylvester
AU - Thompson, Jill
AU - Uriarte, María
AU - Zimmerman, Jess K.
AU - de Oliveira, Alexandre A.
AU - de Andrade, Ana C.S.
AU - da Silva, João Batista
AU - Vicentini, Alberto
AU - Brockelman, Warren Y.
AU - Nathalang, Anuttara
AU - Yao, Tze Leong
AU - Ediriweera, Sisira
AU - Novotny, Vojtech
AU - Weiblen, George D.
AU - Davies, Stuart J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2025/12
Y1 - 2025/12
N2 - Understanding the drivers of aboveground wood productivity (AWP) in tropical forests is crucial for explaining ecosystem functioning and predicting their responses to environmental change. While climatic water availability is a well-established driver, the role of soil nutrients and their interaction with other resources remains uncertain. We investigated how soil nutrients and light interactions shape AWP in lowland tropical forests using fine-scale soil and tree (≥ 1 cm DBH) data from 15 large forest plots. Canopy-exposed trees are nutrient-limited, with AWP increasing more with phosphorus (P) than with potassium (K), indicating P's greater role in plant growth and productivity. Conversely, understory AWP declined in fertile areas, likely due to intensified size-asymmetric competition. At the population level (mean across canopy layers), no relationship between soil nutrients and AWP emerged because contrasting responses among layers offset any overall association. Our results suggest that fine-scale heterogeneity and canopy stratification drive nutrient effects on tropical forest productivity.
AB - Understanding the drivers of aboveground wood productivity (AWP) in tropical forests is crucial for explaining ecosystem functioning and predicting their responses to environmental change. While climatic water availability is a well-established driver, the role of soil nutrients and their interaction with other resources remains uncertain. We investigated how soil nutrients and light interactions shape AWP in lowland tropical forests using fine-scale soil and tree (≥ 1 cm DBH) data from 15 large forest plots. Canopy-exposed trees are nutrient-limited, with AWP increasing more with phosphorus (P) than with potassium (K), indicating P's greater role in plant growth and productivity. Conversely, understory AWP declined in fertile areas, likely due to intensified size-asymmetric competition. At the population level (mean across canopy layers), no relationship between soil nutrients and AWP emerged because contrasting responses among layers offset any overall association. Our results suggest that fine-scale heterogeneity and canopy stratification drive nutrient effects on tropical forest productivity.
KW - AWP
KW - fertility
KW - plant–soil feedbacks
KW - productivity
KW - tropical forests
KW - wood productivity
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105024471252
U2 - 10.1111/ele.70280
DO - 10.1111/ele.70280
M3 - Carta
C2 - 41379713
AN - SCOPUS:105024471252
SN - 1461-023X
VL - 28
JO - Ecology Letters
JF - Ecology Letters
IS - 12
M1 - e70280
ER -