Age-Dependent Phosphorus Limitation in Tropical Forests: Implications for Global Nutrient Cycling Models

Age-Dependent Phosphorus Limitation in Tropical Forests: Implications for Global Nutrient Cycling Models

Our findings corroborate the pervasive phosphorus (P) limitation in tropical forests, consistent with previous research (Du et al., 2020; Hou et al., 2020). Furthermore, our study demonstrates a robust correlation between increasing tree age and escalating P limitation in these ecosystems. Notably, slow-growing and N-fixing trees exhibit a heightened susceptibility to P limitation with advancing age compared to their fast-growing counterparts.

These findings substantially advance our comprehension of tropical P cycling dynamics. Critically, our study underscores the imperative need to integrate the influence of tree age on plant nutrient cycling to enhance the predictive capacity of global nutrient cycling models. This is particularly relevant as the tree-age effect remains unaccounted for in current models of terrestrial P cycling within tropical regions.