Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T17:16:14.676Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mineral nutrient status of coastal hill dipterocarp forest and adinandra belukar in Singapore: bioassays of nutrient limitation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

D. F. R. P. Burslem ,
I. M. Turner  and
P. J. Grubb
D. F. R. P. Burslem
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB23EA, UK
I. M. Turner
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, National University of Singapore, Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore0511
P. J. Grubb
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB23EA, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Bioassays of nutrient limitation were carried out for Melastoma malabathricum growing on soil from primary lowland dipterocarp rainforest in Singapore, and for Dillenia suffruticosa on soil from adinandra belukar, a nutrient-poor secondary forest type dominated by Adinandra dumosa. Three questions were addressed. 1. What is the nutrient most limiting to growth in primary forest? 2. What is the nature of nutrient limitation under conditions of adequate P supply? 3. Is there a qualitative difference in the nature of nutrient limitation under primary forest and adinandra belukar? Results showed that there was a strong limitation by P availability in both primary forest and adinandra belukar under the experimental conditions used. Once plants had an adequate P supply, all other nutrients became limiting to growth in primary forest soil. These findings are interpreted as support for the hypothesis that P availability would limit the productivity of moist tropical forests in general in the absence of mycorrhizas; tentative conclusions are drawn on the assumption that most woody tropical plants are mycorrhizal. It is argued that limitation by major cations may be common on old, highly leached tropical rainforest soils.

Keywords

adinandra belukarDillenia suffruticosaMelastoma malabathricumnutrientssecondary forestSingaporetropical rainforest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , November 1994 , pp. 579 - 599
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Alexander, I. 1989. Mycorrhizas in tropical forests. Pp. 169–188 in Proctor, J. (ed.). Mineral nutrients in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 473 pp.Google Scholar
Alexander, I., Ahmad, N. & Lee, S. S. 1992. The role of mycorrhizas in the regeneration of some Malaysian forest trees. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B 335:379–388.Google Scholar
Baillie, I. C., Ashton, P. S., Court, M. N., Anderson, J. A. R., Fitzpatrick, E. A. & Tinsley, J. 1987. Site characteristics and the distribution of tree species in mixed dipterocarp forest on tertiary sediments in central Sarawak, Malaysia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 3:201–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binkley, D. 1986. Forest nutrition management. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 289 pp.Google Scholar
Bouma, D., Dowling, E. J. & Wahjoedi, H. 1979. Some effects of potassium and magnesium on the growth of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum). Annals of Botany 43:529–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brady, N. C. 1990. The nature and properties of soils. (10th edition). Macmillan, New York.Google Scholar
Burslem, D. F. R. P. 1993. Differential responses to limiting resources among tree seedlings of lowland tropical rain forest in Singapore. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Chan, K. W. 1982. Phosphorus requirement of Oil Palm in Malaysia: fifty years of experimental results. Pp. 395–423 in Pushparajah, E. & Sharifudin, H. A. Hamid (eds). Phosphorus and potassium in the tropics. Malayan Society of Soil Science, Kuala Lumpur. 590 pp.Google Scholar
Chapin, F. S. 1980. The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematic 11:233–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corlett, R. T. 1988. Bukit Timah: history and significance of a small rain forest reserve. Environmental Conservation 15:37–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corner, E. J. H. 1978. The freshwater swamp-forest of south Johore and Singapore. Botanic Gardens Parks and Recreation Department, Singapore, ix + 266 pp. + 40 plates.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornforth, I. E. 1968. Relationships between soil volume used by roots and nutrient accessibility. Journal of Soil Science 19:291–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuevas, E. & Medina, E. 1988. Nutrient dynamics within Amazonian forests. II. Fine root growth, nutrient availability and leaf litter decomposition. Oecologia 76:222–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Denslow, J. C., Vitousek, P. M. & Schultz, J. C. 1987. Bioassays of nutrient limitation in a tropical rain forest soil. Oecologia 74:370–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Rham, P. 1970. L'Azote dans quelques forêts, savanes et de terrains de culture d'Afrique tropical humide (Côte d'Ivoire). Veröffentlichungen des Ceobotanischen Institutes, Zürich 45:1–127.Google Scholar
Evans, G. C. 1972. The quantitative analysis of plant growth. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 734 pp.Google Scholar
Foster, H. L. & Goh, H. S. 1976. Fertilizer requirements of Oil Palm in West Malaysia. Preprint from Malaysian International Agricultural Oil Palm Conference 1976. Incorporated Society of Planters, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Gower, S. T. 1987. Relations between mineral nutrient availability and fine root biomass on two Costa Rican tropical wet forests: a hypothesis. Biotropica 19:171–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gower, S. T. & Vitousek, P. M. 1989. Effects of nutrient amendments on fine root biomass in a primary succession forest in Hawaii. Oecologia 81:566–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grubb, P. J. 1977a. Control of forest growth and distribution on wet tropical mountains: with special reference to mineral nutrition. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 8:83–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grubb, P. J. 1977b. The maintenance of species richness in plant communities: the importance of the regeneration niche. Biological Reviews 52:107–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grubb, P. J. 1989. The role of mineral nutrients in the tropics: a plant ecologist's view. Pp. 417–439 in Proctor, J. (ed.). Mineral nutrients in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 473 pp.Google Scholar
Grubb, P. J., Turner, I. M. & Burslem, D. F. R. P. 1994. Mineral nutrient status of coastal hill dipterocarp forest and adinandra belukar in Singapore: analysis of soil, leaves and litter, Journal of Tropical Ecology 10:559–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harley, J. L. & Smith, S. E. 1983. Mycorrhizal symbiosis. Academic Press, London. 483 pp.Google Scholar
Healey, J. R. 1989. A bioassay study of soils in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. Pp. 273–287 in Proctor, J. (ed.). Mineral nutrients in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 473 pp.Google Scholar
Holttum, R. E. 1954. Adinandra belukar. Malayan Journal of Tropical Geography 3:83–107.Google Scholar
Janos, D. P. 1983. Tropical mycorrhizas, nutrient cycles and plant growth. Pp. 327–345 in Sutton, S. L., Whitmore, T. C. & Chadwick, A. C. (eds). Tropical rainforest: ecology and management. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 498 pp.Google Scholar
Jones, M. D., Durall, D. M. & Tinker, P. B. 1991. Fluxes of carbon and phosphorus between symbionts in willow ectomycorrhizas and their changes with time. New Phytologist 119:99–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jordan, C. F. & Escalante, G. 1980. Root productivity in an Amazonian rain forest. Ecology 61:14–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lloyd, P. S. & Pigott, C. D. 1967. The influence of soil conditions on the course of succession on the chalk of southern England. Journal of Ecology 55:13–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marrs, R. H., Thompson, J., Scott, D. & Proctor, J. 1991. Nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in terra firme forest and savanna soils on Ilha de Maraca, Roraima, Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7:123–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marschner, H. 1986. Mineral nutrition of higher plants. Academic Press, London. 674 pp.Google Scholar
Medina, E. & Cuevas, E. 1989. Patterns of nutrient accumulation and release in Amazonian forests of the upper Rio Negro basin. Pp. 217–240 in Proctor, J. (ed.). Mineral nutrients in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 473 pp.Google Scholar
Mosse, B. 1973. Plant growth responses to vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas. IV. In soil given aditional phosphate. New Phytologist 72:127–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newton, A. C. & Pigott, C. D. 1991a. Mineral nutrition and mycorrhizal infection of seedling oak and birch 1. Nutrient uptake and the development of mycorrhizal infection during seedling establishment. New Phytologist 117:37–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newton, A. C. & Pigott, C. D. 1991b. Mineral nutrition and mycorrhizal infection of seedling oak and birch 2. The effect of fertilizers on growth, nutrient uptake and ectomycorrhizal infection. New Phytologist 117:45–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peace, W. J. H. & Grubb, P. J. 1982. Interaction of light and mineral nutrient supply in the growth of Impatiens parviflora. New Phytologist 90:127–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, G. P. 1984. Nitrification and nitrogen mineralization in a lowland rainforest succession in Costa Rica, Central America. Oecologia 61:99–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sim, J. W. S., Tan, H. T. W. & Turner, I. M. 1992. Adinandra belukar: an anthropogenic heath forest in Singapore. Vegetatio 102:125–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamm, C. O. 1964. Determination of nutrient requirements of forest stands. International Review of Forestry Research 1:115–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanner, E. V. J. 1977. Four montane rain forests of Jamaica: a quantitative characterization of the floristics, the soils and the foliar mineral levels, and a discussion of the interrelations. Journal of Ecology 69:263–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanner, E. V. J., Kapos, V. & Franco, W. 1992. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization effects on Venezualan montane forest trunk growth and litterfall. Ecology 73:78–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanner, E. V. J., Kapos, V., Freskos, S., Healey, J. R. & Theobald, A. M. 1990. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization of Jamaican montane forest trees. Journal of Tropical Ecology 6:231–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, I. M. 1991. Effects of shade and fertilizer addition on the seedlings of two tropical woody pioneer species. Tropical Ecology 32:24–29.Google Scholar
Turner, I. M., Brown, N. D. & Newton, A. C. 1993. The effect of fertilizer application on dipterocarp seedling growth and mycorrhizal infection. Forest Ecology and Management 57:329–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vitousek, P. M. 1984. Litterfall, nutrient cycling and nutrient limitation in tropical rain forests. Ecology 65:285–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vitousek, P. M. & Denslow, J. S. 1986. Nitrogen and phosphorus availability in treefall gaps of a lowland tropical rainforest. Journal of Ecology 74:1167–1178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vitousek, P. M. & Sanford, R. L. 1986. Nutrient cycling in moist tropical forest. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17:137–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkins, D. A. 1991. The influence of sheathing (ccto-) mycorrhizas of trees on the uptake and toxicity of metals. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 35:245–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamakura, T. & Sahunalu, P. 1990. Soil carbon/nitrogen ratio as a site quality index for some South-east Asian forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology 6:371–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar