The role of nutrients, productivity, and climate in determining tree fruit production in European forests
Fernández-Martínez, Marcos (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Vicca, Sara (Universiteit Antwerpen. Departement Biologie)
Janssens, Ivan (Universiteit Antwerpen. Departement Biologie)
Espelta Morral, Josep Maria (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Date:	2017
Abstract:	Fruit production (NPPf), the amount of photosynthates allocated to reproduction (%GPPf) and their controls for spatial and species-specific variability (e. g. nutrient availability, climate) have been poorly studied in forest ecosystems. We characterized fruit production and its temporal behaviour for several tree species and resolved the effects of gross primary production (GPP), climate and foliar nutrient concentrations. We used data for litterfall and foliar nutrient concentration from 126 European forests and related them to climatic data. GPP was estimated for each forest using a regression model. Mean NPPf ranged from c. 10 to 40 g C m−2 yr−1 and accounted for 0. 5-3% of GPP. Forests with higher GPPs produced larger fruit crops. Foliar zinc (Zn) and phosphorus (P) concentrations were associated positively with NPPf, whereas foliar Zn and potassium (K) were negatively related to its temporal variability. Maximum NPPf and interannual variability of NPPf were higher in Fagaceae than in Pinaceae species. NPPf and %GPPf were similar amongst the studied species despite the different reproductive temporal behaviour of Fagaceae and Pinaceae species. We report that foliar concentrations of P and Zn are associated with %GPPf, NPPf and its temporal behaviour.
Grants:	European Commission 610028 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad GGL2013-48074-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2014/SGR-274
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Crop size ; Fertility ; Fruiting ; Reproductive effort ; Seeds ; Spatial variability
Published in:	The new phytologist, Vol. 213, Issue 2 (Jan. 2017) , p. 669-679, ISSN 1469-8137

DOI: 10.1111/nph.14193

Post-print 38 p, 1.7 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals) > Imbalance-P
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