Influence of temperature and soil nitrogen and phosphorus availabilities on fine‐root productivity in tropical rainforests on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo

Abstract

AbstractWe investigated how temperature and nutrient availability regulate fine‐root productivity in nine tropical rainforest ecosystems on two altitudinal gradients with contrasting soil phosphorus (P) availabilities on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. We measured the productivity and the nutrient contents of fine roots, and analyzed the relationships between fine‐root parameters and environmental factors. The fine‐root net primary productivity (NPP), total NPP, and ratio of fine‐root NPP to total NPP differed greatly among the sites, ranging from 72 to 228 (g m−2 year−1), 281–2240 (g m−2 year−1), and 0.06–0.30, respectively. A multiple‐regression analysis suggested a positive effect of P availability on total NPP, whereas fine‐root NPP was positively correlated with mean annual temperature and with P and negatively correlated with N. The biomass and longevity of fine roots increased in response to the impoverishment of soil P. The carbon (C) to P ratio (C/P) of fine roots was significantly and positively correlated with the P‐use efficiency of above‐ground litter production, indicating that tropical rainforest trees dilute P in fine roots to maintain the C allocation ratio to these roots. We highlighted the mechanisms regulating the fine‐root productivity of tropical rainforest ecosystems in relation to the magnitude of nutrient deficiency. The trees showed C‐conservation mechanisms rather than C investment as responses to decreasing soil P availability, which demonstrates that the below‐ground systems at these sites are strongly limited by P, similar to the above‐ground systems.