Abstract
Despite limitations of low fertility and high acidity of the soils, the cerrado flora is the richest amongst savannas. Many cerrado woody species show sclerophyllous leaves, which might be related to the availability of water and nutrients in the soil. To better understand the function and structure of cerrado vegetation within its own variations, we compared two cerrado communities: one in its core region in central Brazil (Brasília, DF) and the other on its southern periphery (Itirapina, SP). We contrasted the length of the dry season, soil fertility rates, leaf concentrations of N, P, K, Ca and Mg and the specific leaf area (SLA) between these communities. The dry season was shorter on the periphery, where the soil was more fertile although more acidic. Plants from the periphery showed higher SLA and higher leaf concentrations of N, P, Ca and Mg. We propose that the higher SLA of plants from the periphery is related to the shorter dry season, which allows better conditions for nutrient uptake.
Highlights
Soil fertility, water availability and herbivory have been recognized as important ecological filters in savannas (Sankaran et al 2005)
In the Australian savanna, rainfall decreases from the north of the country toward the center, while the length of the dry season shows the opposite pattern
Our results support the hypothesis that plants on the southern periphery are less sclerophyllous and retain more nutrients in their leaves in comparison to the core region
Summary
Savannas occupy 20% of emerged lands (Sankaran et al 2005), covering 21% of the Brazilian territory (Souza and Habermann 2012), 25% of the Australian soil fertility, water availability and herbivory have been recognized as important ecological filters in savannas (Sankaran et al 2005).Soil nutrient uptake and leaf development are water-dependent (Kreuzwieser and Gessler 2010). Savannas occupy 20% of emerged lands (Sankaran et al 2005), covering 21% of the Brazilian territory (Souza and Habermann 2012), 25% of the Australian soil fertility, water availability and herbivory have been recognized as important ecological filters in savannas (Sankaran et al 2005). Leaf traits such as nutritional status and the specific leaf area (SLA, e.g. proportion of leaf area unit of leaf mass) have been regularly used to explain responses of savanna species to variations in ecological filters. In Australian savannas, species growing on poor soils and subjected to high frequency of fire and droughts possess decreased concentrations of nutrients in their leaves, which tend to be more sclerophyllous (low SLA). Species growing on fertile soils with low frequency of drought and fire show nutrient-rich and less sclerophyllous leaves (Wright et al 2001, Prior et al 2005). There are some indications that changes in nutrient availability affects leaf nutrient status and SLA of cerrado species (Bucci et al 2006, Delgado et al 2013), detailed studies at the community level are lacking
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