Functional antagonism between nitrogen-fixing leguminous trees and calcicole-drought-tolerant trees in the Cerrado
The Cerrado is the largest savanna of South America and its physiognomy varies from savanna to woodlands. There are two main types of woodlands in the Cerrado: dystrophic woodlands, dominated by N-fixing leguminous trees (LEG), and mesotrophic woodlands dominated by non-leguminous drought-tolerant t...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2017 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/154938 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/154938 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Aluminum toxicity Woodlands Tropical savanna Nitrogen fixing Ecosystem function Dry forests Calcicole species |
| Sumario: | The Cerrado is the largest savanna of South America and its physiognomy varies from savanna to woodlands. There are two main types of woodlands in the Cerrado: dystrophic woodlands, dominated by N-fixing leguminous trees (LEG), and mesotrophic woodlands dominated by non-leguminous drought-tolerant trees (DRY), which are calcicoles and sensitive to Al The working hypothesis is that LEG and DRY are functional antagonists in terms of the acidification/alkalization processes involving different forms of inorganic nitrogen and pH, Ca and Al in soil. Tree species basal area and soil properties were used to investigate the antagonism between LEG and DRY using generalized linear models. The results suggest that LEG and DRY are antagonists. The LEG were positively associated with Al, NO and NH4+ content and negatively related to increasing Ca content, whereas the DRY were negatively associated with Al, NO and NH4+ and positively associated with increasing Ca content. The upper soil layer in plots dominated by LEG species became more acidic and the upper soil layer in plots dominated by DRY species became more alkaline. The results suggest that LEG and DRY are functional antagonists and their preferences for NH or NO might influence the way the Cerrado woodland changes. |
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