Oak trees and soil interactions in Mediterranean forests: a positive feedback model

What is the spectrum of variability of chemical elements in a Mediterranean forest ecosystem across the different compartments? Do coexisting tree species with different leaf chemical composition and nutrient cycling distinctly modify soil conditions? Could these species-specific, treegenerated soil...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Aponte, Cristina, García, Luis V., Pérez-Ramos, Ignacio Manuel, Gutiérrez González, Eduardo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/37413
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/37413
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Biogeochemical niche
Ecological stoichiometry
Ecosystem functioning
Foliar analysis
Nutrient cycling
Quercus canariensis
Quercus suber
Soil fertility
Descripción
Sumario:What is the spectrum of variability of chemical elements in a Mediterranean forest ecosystem across the different compartments? Do coexisting tree species with different leaf chemical composition and nutrient cycling distinctly modify soil conditions? Could these species-specific, treegenerated soil changes create a potential positive feedback by affecting longterm species distribution? We sampled and chemically analysed five different ecosystem components: leaves, leaf fall, litter and superficial (0–25 cm) and sub-superficial (25–50 cm) soil beneath the canopies of evergreen Quercus suber and deciduous Q. canariensis trees. We used multiple co-inertia analysis (MCoA) to conjointly analyse the patterns of variability and covariation of eight macro- and micronutrients determined in each of the sampled ecological materials.We implemented a path analysis to investigate alternative causal models of relationships among the chemical properties of the different ecosystem components.