Eleven-Year Canopy Nitrogen Addition Enhances the Uptake of Phosphorus by Plants and Accelerates Its Depletion in Soil

Abstract

Soil phosphorus (P) is a critical factor that limits plant productivity. Enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition has the potential to modify P transformation and availability, thereby potentially affecting the long-term productivity of forests. Here, we conducted an 11-year-long field experiment to simulate N deposition by adding N to the forest canopy in a N-limited northern subtropical forest in central China and assessed the changes in soil organic P mineralization, P fractions, microbial biomass P content, phosphatase activity, and plant P content under N deposition. Our objective was to establish a theoretical framework for addressing the P supply and sustaining plant productivity in soils with low P availability, particularly in a changing global setting. The results demonstrated a substantial reduction in the levels of total, organic, and available P owing to the canopy addition of N. Furthermore, there was a marked decrease in the proportion of organic P in the total P pool. However, no substantial changes were observed in the soil inorganic P content or the proportion of inorganic P within the total P across different treatments. Canopy N addition significantly enhanced the microbial biomass P content, phosphatase activity, and organic P mineralization rate, suggesting that in soils with limited P availability, the primary source of P was derived from the mineralization of organic P. Canopy N addition substantially increased the P content in leaves and fine roots while concurrently causing a considerable decrease in the N:P ratio. This indicates that N deposition increases P demand in plants. Correlation analysis revealed a significant negative association among the total, organic, and available P levels in the soil and plant P concentrations (p < 0.05). This suggests that the primary cause of the reduced fractions of P was plant uptake following canopy N addition. Various studies have demonstrated that N deposition induces an augmented P demand in plants and expedites the utilization of available P. A substantial reduction in potentially accessible soil P caused by N deposition is likely to exacerbate regional P depletion, thereby exerting adverse impacts on forest ecosystem productivity.