Positive feedbacks between phosphorus deposition and forest canopy trapping, evidence from Southern Mexico

Runyan, Christiane W.; D’Odorico, Paolo; Vandecar, Karen L.; Das, Rishiraj; Schmook, Birgit; Lawrence, Deborah

doi:10.1002/2013jg002384

Cited by 19 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Our annualized rates of throughfall organic C (Table ; 94.46 ± 10.39 and 63.31 ± 15.43 kg C ha −1 a −1 , including and excluding T1, respectively) are in the middle of the range of values found across numerous rural studies (range: 29–161 kg C ha −1 a −1 : Michalzik et al, ; Schmidt et al, ; Pitman et al, ; Fujii et al, ; Arisci et al, ), but to our knowledge, no study reports organic C in throughfall in cities around the world. Annualized rates of throughfall total P (5.21 ± 0.79 and 2.60 ± 0.67 kg P ha −1 a −1 , including and excluding T1, respectively, 93–94% inorganic P; Table ) are elevated compared to throughfall rates found in nonurban studies (range 0.34–2.7 kg P ha −1 a −1 : Kopáček et al, ; Parron et al, ; Coble & Hart, ; Runyan et al, ; Lequy et al, ; Du et al, ; Salehi et al, ), but as with organic C, we did not find any past urban studies measuring P in throughfall worldwide. Taken as a whole, these results suggest that atmospheric deposition can be an important nonpoint source of organic N, organic C, and total P during the growing season in urban areas.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Atmospheric Inputs of Nitrogen, Carbon, and Phosphorus across an Urban Area: Unaccounted Fluxes and Canopy Influences

2018

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Rates of atmospheric deposition are declining across the United States, yet urban areas remain hotspots of atmospheric deposition. While past studies show elevated rates of inorganic nitrogen (N) deposition in cities, less is known about atmospheric inputs of organic N, organic carbon (C), and organic and inorganic phosphorus (P), all of which can affect ecosystem processes, water quality, and air quality. Further, the effect of the tree canopy on amounts and forms of nutrients reaching urban ground surfaces is not well‐characterized. We measured growing season rates of total N, organic C, and total P in bulk atmospheric inputs, throughfall, and soil solution around the greater Boston area. We found that organic N constitutes a third of total N inputs, organic C inputs are comparable to rural inputs, and inorganic P inputs are 1.2 times higher than those in sewage effluent. Atmospheric inputs are enhanced two‐to‐eight times in late spring and are elevated beneath tree canopies, suggesting that trees augment atmospheric inputs to ground surfaces. Additionally, throughfall inputs may directly enter runoff when trees extend above impervious surfaces, as is the case with 26.1% of Boston's tree canopy. Our results indicate that the urban atmosphere is a significant source of elemental inputs that may impact urban ecosystems and efforts to improve water quality, particularly in terms of P. Further, as cities create policies encouraging tree planting to provide ecosystem services, locating trees above permeable surfaces to reduce runoff nutrient loads may be essential to managing urban biogeochemical cycling and water quality.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Atmospheric Inputs of Nitrogen, Carbon, and Phosphorus across an Urban Area: Unaccounted Fluxes and Canopy Influences

2018

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“…During the study, P T input was 138 g/ha from bulk precipitation, and 180 and 178 g/ha from throughfall in the mature and secondary forest stands, respectively. Annually, P T input was 590 g/ha from bulk precipitation, and 810 and 1920 g/ha from throughfall in the secondary and mature forest stands [ Runyan et al , ]. Annual stemflow P inputs in the secondary forest were 65 g P/ha, while they were 58 g P/ha in the mature forest [ Das , ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rain water was sampled as part of a long‐term study investigating atmospheric P deposition to these forest stands beginning in 2006 [ Das et al , ; Runyan , ; Runyan et al , ]. Five collectors (10 L plastic collectors with openings 515 cm 2 in size, placed 0.6 m above the ground, and covered with 0.5 mm nylon mesh screen to exclude debris) were deployed during March 2010 [ Runyan et al , ]. Sample collection was coordinated with two local assistants and occurred immediately following each precipitation event to minimize losses to evaporation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fog deposition is dependent on canopy characteristics such as structure, density, leaf area, and leaf surface characteristics [ Roberts , ; Wedding et al , ; Henderson et al , ; Verry and Timmons , ; Michalzik et al , ; De Schrijver et al , , ]. Plant canopies may enable a positive feedback between vegetation and nutrient deposition by acting as a large trapping surface to scavenge nutrients from the atmosphere [ Rea et al , ; Lawrence et al , ; DeLonge , ; DeLonge et al , ; Runyan et al , ]. However, the occurrence and strength of this feedback and its susceptibility to land cover or climate change remain poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phosphorus input through fog deposition in a dry tropical forest

et al. 2015

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In many tropical forests, where phosphorus (P) is considered a limiting nutrient, atmospheric deposition can contribute significantly to available P. Previous studies have shown that P inputs from atmospheric deposition are enhanced by plant canopies. This effect is explained as the result of increased deposition of P-rich aerosol particles (dry deposition) and fog droplets (fog or "occult" deposition) onto leaf surfaces. Here we studied the importance of fog as a source of P to a P-limited dry tropical forest. Throughout an 80 day period during the dry season when fog is most common, we sampled fog water and bulk precipitation in a clearing and measured leaf wetness and throughfall in an adjacent secondary and mature forest stand. During the study period, total P (P T ) concentrations in fog water ranged from 0.15 to 6.40 mg/L, on average fourteenfold greater than P T concentrations in bulk precipitation (0.011 to 0.451 mg/L), and sixfold and sevenfold greater than throughfall P T concentrations in the secondary and mature forest stands, respectively (0.007 to 1.319 mg/L; 0.009 to 0.443 mg/L). Based on leaf area index, the frequency of fog deposition, and amount of water deposited per fog event, we estimate that fog delivers a maximum of 1.01 kg/ha/yr to secondary forest stands and 1.75 kg/ha/yr to mature forest stands, compared to 0.88 kg/ha/yr to secondary forest stands and 1.98 kg/ha/yr to mature forest stands via throughfall (wet + dry deposition) and stemflow. Thus, fog deposition may contribute substantially to available P in tropical dry forests. ]. Furthermore, fog that occurs during the dry season, when rain is scarce, may be especially important to sustaining productivity [Dawson, 1998]. However, few studies have quantified fog P inputs, particularly in forests at the dry end of the tropical forest precipitation spectrum where seasonal variability in rainfall and fog is more pronounced.

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“…For example, an empirical study has shown that the local‐scale availability of P can modulate atmospheric P deposition through a positive feedback loop involving vegetation growth (Runyan et al. ). Since small‐scale lateral nutrient fluxes can lead to ecosystem‐level emerging properties even under stable conditions (Gravel et al.…”

Section: Implications Of the Ltnoi Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could the lateral transfer of nutrients by outbreaking insects lead to consequential landscape‐scale effects?

Landry

Parrott

2016

Ecosphere

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Citation: Landry, J.-S., and L. Parrott. 2016. Could the lateral transfer of nutrients by outbreaking insects lead to consequential landscape-scale effects? Ecosphere 7(3):e01265. 10. 1002/ecs2.1265 Abstract. The processes that transfer nutrients laterally over large distances are limited within terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we present the hypothesis that outbreaking insects can sometimes transport consequential amounts of embodied nutrients over long distances, thereby connecting ecological dynamics across space and leading to potential emergent effects at the landscape scale that have not been specifically addressed heretofore. Based on previously published data on insect population density, individual body mass, and nutrient content, we present initial quantitative estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes for various outbreaking insect species in different ecosystems. The results suggest that during the phases of major population change within an outbreak cycle, this process may transfer, over a given area, amounts of nutrients that exceed annual input from contemporaneous levels of atmospheric deposition, particularly for phosphorus. In addition, the relative strength of the process was likely even higher in the preindustrial era, especially for nitrogen, due to a weaker anthropogenic influence on atmospheric deposition at that time. The values we have found are comparable to the results from previous studies on 2-D nutrient fluxes by other animals and that have been considered consequential for ecosystem processes. We further illustrate the implications of the process for the spatial distribution of nutrients and resulting ecological complexity and argue that the process is inherently scale dependent, contrary to vertical fluxes like atmospheric deposition. Moreover, we provide suggestions for future studies, both empirical and theoretical, that would better quantify the strength of the process and assess its implications. Given that the productivity of most natural terrestrial ecosystems depends primarily on locally recycled nutrients and that spatial source-sink nutrient dynamics has been shown to have important ecological consequences, the long-distance lateral transfer of nutrients by outbreaking insects appears like a relevant landscape-level process worthwhile of more specific attention.

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Positive feedbacks between phosphorus deposition and forest canopy trapping, evidence from Southern Mexico

Cited by 19 publications

References 66 publications

Atmospheric Inputs of Nitrogen, Carbon, and Phosphorus across an Urban Area: Unaccounted Fluxes and Canopy Influences

Atmospheric Inputs of Nitrogen, Carbon, and Phosphorus across an Urban Area: Unaccounted Fluxes and Canopy Influences

Phosphorus input through fog deposition in a dry tropical forest

Could the lateral transfer of nutrients by outbreaking insects lead to consequential landscape‐scale effects?

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