Boron application increases growth of Brazilian Cerrado grasses.

Autor: Lannes LS; Department of Biology and Animal Sciences State University of São Paulo (UNESP) Ilha Solteira Brazil., Olde Venterink H; Department of Biology Vrije Universiteit Brussel Brussels Belgium., Leite MR; Department of Biology and Animal Sciences State University of São Paulo (UNESP) Ilha Solteira Brazil., Silva JN; Department of Biology and Animal Sciences State University of São Paulo (UNESP) Ilha Solteira Brazil., Oberhofer M; Department of Pharmacognosy University of Vienna Vienna Austria.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology and evolution [Ecol Evol] 2020 May 29; Vol. 10 (13), pp. 6364-6372. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 May 29 (Print Publication: 2020).
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6367
Abstrakt: Nutrients are known to limit productivity of plant communities around the world. In the Brazilian Cerrado, indirect evidences point to phosphorus as the main limiting nutrient, but some fertilization experiments suggest that one or more micronutrients might play this role. Boron is one of the essential micronutrients for plants. Agronomically, it received some attention, but it has mostly been neglected in ecological studies assessing the effects of nutrients on plant growth. Through field fertilization and mesocosm experiments in a degraded area in the Cerrado, we show that boron addition increased biomass production of herbaceous vegetation. This could be related to a lower aluminum uptake in the boron fertilized plants. Even considering that plant growth was promoted by boron addition due to aluminum toxicity alleviation, this is the first study reporting boron limitation in natural, noncultivated plant communities and also the first report of this kind in vegetative grasses. These results contribute to disentangling patterns of nutrient limitation among plant species of the species-rich, aluminum-rich, and nutrient-poor Cerrado biome and highlight the potential role of micronutrients, such as boron, for growth of noncrop plants. Understanding how nutrient limitation differs among functional groups in the highly biodiverse areas founded on ancient tropical soils may help managing these plant communities in a changing world.
Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to report.
(© 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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