Improved representation of phosphorus exchange on soil mineral surfaces reduces estimates of P limitation in temperate forest ecosystems.

Autor: Yu, Lin, Caldararu, Silvia, Ahrens, Bernhard, Wutzler, Thomas, Schrumpf, Marion, Helfenstein, Julian, Pistocchi, Chiara, Zaehle, Sönke
Předmět:
Zdroj: Biogeosciences Discussions; 5/31/2022, p1-27, 27p
Abstrakt: Phosphorus (P) availability affects the response of terrestrial ecosystems to environmental and climate change (e.g. elevated CO2), yet the magnitude of this effect remains uncertain. This uncertainty arises mainly from a lack of quantitative understanding of the soil biological and geochemical P cycling processes, particularly the P exchange with soil mineral surfaces, which is often described by a Langmuir sorption isotherm. We first conducted a literature review on P sorption experiments and terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) using Langmuir isotherm. We then developed a new algorithm to describe the inorganic P exchange between soil solution and soil matrix based on the double-surface Langmuir isotherm and extracted empirical equations to calculate the sorption capacity and Langmuir coefficient. We finally tested the conventional and new models of P sorption at five beech forest sites in Germany along a soil P stock gradient using the QUINCY (Quantifying Interactions between terrestrial Nutrient CYcles and the climate system) TBM. We found that the conventional (single-surface) Langmuir isotherm approach in most TBMs largely differed from P sorption experiments regarding the sorption capacities and Langmuir coefficients, and simulated a too low soil P buffering capacity. Conversely, the double-surface Langmuir isotherm approach adequately reproduced the observed patterns of soil inorganic P pools. The better representation of inorganic P cycling using the double Langmuir approach also improved simulated foliar N and P concentrations, and the patterns of gross primary production and vegetation carbon across the soil P gradient. The novel model generally reduces the estimates of P limitation compared to the conventional model, particularly at the low-P site, as the model constraint of slow inorganic P exchange on plant productivity is reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index