Seasonal patterns of root-surface phosphatase activities in a Mediterranean shrubland. Responses to experimental warming and drought |
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| Authors: | Jordi Sardans Josep Peñuelas Marc Estiarte |
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| Institution: | (1) Ecophysiology Unit CSIC-CEAB-CREAF, CREAF (Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Spain |
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| Abstract: | Mediterranean ecosystems are water limited and the current general circulation Models (GCM) and ecophysiological models forecast
a warming and a further increase of drought in the next decades. A stronger water stress can decrease the capacity for nutrient
absorption by plants. We conducted a field experiment to simulate forecasted drought and warming in a Mediterranean calcareous
shrubland to assess the performance of root-surface phosphatase activities of the dominant shrub Globularia alypum. These enzyme activities were higher in autumn and spring, when the climate conditions were optimal for plant activity, than
in summer or winter, when there was either lack of water or cold temperatures. A decrease in soil moisture in drought plots
decreased root-surface phosphatase activity (29% in summer and 25% in autumn). The decrease in root-surface phosphatase activity
in drought plots coincided with a decrease in P leaf concentrations and P accumulation in aboveground biomass and loss of
photosynthetic capacity of some dominant shrub species of this ecosystem, and with a tendency to increase total soil-P. These
results suggest that the expected drier conditions in this Mediterranean shrubland in the next decades will slow down the
P uptake by plants, thereby, diminishing the P contents in biomass and increasing total P contents in soil in non-available
forms and that this can be, in part, attributable to a result of the decrease in root-surface phosphatase activity. |
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| Keywords: | Climate change Dorycnium pentaphyllum Drought Erica multiflora Globularia alypum Mediterranean Root-surface phosphatase Shrubland Warming |
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