EGU22-8521
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8521
EGU General Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Forest trees can acquire Phosphorus from atmospheric dust deposition directly via the foliageForest trees can acquire Phosphorus from atmospheric dust deposition directly via the foliage

Maya Starr, Avner Gross, and Tamir Klein
Maya Starr et al.
  • Ben gurion University in the negev, Beer sheva, Israel (laurenci.starr@mail.huji.ac.il)

P availability to trees is often limited by local environmental soil conditions that increase its fixation to soil minerals. In certain regions, atmospheric P inputs can compensate for low soil P availability. Among atmospheric P sources, desert dust is the most dominant. However, currently, the effects of desert dust on the P nutrition and its uptake mechanisms by forest trees is unknown.  

Here we hypothesize that forest trees which naturally grow on soils with high soil P fixation capacity can acquire P from desert dust deposited on their leaves via direct foliar uptake.

We performed a controlled greenhouse experiment with 3 forest tree species. The trees were applied with desert dust directly upon their foliage. Our findings shows that direct uptake of P from desert dust can be an alternative P uptake pathway for various tree species and highlight that desert dust can serve as an important P source to forest trees.      

 

How to cite: Starr, M., Gross, A., and Klein, T.: Forest trees can acquire Phosphorus from atmospheric dust deposition directly via the foliageForest trees can acquire Phosphorus from atmospheric dust deposition directly via the foliage, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8521, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8521, 2022.