Rj. Fensham et Dmjs. Bowman, A COMPARISON OF FOLIAR NUTRIENT CONCENTRATION IN TREES FROM MONSOON RAIN-FOREST AND SAVANNA IN NORTHERN AUSTRALIA, Australian journal of ecology, 20(2), 1995, pp. 335-339
Analysis of foliar nutrient concentrations revealed that two mesophyll
ic monsoon rainforest trees had higher concentrations of most nutrient
s in leaves than eight savanna species. One of the rested monsoon rain
forest species with sclerophyllous leaves had similar nutrient concent
rations to the savanna tree species. There were positive or no signifi
cant correlations between live foliar nutrient concentration and the p
ercentage of nutrients withdrawn prior to litterfall. The nutrient con
centration of litter was similar for most nutrients among tree species
of monsoon rainforest or savanna. The results of this study suggest t
hat the relative fertility of surface soils of monsoon rainforest comp
ared with savanna is not determined by contrasting nutrient cycling st
rategies whereby monsoon rainforest tree species enrich their soils wi
th relatively nutrient rich leaf litter relative to savanna tree speci
es.