Jk. Ndufa et al., Nutrient uptake and growth of young trees in a P-deficient soil: Tree species and phosphorus effects, FOREST ECOL, 122(3), 1999, pp. 231-241
Phosphorus deficiency is widespread in the subhumid highlands of eastern Af
rica but there are few data on the effect of P deficiency on the growth of
agroforestry tree species, We studied the effect of P application on growth
, nutrient uptake and dry matter partitioning in young trees of Calliandra
calothyrsus, Cedrela serrulata, Eucalyptus grandis, Grevillea robusta, Mark
hamia lutea, Senna spectabilis, and Sesbania sesban on a P-deficient soil (
Kandiudalfic Eutrudox, bicarbonate-EDTA extractable P = 1 mg kg(-1)) in wes
tern Kenya. The trees were grown at two P levels (control and 500 kg added
P ha(-1)) at 1 m(2) spacing in a randomized complete block design with thre
e replications. Leaf K concentrations were in the low range for all species
(5-9 mg g(-1)) and K deficiency may have limited responses to P. Averaged
over species, P addition increased aboveground shoot dry matter by a factor
of 2.6 at 62 and 124 days, but the response decreased to 1.3 at 325 days.
The increases at 62 days were large in sesbania (5.4) and eucalyptus (3.2)
but small in calliandra (1.4) and markhamia (1.1). Relative response to P w
as more strongly correlated with shoot growth rate per unit root length amo
ng species than with shoot growth rate alone. Calliandra, which had high ea
rly growth rate but low response to added P, had an exceptionally high root
length (6.0 km m(-2)) compared with the other species (0.3-2.1 km m(-2). P
addition increased N and P content but decreased final shoot K content in
sesbania and calliandra, and had little effect on K content in the other sp
ecies. The high-yielding species (eucalyptus, sesbania and calliandra) accu
mulated more than 30 g N and 2 g P m-2 in shoots in 325 days of growth. The
proportion of total shoot N in wood (branch + stem) was in a higher range
(67-75%) in the shrubby species (sesbania, calliandra, senna) than in the u
pperstorey tree species (38-43%). Slow early shoot growth relative to total
root length, and high specific root length (root length per unit root mass
) are proposed as criteria for the selection of species and provenances tha
t are well adapted to P deficient soils. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All
rights reserved.