Figure 7
A simplified conceptual figure of the influence of soil properties on tree growth and mortality, but not biomass, across phosphorus-depleted tropical forests. Both forests have the same aboveground biomass, but different turnover rates and soil properties. At the sandy end of the soil continuum are forests with slower (narrower) nutrient cycling due to greater nutrient retention in the aboveground biomass (dark blue) based on slower growth, greater longevity, lower quality litter. At the other end of the spectrum are forests where the greater capacity of clay and (hydr)oxide-rich soils to retain phosphorus and organic matter support faster (wider) nutrient cycling forests. At clayey sites, nutrient recycling via decomposition (dark blue) is supported by a greater relative abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.
