Nutrient Resorption Dynamics in Terrestrial Ecosystems

Plants in terrestrial ecosystems conserve limited resources by retrieving essential elements—principally nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)—from leaves, stems and other organs prior to senescence. This internal recycling, known as nutrient resorption, contributes substantially to whole-plant nutrient budgets, modulates litter quality and affects soil biogeochemical cycles. Resorption efficiency and proficiency reflect how thoroughly plants reclaim nutrients and the residual nutrient concentration in senesced tissues, respectively. These traits vary with species life-history strategies, soil fertility, climatic regime and nutrient limitation status as indicated by foliar stoichiometry (for example, N:P ratios). In nutrient-poor or highly seasonal environments, high resorption efficiency typically supports sustained growth, whereas in nutrient-rich habitats a shift towards resource spending strategies can prevail. Globally, woody and herbaceous species exhibit contrasting resorption patterns, with conifers often showing high phosphorus reclamation and legumes demonstrating lower nitrogen resorption due to fixation capabilities. Environmental drivers such as moisture availability, temperature and anthropogenic nutrient inputs further alter resorption dynamics by changing soil nutrient pools, microbial enzyme activity and symbiotic associations. A mechanistic understanding of nutrient resorption underpins accurate modelling of primary productivity, informs sustainable land-management practices and predicts ecosystem responses to global change, including elevated nitrogen deposition and shifts in precipitation regimes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

In a freshwater marsh subject to experimental phosphorus enrichment, multi-level additions of P led to declines in P resorption efficiency and proficiency across organs, species and community layers, while nitrogen resorption efficiency remained unchanged. The results highlight the importance of inorganic versus organic P fractions in controlling P reclamation and suggest that eutrophication may weaken internal nutrient conservation. In a long-term Mongolian pine plantation study, chronic nitrogen addition aggravated phosphorus limitation by reducing soil available P and foliar P concentration, thereby lowering specific leaf area and shifting needle traits towards conservative nutrient use. This work emphasises interactive effects of N and P availability on leaf economics and nutrient cycling. Investigations of hyper-arid desert halophytes revealed that nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were strictly resorbed across species regardless of sodium regulation strategy, while calcium and magnesium were retained or accumulated. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that resorption proficiency is conserved along lineage lines, underlining the evolutionary basis of nutrient conservation in extreme environments.

Nutrient Resorption Dynamics in Terrestrial Ecosystems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in nutrient resorption dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Nutrient resorption efficiency: The proportion of a given nutrient withdrawn from senescing tissues relative to its concentration in living tissues.

Nutrient resorption proficiency: The residual concentration of a nutrient in senesced tissues, indicating the thoroughness of nutrient withdrawal.

Stoichiometry (C:N:P): The ratio of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in plant tissues or ecosystems, used to infer nutrient limitation and cycling dynamics.

Foliar N:P ratio: The mass ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus in green leaves; values above or below specific thresholds suggest P or N limitation respectively.

Resource conservation vs resource spending strategy: Contrasting plant nutrient-use modes whereby conservative species tightly recycle nutrients, whereas spending species rely more on external nutrient supply and shorter tissue lifespan.

References

1. Responses of plant nutrient resorption to phosphorus addition in freshwater marsh of Northeast China. Scientific Reports (2015).
2. Altered leaf functional traits by nitrogen addition in a nutrient-poor pine plantation: A consequence of decreased phosphorus availability. Scientific Reports (2017).
3. Nutrient resorption or accumulation of desert plants with contrasting sodium regulation strategies. Scientific Reports (2017).
4. Nitrogen -addition accelerates phosphorus cycling and changes phosphorus use strategy in a subtropical Moso bamboo forest. Environmental Research Letters (2021).
5. Nitrogen and Phosphorus Resorption in Planted Forests Worldwide. Forests (2019).