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Stefan Olin

Project coordinator

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Phosphorus enrichment does not enlarge the predicted CO2 fertilization effect on forest carbon sequestration

Author

  • Bin Wang
  • He Lyu
  • Xueqian Zhang
  • Mingkai Jiang
  • Belinda E. Medlyn
  • David Wårlind
  • Jürgen Knauer
  • Katrin Fleischer
  • Daniel S. Goll
  • Stefan Olin
  • Xiaojuan Yang
  • Lin Yu
  • Sönke Zaehle
  • Haicheng Zhang
  • Kristian Schufft
  • Kristine Y. Crous
  • Yolima Carrillo
  • Catriona A. Macdonald
  • Ian C. Anderson
  • Matthias M. Boer
  • Mark Farrell
  • Andrew Gherlenda
  • Laura Castañeda-Gómez
  • Shun Hasegawa
  • Klaus Jarosch
  • Paul Milham
  • Raúl Ochoa-Hueso
  • Varsha Pathare
  • Johanna Pihlblad
  • Juan Piñeiro
  • Sally A. Power
  • Peter B. Reich
  • Markus Riegler
  • David S. Ellsworth
  • Benjamin Smith
Show all

Summary, in English

The capacity of nutrient-limited forests to enhance carbon (C) sequestration under elevated CO2 (eCO2) remains a critical uncertainty in C cycle modeling. While existing evidence suggests that low phosphorus (P) bioavailability may constrain CO2 fertilization effects on plant growth, the extent to which this limitation modulates ecosystem responses to eCO2 in forests adapted to P-deficient soils remains poorly understood. Here, using eight P-enabled models, we simulated the magnitudes and mechanisms through which P bioavailability interacts with eCO2, emulating an ecosystem-scale P enrichment experiment at a P-limited Eucalyptus forest undergoing long-term Free-Air CO2 Enrichment. While models predicted pronounced P effects on tree growth, P enrichment unexpectedly did not increase the CO2 effects on tree growth and ecosystem C sequestration. Models prioritized either CO2-driven or P-driven growth, but rarely both. This tradeoff emerged due to model-specific assumptions on 1) partitioning of the extra P in soil labile versus nonlabile pools; 2) plant photosynthetic acclimation to P deficiency; 3) C and nutrient use strategies regulating plant size and allocation; and 4) microbial-driven soil decomposition processes. By generating divergent yet biologically plausible outcomes, these predictions establish critical testable hypotheses for empirical research and highlight multiple P-related pathways that may influence the future land C sink.

Department/s

  • Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (MGeo)
  • eSSENCE: The e-Science Collaboration
  • Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
  • MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system

Publishing year

2026

Language

English

Publication/Series

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volume

123

Issue

12

Document type

Article

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences

Topic

  • Physical Geography
  • Ecology (including Biodiversity Conservation)

Keywords

  • carbon sequestration
  • CO fertilization effect
  • ecosystem model
  • forest
  • phosphorus limitation
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0027-8424