Nitrogen-fixing trees inhibit growth of regenerating Costa Rican rainforests.

ABSTRACT: More than half of the world's tropical forests are currently recovering from human land use, and this regenerating biomass now represents the largest carbon (C)-capturing potential on Earth. How quickly these forests regenerate is now a central concern for both conservation and global climate-modeling efforts. Symbiotic nitrogen-fixing trees are thought to provide much of the nitrogen (N) required to fuel tropical secondary regrowth and therefore to drive the rate of forest regeneration, yet we have a poor understanding of how these N fixers influence the trees around them. Do they promote forest growth, as expected if the new N they fix facilitates neighboring trees? Or do they suppress growth, as expected if competitive inhibition of their neighbors is strong? Using 17 consecutive years

SUBMITTER: Taylor BN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5565457 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature