Effects of increased N and P availability on biomass allocation and root carbohydrate reserves differ between N‐fixing and non‐N‐fixing savanna tree seedlings

In mixed tree‐grass ecosystems, tree recruitment is limited by demographic bottlenecks to seedling establishment arising from inter‐ and intra‐life‐form competition, and disturbances such as fire. Enhanced nutrient availability resulting from anthropogenic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) deposition can alter the nature of these bottlenecks by changing seedling growth and biomass allocation patterns, and lead to longer‐term shifts in tree community composition if different plant functional groups respond differently to increased nutrient availability. However, the extent to which tree functional types characteristic of savannas differ in their responses to increased N and P availability remains unclear. We quantified differences in above‐ and belowground biomass, and root carbohydrate contents in seedlings of multiple N‐fixing and non‐N‐fixing tree species characteristic of Indian savanna and dry forest ecosystems in response to experimental N and P additions. These parameters are known ...