Foliar nutrient concentrations and resorption efficiency in plants of contrasting nutrient-acquisition strategies along a 2-million year dune chronosequence

1. Long-term pedogenesis leads to important changes in the availability of soil nutrients, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Changes in the availability of micronutrients can also occur, but are less well understood. We explored whether changes in leaf nutrient concentrations and resorption were consistent with a shift from N to P limitation of plant productivity with soil age along a >2-million year dune chronosequence in south-western Australia. We also compared these traits among plants of contrasting nutrient-acquisition strategies, focusing on N, P and micronutrients. 2. The range in leaf [P] for individual species along the chronosequence was exceptionally large for both green (103–3000 μg P g-1) and senesced (19–5600 μg P g-1) leaves, almost equalling that found globally. From the youngest to the oldest soil, cover-weighted mean leaf [P] declined from 1840 to 228 μg P g-1, while P-resorption efficiency increased from 0% to 79%. All species converged towards a highly ...