Data from: To recycle or steal? Nutrient resorption in Australian and Brazilian mistletoes from three low-phosphorus sites

Resorption is the process by which nutrients are withdrawn from leaves
prior to leaf fall. Mistletoes are generally thought not to rely on
nutrient resorption; being xylem-tapping parasites, they instead derive
the nutrients required for new growth from their host plant, at little or
no cost. We measured nutrient (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) resorption in 18 parasitic
mistletoe–host species pairs distributed across three sites with notably
low-P soil, also quantifying relationships with leaf lifespan (LL) and
specific leaf area (SLA). There was little or no evidence of N, Ca or Mg
resorption. By contrast, on average ∼30% of P and ∼20% of K were resorbed
prior to leaf fall. Longer LL in mistletoes was associated with lower N
and P concentrations in mistletoes and in host leaves. We provide evidence
that, even though mistletoes are relatively inefficient in terms of
nutrient resorption compared to non-parasite species, on low-P soils their
ecological and evolutionary strategies for conserving phosphorous involve
modulation of both leaf lifespan and P concentration in senesced leaves.