Nutrient accumulation in aboveground biomass of planted tropical trees: a meta-analysis

Efficient nutrient use is essential for biomass production by tropical trees growing in infertile soils. Accumulation of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the aboveground biomass of four groups of tree stands [Acacia, Eucalyptus, N2-fixing trees excluding Acacia, and other non-N2-fixing broadleaved (ONNFB) trees] were investigated using meta-analyses of a range of biomass data to test the hypothesis that fast-growing Acacia and Eucalyptus trees accumulate fewer nutrients. Data for 83 tropical tree stands were selected from the literature. Standardized major axis regressions were applied between the log10-transformed biomass and N or P accumulation. Nutrient use efficiency was compared with aboveground biomass and topsoil conditions. The slope of the regression between aboveground biomass and N accumulation for Eucalyptus was significantly smaller than the slopes for the N2-fixing trees (excluding Acacia) and the ONNFB trees. N use efficiency of Eucalyptus increased with biomass more than that of N2-fixing trees (excluding Acacia) and the ONNFB trees, because their stems and twigs tended to accumulate less N than in the other groups as biomass increased. The regressions between aboveground biomass and P accumulation had a common slope, and the intercepts of Acacia and Eucalyptus were significantly lower than that of ONNFB trees. P use efficiency of Acacia was consistently higher than that of the ONNFB trees. P use efficiency is more affected by other factors like soil conditions than is N use efficiency, and the differences in the tree groups significantly affect the use efficiency of both nutrients. These results explained some aspects of the general suitability of Acacia and Eucalyptus species for tropical plantations on infertile soils.