Phosphorus uptake in four tree species under nitrogen addition in subtropical China.

Atmospheric N deposition is a serious problem in subtropical China where N is present in large amounts but P is deficient. Several studies hypothesized that N fixers can overcome phosphorus limitation by trading fixed N for soil phosphorus. In order to know whether N fixers could invest fixed N in extracellular phosphatase production and could stimulate arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to acquire soil P in N-rich subtropical China, an open-air greenhouse experiment was carried out.