Postdoctoral researcher at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. My research focuses on understanding the effect of climate change on nutrient acquisition strategies in the Amazon forest, with a particular emphasis on the impact of elevated CO2 in the plant microbial interaction mechanisms. I earned my Bachelor's in Forest engineering from the State University of Mato Grosso. Subsequently, I completed my Master's and Ph.D. in Science of Tropical Forest at the National Institute of Amazonian Research, Manaus, Brazil. My primary research interests lie in elucidating the effect of elevated CO2 and the natural gradient of nutrient availability on the nutrient cycling and nutrient acquisition strategies in the Amazon forest, with a specific focus on plant root traits, mycorrhiza arbuscular simbioses, root phosphatase activity as direct plant strategies to increase the phosphorus availability, microbial nutrient mobilization and extracellular enzymes activity.
Plasticity of nutrient mechanism acquisition in the Amazonian understory under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide
NP MARTINS, L. FUCHSLUEGER, LF LUGLI, OJ VALVERDE-BARRANTES, RJ NORBY, I. PHARTLEY, I. ALEIXO, FB BACCARO, B. BRUM, R. DI PONZIO, A. DAMASCENO, VR FERRER, K. FLEISCHER, S. GARCIA, A. GUEDES, F. HOFHANSL, D. LAPOLA, JG MENEZES, ACM MORAES, AC MIRON, LR DE OLIVEIRA, C. PALHETA, IS PEREIRA, M. PIRES, G. RIBEIRO, JS ROSA, A. RAMMIG, FD SANTANA, YR SANTOS, LS SILVA, B. TAKESHI, G. USHIDA, CA QUESADA
Professur für "Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions, Technical Universisty of Munich, Freising, Germany
Approximately 60% of the Amazon rainforest grows on highly weathered soils with low levels of rock-derived nutrients. In such nutrient-limited ecosystems, plant communities' functional capacity and adaptability to facilitate efficient nutrient acquisition is decisive for a potential CO2 fertilization effect. To address this uncertainty, we designed an in situ open-top chamber (OTC) experiment, elevating CO2 (eCO2) by 250 ppm in the understory of a highly phosphorus-limited mature Amazonian tropical forest in Manaus, Brazil. Our results showed that under eCO2, plants intensified root foraging in the litter layer, adopting a “do-it-yourself” strategy, increasing both root length and area by 328% and 217%, respectively. In contrast, roots in the soil followed an “outsourcing” strategy by doubling arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization.
Furthermore, eCO2 enhanced direct biochemical phosphorus (P) mineralization in the litter layer by increasing P release by 11% without changing litter decomposition. This suggests that under the eCO2 understory, plants maximize nutrient acquisition and maintain stand-level biomass growth by tackling different P sources within the litter-soil continuum, switching from mineral soil to litter-derived organic P sources. This mechanism directly influences Amazonian rainforest C and nutrient cycling and its resilience to climate change.