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3331824 
Journal Article 
Plant mineral nutrition in ancient landscapes: high plant species diversity on infertile soils is linked to functional diversity for nutritional strategies 
Lambers, H; Brundrett, MC; Raven, JA; Hopper, SD 
2011 
1 
Plant and Soil
ISSN: 0032-079X
EISSN: 1573-5036 
348 
1-2 
7-27 
WOS:000295587700002 
Ancient landscapes, which have not been glaciated in recent times or disturbed by other major catastrophic events such as volcanic eruptions, are dominated by nutrient-impoverished soils. If these parts of the world have had a relatively stable climate, due to buffering by oceans, their floras tend to be very biodiverse. This review compares the functional ecophysiological plant traits that dominate in old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes (OCBILS) with those commonly found in young, frequently disturbed, fertile landscapes (YODFELs). We show that, within the OCBILs of Western Australia, non-mycorrhizal species with specialised root clusters predominantly occur on the most phosphate-impoverished soils, where they co-occur with mycorrhizal species without such specialised root clusters. In global comparisons, we show that plants in OCBILs, especially in Western Australia, are characterised by very low leaf phosphorus (P) concentrations, very high N:P ratios, and very high LMA values (LMA = leaf mass per unit leaf area). In addition, we show that species in OCBILs are far more likely to show P-toxicity symptoms when exposed to slightly elevated soil P levels when compared with plants in YODFELs. In addition, some species in OCBILs exhibit a remarkable P-resorption proficiency, with some plants in Western Australia achieving leaf P concentrations in recently shed leaves that are lower than ever reported before. We discuss how this knowledge on functional traits can guide us towards sustainable management of ancient landscapes. 
Ancient landscapes; Biodiversity; Cluster roots; LMA; Mycorrhiza; Nitrogen; OCBIL; Phosphorus; Sclerophyllous; YODFEL