Alpine Landscape Variation in Foliar Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentrations and the Relation to Soil Nitrogen and Phosphorus Availability

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Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that foliar nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations are correlated with estimates of soil nutrient supply, a common assumption in studies of plant nutrient relations. This hypothesis was tested in an alpine ecosystem characterized by a wide range of soil nutrient availabilities using 3 herbaceous plants with widespread distributions. Rates of soil N and P supply were estimated using ion exchange resin bags deployed during the first half of the growing season, when the majority of plant nutrient uptake occurs. Measurements were made at 3 to 5 landscape positions (vegetation types) at 3 sites: a valley bottom that was glaciated until 12,000 yr ago and 2 ridgetop sites, 1 with deposits of Tertiary age and 1 that was not glaciated during the Pleistocene. Foliar N and P concentrations generally were not correlated with rates of soil N and P supply. We present several hypotheses to explain the lack of a correlation between soil N and P supply and foliar N and P concentrations, m...