In a study published in Global Change Biology, researchers from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the collaborators revealed that phosphorus (P) addition systematically reshapes P cycle in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, shifting ecosystem from P recycling systems toward acquiring and alleviating ecosystem P limitation.

The researchers compiled a global database of 1,315 observations from 176 published studies, spanning 159 natural terrestrial ecosystem sites. They quantified the overall effects of P addition on nine key P-cycling variables across plant, soil, and microbial compartments, and identified the ecological and environmental drivers underlying the variability of these responses.

The results showed that P addition significantly increased P concentrations in leaves, stems, roots, and litter, as well as in soil and microbial biomass, and that P addition significantly reduced leaf P resorption efficiency and suppressed soil phosphatase activity. This indicated that ecosystems shifted from conservative, recycling-based P strategies toward acquisition-based strategies as P limitation was alleviated.

Notably, different P-cycling components exhibited markedly different sensitivities to P addition. Stem P concentration and plant-available soil P were identified as the most responsive variables in aboveground and belowground P cycling, respectively. Ecosystem P responses also varied significantly across climate zones: Compared with temperate and boreal regions, tropical ecosystems showed greater sensitivity in stem P concentration and soil phosphatase activity.

Further analyses revealed that the variability in P-cycling responses to P addition was primarily governed by background nutrient availability, climatic conditions, and fertilization regimes.

This study provides a holistic, quantitative understanding of how P addition reshapes P cycling and P dynamics across global terrestrial ecosystems. By integrating plant, soil, and microbial P compartments within a unified analytical framework, it advances the mechanistic understanding of terrestrial P dynamics, P limitation, and biogeochemical coupling.