| Prior to abscission, nutrients are redeployed from leaves and redistributed to other parts of the plant. Data comparing nutrient resorption to soil fertility and leaf life span remains controversial in the literature. We compared nitrogen (N) conservation mechanisms among four legume trees with different leaf life spans (Hymenaea courbaril L. var. stilbocarpa (Hayne) Lee et Lang., Lonchocarpus guilleminianus (Tul.) Malme, Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Vell.) Morong and Peltophorum dubium (Spreng.) Taub.), from a semideciduous tropical forest, remnant of the Atlantic Forest. We hypothesized that these mechanisms differ among the four species and are affected by their leaf life span and by the availability of N, both as a mineral in the soil and, in the... |
