Changing sources of nutrients during four million years of ecosystem development

O. A. Chadwick (), L. A. Derry, P. M. Vitousek, B. J. Huebert and L. O. Hedin
Additional contact information
O. A. Chadwick: University of California
L. A. Derry: Cornell University
P. M. Vitousek: Stanford University
B. J. Huebert: University of Hawaii
L. O. Hedin: the Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University

Nature, 1999, vol. 397, issue 6719, 491-497

Abstract: Abstract As soils develop in humid environments, rock-derived elements are gradually lost, and under constant conditions it seems that ecosystems should reach a state of profound and irreversible nutrient depletion. We show here that inputs of elements from the atmosphere can sustain the productivity of Hawaiian rainforests on highly weathered soils. Cations are supplied in marine aerosols and phosphorus is deposited in dust from central Asia, which is over 6,000 km away.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/17276

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