Foliar absorption of phosphorus that is carried by dust
Dust storms are an important source of phosphorus (P) to ecosystem that receives substantial amounts of dust. This P rich dust storms might have a significant influence on the productivity of forests that grown across major dust transport pathways as trees have been shown to collect large amount of dust on their leaves.
The common theory predicts that dust-P inputs are expected to be washed off the surfaces of leaves and branches and enter the soil P cycle (where biological demand is highest) in throughfall and stemflow. It is hypothesized that terrestrial plants acquire the bulk of their P from soils by direct root uptake. However, in many soils, roots will have to compete for dust-P that enters the soil system with microorganisms, other plants and the soil mineral phase, making alternative uptake pathways for atmospheric P much desirable
in P poor, dust affected ecosystems, plant may have evolved special "dust traits" to benefit from the occasional inputs of the P rich dust particles and maximize uptake of the highly P-rich atmospheric inputs, decreasing their dependence on direct uptake from the soil. Since the bulk of the airborne particles in a dense forest is settled on the forest canopy, and on tree leaves in particular, the ability of plant to absorb P through their leaves (i.e foliar P absorption) may be a highly beneficial trait in dust-affected tropical forests. While foliar P absorption is a well-known plant trait in agriculture and is a widely used technique to satisfy plants nutrition needs of many crop it is generally over-looked in natural ecosystems.
In our lab we study if plants can benefit from foliar absorption of P during major dust events and if this trait may boost their growth and increase their P uptake.
