Permafrost Regime Affects the Nutritional Status and Productivity of Larches in Central Siberia

Permafrost exerts strong controls on forest development through nutrient availability. The key question of this study was to assess the effect of site conditions on macroelement concentration and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) dynamics during the growing season, and nutrient stoichiometry and resorption efficiency in the foliage of two common larch species in Siberia. Foliar nutrient (N, P and K) concentrations of larches grown on permafrost soils were exceptionally high in juvenile needles compared to those from a permafrost-free region (+50% and 130% for P and K), but were two-fold lower at needle maturation. Within permafrost terrain trees, sites with a warmer and deeper soil active layer had 15–60% greater nutrient concentrations and higher δ15N in their needles compared to shallower, colder soils. Larch of permafrost-free sites demonstrated an enrichment of foliage in 15N (+1.4% to +2.4‰) in comparison to permafrost terrain (−2.0% to −6.9‰). At all sites, foliar δ13C decreased from June to August, which very likely results from an increasing contribution of current photoassimilates to build foliar biomass. With senescence, nutrient concentrations in larch needles decreased significantly by 60–90%. This strong ability of larch to retain nutrients through resorption is the essential mechanism that maintains tree growth early in the growing season when soil remains frozen. The high resorptive efficiency found for K and P for larches established on permafrost suggests nutrient limitation of tree growth within the Central Siberian Plateau not only by N, as previously reported, but also by P and K. The increasing nutrient concentrations and a 15N enrichment of foliage towards warmer sites was paralleled by an up to 50-fold increase in biomass production, strongly suggesting that accelerated nutrient cycling with permafrost degradation contributes to an increased productivity of Siberian larch forests.