Articles | Volume 21, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2355-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2355-2024
Research article
 | 
16 May 2024
Research article |  | 16 May 2024

Direct foliar phosphorus uptake from wildfire ash

Anton Lokshin, Daniel Palchan, and Avner Gross

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Cited articles

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Bauters, M., Drake, T. W., Wagner, S., Baumgartner, S., Makelele, I. A., Bodé, S., Verheyen, K., Verbeeck, H., Ewango, C., Cizungu, L., Van Oost, K., and Boeckx, P.: Fire-derived phosphorus fertilization of African tropical forests, Nat. Commun., 12, 5129, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25428-3, 2021. 
Bigio, L. and Angert, A.: Oxygen Isotope Signatures of Phosphate in Wildfire Ash, ACS Earth Space Chem., 3, 760–769, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.8b00216, 2019. 
Short summary
Ash particles from wildfires are rich in phosphorus (P), a crucial nutrient that constitutes a limiting factor in 43 % of the world's land ecosystems. We hypothesize that wildfire ash could directly contribute to plant nutrition. We find that fire ash application boosts the growth of plants, but the only way plants can uptake P from fire ash is through the foliar uptake pathway and not through the roots. The fertilization impact of fire ash was also maintained under elevated levels of CO2.
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