Biomass, gas exchange and nutritional aspects of young plants of Balsa Wood (Ochroma pyramidale (Cav. Ex Lamb.) Urb.) subjected to phosphorus fertilization in contrasting irradiance environments

Abstract

The irradiance and nutrient supply affect the assimilation of carbon and influence the gain and biomass partition. The aim of this research was to investigate the growth and photosynthesis in young plants of Ochroma pyramidale subjected to contrasting light environments and phosphorus fertilization. Young plants of O. pyramidale were exposed to two irradiance levels (Low: 10 to 15 and High: 1200 to 1400 μmol m-2 s-1) and two levels of P fertilization (0 and 1 mM as KH2 PO4) for 160 days. The experimental design was a completely randomized in factorial arrangement (2 x 2), with 10 replications. The greatest growth in height and diameter was observed in plants fertilized with phosphorus and under high irradiance. Concerning the allocation of dry mass, plants under high irradiance invested more in root mass ratio and plants under low irradiance in leaf mass ratio. For foliar P content, the plants fertilized with P exhibited values 137 and 54% higher than the plants not fertilized with P, under high and low irradiance, respectively. The absence of P fertilization promoted intense reduction in the efficiency of electron transport, as demonstrated by the values of photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, and photosynthetic rates. The greatest biomass production and higher photosynthetic rates in plants fertilized with phosphorus and under higher irradiance suggest that O. pyramidale plants have appropriate functional mechanisms to show a better growth and physiological performance in open fields (high irradiance), common in forest plantations or environments in recovery process.