Phosphorus limitation on terrestrial plant growth is being incorporated into Earth system models. The global pattern of terrestrial phosphorus limitation, however, remains unstudied. Here, we examined the global-scale latitudinal pattern of terrestrial phosphorus limitation by analysing a total of 1068 observations of aboveground plant production response to phosphorus additions at 351 forest, grassland or tundra sites that are distributed globally. The observed phosphorus-addition effect varied greatly (either positive or negative), depending significantly upon fertilisation regime and production measure, but did not change significantly with latitude. In contrast, phosphorus-addition effect standardised by fertilisation regime and production measure was consistently positive and decreased significantly with latitude. Latitudinal gradient in the standardised phosphorus-addition effect was explained by several mechanisms involving substrate age, climate, vegetation type, edaphic properties and biochemical machinery. This study suggests that latitudinal pattern of terrestrial phosphorus limitation is jointly shaped by macro-scale driving forces and the fundamental structure of life.

中文翻译：

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全球陆地磷限制的纬度模式

对陆地植物生长的磷限制正在被纳入地球系统模型。然而，陆地磷限制的全球模式仍未得到研究。在这里，我们通过分析总共 1068 次对全球分布的 351 个森林、草地或苔原地点的地上植物生产对磷添加响应的观察结果，研究了全球尺度的陆地磷限制的纬度模式。观察到的磷添加效果变化很大（正或负），显着取决于施肥方式和生产措施，但不随纬度而显着变化。相比之下，施肥制度和生产措施标准化的磷添加效果始终为正，并随纬度显着降低。标准化磷添加效应的纬度梯度可以通过几种机制来解释，包括基质年龄、气候、植被类型、土壤特性和生化机制。这项研究表明，陆地磷限制的纬度格局是由宏观驱动力和生命的基本结构共同塑造的。