Plants recycle substantial amounts of phosphorus (P) from senescing tissues, reducing the need to take up P from soils. This paper reviews P recycling in plants, factors that determine its quantitative importance, and evidence that species from low-P ecosystems possess traits that enhance P recycling. It focuses on roots and leaves where most P turnover occurs. Knowledge of root traits and dynamics lags far behind that of leaves, but P concentrations, lifespans, resorption percentages and biomass allocation of roots are all comparable to those of leaves. Relationships among traits that influence P recycling appear more complex in roots than in leaves. Long root lifespans may not be adaptive in soils with very low P availability. At the plant level, the quantitative importance of P resorption to support P requirements decreases with net growth rate and with tissue longevity. Leaf lifespans are negatively correlated with growth rates and resource availability, but root lifespans may not be, indicating that further research into root dynamics and P resorption is essential to understand the role of roots in both P conservation and P acquisition.

植物从衰老的组织中回收大量的磷 (P)，从而减少从土壤中吸收磷的需要。本文回顾了植物中的磷循环、决定其数量重要性的因素，以及来自低磷生态系统的物种具有增强磷循环特征的证据。它侧重于发生磷转换最多的根和叶。对根性状和动力学的了解远远落后于叶子，但根的 P 浓度、寿命、再吸收百分比和生物量分配都与叶子相当。影响磷循环的性状之间的关系在根中似乎比在叶中更复杂。长根寿命可能不适用于磷含量非常低的土壤。在工厂层面，P 吸收对支持 P 需求的定量重要性随着净增长率和组织寿命的增加而降低。叶寿命与生长速率和资源可用性呈负相关，但根寿命可能不是，这表明进一步研究根动态和磷吸收对于了解根在磷保存和磷获取中的作用至关重要。