Critical constants Terms Links

The term d[P j,]/dt is calculated assuming that the concentration of phosphorus in all decomposing litter is 0.16 mmol 1110 . This is based on the 68% retranslocation of P from leaves and fine roots and the average branch, bole, and coarse root P concentrations (Sec. 3.2). Where the sensitivity of the model to P accumulation in the microbial carbon pool is tested, based on data summarized by Gijsman et al. (1996) we use a tissue P concentration for microbes of 6.4 mmol P moG C. In all simulations, it is assumed that soil phosphorus mineralization proceeds with a rate constant of 0.5 year , with phosphorus mineralization proceeding independently of carbon mineralization. This is on the basis of the evidence discussed in Sec. 2.1. Indeed, inflexible soil carbon pool C/P ratios which effectively link phosphorus mineralization rate to the carbon mineralization rate in models such as CENTURY (Parton et al, 1988) have been strongly criticized by some tropical soil chemists (Gijsman et al, 1996). 

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