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Abstract

Global terrestrial nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles are coupled to the global carbon (C) cycle for net primary production (NPP), plant C allocation and decomposition of soil organic matter, but N and P have distinct pathways of inputs and losses. Current C-nutrient models exhibit large uncertainties in their estimates of pool sizes, fluxes and turnover rates of nutrients, due to a lack of consistent global data for evaluating the models. In this study, we present a new model-data fusion framework called Global Observation-based Land-ecosystems Utilization Model of Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus (GOLUM-CNP) that combines the CARbon DAta MOdel fraMework (CARDAMOM) data-constrained C-cycle analysis with spatially explicit data-driven estimates of N and P inputs and losses and with observed stoichiometric ratios. We calculated the steady-state N- and P-pool sizes and fluxes globally for large biomes. Our study showed that new N inputs from biological fixation and deposition supplied > 20 % of total plant uptake in most forest ecosystems but accounted for smaller fractions in boreal forests and grasslands. New P inputs from atmospheric deposition and rock weathering supplied a much smaller fraction of total plant uptake than new N inputs, indicating that the terrestrial C sink may ultimately be constrained by low P. Nutrient-use efficiency, defined as the ratio of gross primary production (GPP) to plant nutrient uptake, can be diagnosed from our model results and compared between biomes. Tropical forests had the lowest N-use efficiency and the highest P-use efficiency of the forest biomes. An analysis of sensitivity and uncertainty indicated that the NPP-allocation fractions to leaves, roots and wood contributed the most to the uncertainties in the estimates of nutrient-use efficiencies. Correcting for biases in NPP-allocation fractions produced more plausible gradients of N- and P-use efficiencies from tropical to boreal ecosystems and highlighted the critical role of accurate measurements of C allocation for understanding the N and P cycles.