Stocks and biogeochemical cycling of soil-derived nutrients in an ultramafic rain forest in New Caledonia

•Soil nutrients are cycling tightly in ultramafic ecosystems.•High proportions of potassium are contained in ultramafic forest biomass.•Calcium and magnesium differ in their origins and cycling in ultramafic systems.•Radiocarbon dating of a Pycnandra acuminata tree confirmed slow growth rates of the stand. Ultramafic rain forests in New Caledonia evolved on some of the most nutrient impoverished soils globally and are some of the slowest-growing tropical forests known. This study aimed to determine nutrient stocks and elucidate the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in a remnant lowland rain forest in southern New Caledonia. Based on an inventory of a 1-ha permanent plot, exhaustive plant tissue sampling was undertaken of all large trees (diameter at breast height ≥ 15 cm) in a 0.25-ha subset of the plot in tandem with collecting 100 soil samples. All samples were analyzed for major nutrient concentrations and the results show that most of the magnesium was contained in the soil (96.9%), whereas a large fraction of calcium (46.5%) and phosphorus (16.0%), and the majority of potassium (81.5%) were contained in the standing biomass. This study has revealed how tightly these soil-derived nutrients are cycling in this system. Ultimately, this information will be essential for efforts to restore rain forest in New Caledonia, where the biomass (and contained nutrients) has been removed.