Abstract:Three provenances of Pinus massoniana with different phosphorus using efficiency including Xinyi of Guangdong,Wuping of Fujian and Cenxi of Guangxi were selected to investigate the foraging mechanism in heterogeneous nutrient environments and foraging behavior differences among the three provenances. In heterogeneous environment, larger seedling height, greater stem diameter, enhanced photosynthesis ability and higher dry matter accumulation were observed in comparison with homogeneous environment. These results suggested that root morphological plasticity and physiological plasticity of Pinus massoniana play an important role in acquiring nutrients in heterogeneous environment. It was root proliferation and effective absorption of N, P, K in rich nutrient patch that increase the foraging ability of Pinus massoniana in heterogeneous nutrient environment. Foraging nutrient of Pinus massoniana in heterogeneous environment mainly depended on the proliferation and elongation of lateral roots during initial stage of root colonization in riched-nutrient patch, and then depend on increase of new lateral roots and amount and density of fibrous root. Higher efficiency of nutrient acquisition of root in heterogeneous nutrient environment mainly attributed to large absorption of N, P, K in rich nutrient patch. Based on synthetical comparing analysis, Cenxi of Guangxi and Wuping of Fujian were superior to Xinyi of Guangdong with higher foraging ability and competitive advantage in heterogeneous environment.