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We present a meta‐analysis of plant responses to fertilization experiments conducted in lowland, species‐rich, tropical forests. We also update a key result and present the first species‐level analyses of tree growth rates for a 15‐yr factorial nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) experiment conducted in central Panama. The update concerns community‐level tree growth rates, which responded significantly to the addition of N and K together after 10 yr of fertilization but not after 15 yr. Our experimental soils are infertile for the region, and species whose regional distributions are strongly associated with low soil P availability dominate the local tree flora. Under these circumstances, we expect muted responses to fertilization, and we predicted species associated with low‐P soils would respond most slowly. The data did not support this prediction, species‐level tree growth responses to P addition were …