Nutrient levels within leaves, stems, and roots of the xeric species Reaumuria soongorica in relation to geographical, climatic, and soil conditions

Ecology and Evolution

Mingzhu He¹  Ke Zhang¹  Huijuan Tan¹  Rui Hu¹  Jieqiong Su¹  Jin Wang¹  Lei Huang¹  Yafeng Zhang¹ 

[1] Shapotou Desert Research and Experiment Station, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China

关键词: Aridity index;    carbon;    climate;    nitrogen;    nutrient storage;    pH;    phosphorus;    soil property;    stoichiometry;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.1441

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Besides water relations, nutrient allocation, and stoichiometric traits are fundamental feature of shrubs. Knowledge concerning the nutrient stoichiometry of xerophytes is essential to predicting the biogeochemical cycling in desert ecosystems as well as to understanding the homoeostasis and variability of nutrient traits in desert plants. Here, we focused on the temperate desert species Reaumuria soongorica and collected samples from plant organs and soil over 28 different locations that covered a wide distributional gradient of this species. Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) concentrations and their stoichiometry were determined and subsequently compared with geographic, climatic, and edaphic factors. The mean leaf C, N, and P concentrations and C/N, C/P, and N/P ratios were 371.6 mg g⁻¹, 10.6 mg g⁻¹, 0.73 mg g⁻¹, and 59.7, 837.9, 15.7, respectively. Stem and root C concentrations were higher than leaf C, while leaf N was higher than stem and root N. Phosphorus concentration and N/P did not differ among plant organs. Significant differences were found between root C/N and leaf C/N as well as between root C/P and leaf C/P. Leaf nutrient traits respond to geographic and climatic factors, while nutrient concentrations of stems and roots are mostly affected by soil P and pH. We show that stoichiometric patterns in different plant organs had different responses to environmental variables. Studies of species-specific nutrient stoichiometry can help clarify plant–environment relationships and nutrient cycling patterns in desert ecosystems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.