[Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry of shrubland plants in the rocky desertification area of Southwestern Hunan, China]

Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao. 2017 Feb;28(2):415-422. doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201702.020.
[Article in Chinese]

Abstract

In this paper, we took the leaves of shrubland plants in rocky desertification area in Southwestern Hunan as the research object to analyze the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry characteristics for different functional groups and different grades of rocky desertification, i.e., light rocky desertification (LRD), moderate rocky desertification (MRD) and intense rocky desertification (IRD). The results showed that the average contents of N and P were 12.89 and 1.19 g·kg-1, respectively, and N/P was 11.24 in common shrubland plants in the study area, which indicated that the growth of most plants were mainly limited by N. The content of N was declined in order of deciduous shrubs > evergreen shrubs > annual herbs > perennial herbs. The content of P and N/P were higher in deciduous shrubs than in perennial herbs. Significant differences were found among the main families of plants in terms of the contents of N, P and N/P in the study sites. The plants of Gramineae had the lowest contents of N and P, andtheir growth was mostly restricted by N, while Leguminosae had the highest content of N and N/P, and their productivity was majorly controlled by P. The contents of N and P in the leaves were significantly higher in dicotyledon plants and C3 plants than in monocotyledon plants and C4 plants, but the N/P was not significantly diffe-rent between these two plant categories. The nitrogen-fixing plants had higher content of N and N/P than the non-nitrogen-fixing plants, but the P content was not significantly different between these two plant groups. There were significant correlations between contents of N and P, N/P and N in all study plots. No significant correlation was found between N/P and P content in the examined rocky desertification sites, except for that in MRD. There were no significant differences of the contents of N, P and N/P under different grades of rocky desertification.

以湘西南石漠化地区灌丛植物叶片为研究对象,分析了不同功能群植物以及3种不同石漠化程度(轻度、中度、重度)下植物叶片N、P化学计量特征.结果表明: 湘西南石漠化地区常见植物叶片平均N含量为12.89 g·kg-1,P含量为1.19 g·kg-1,N/P值为11.24,大部分植物生长受到N的限制.不同生活型之间植物叶片N含量为落叶灌木>常绿灌木>一年生草本>多年生草本,P含量与N/P值为落叶灌木>多年生草本.不同科植物之间叶片N、P含量和N/P值差异显著,禾本科植物叶片N、P含量最低,与其他科植物共同受N限制;豆科植物叶片N含量和N/P值最高,主要受P限制.双子叶植物与C3植物叶片N、P含量分别高于单子叶植物与C4植物,N/P值差异均不显著.固氮植物叶片N含量以及N/P值均高于非固氮植物,P含量差异不显著.各样地中植物叶片N、P含量之间的相关性显著,N/P值与N含量的相关性显著,仅与中度石漠化样地P含量差异显著.不同石漠化程度之间植物叶N、P含量以及N/P值差异不显著.

Keywords: leaf N and P stoichiometry; plant functional group; rocky desertification.

MeSH terms

  • China
  • Conservation of Natural Resources*
  • Ecosystem
  • Nitrogen*
  • Phosphorus*
  • Plant Leaves
  • Plants
  • Soil

Substances

  • Soil
  • Phosphorus
  • Nitrogen