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Shifts in plant nutrient use strategies under secondary forest succession

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Abstract

In evergreen broad-leaved forests (EBLFs) in Tiantong National Forest Park, Eastern China, we studied the soil chemistry and plant leaf nutrient concentration along a chronosequence of secondary forest succession. Soil total N, P and leaf N, P concentration of the most abundant plant species increased with forest succession. We further examined leaf lifespan, leaf nutrient characteristics and root–shoot attributes of Pinus massoniana Lamb, the early-successional species, Schima superba Gardn. et Champ, the mid-successional species, and Castanopsis fargesii Franch, the late-successional species. These species showed both intraspecific and interspecific variability along succession. Leaf N concentration of the three dominant species increased while N resorption tended to decrease with succession; leaf P and P resorption didn’t show a consistent trend along forest succession. Compared with the other two species, C. fargesii had the shortest leaf lifespan, largest decay rate and the highest taproot diameter to shoot base diameter ratio while P. massoniana had the highest root–shoot biomass ratio and taproot length to shoot height ratio. Overall, P. massoniana used ‘conservative consumption’ nutrient use strategy in the infertile soil conditions while C. fargesii took up nutrients in the way of ‘resource spending’ when nutrient supply increased. The attributes of S. superba were intermediate between the other two species, which may contribute to its coexistence with other species in a wide range of soil conditions.

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Abbreviations

C. fargesii :

Castanopsis fargesii

EBLF:

evergreen broad-leaved forest

P. massoniana :

Pinus massoniana

RSBR:

root–shoot biomass ratio

RSDR:

root–shoot diameter ratio

RSLR:

root–shoot length ratio

S. superba :

Schima superba

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jia-Yue Shi, Liang Zhao and Dong He for their help in the field work, and Guang-Yao Li, Hui Dai, Wei Xia and Rui Wang for their help during laboratory work; Prof. Yong-Chang Song and Xiao-Yong Chen comment on the manuscript. Two anonymous reviewers made valuable comments and thoughts which greatly improved the manuscript. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30130060).

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Author notes

  1. Jian-Jun Huang

    Present address: Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environment Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, People’s Republic of China

    En-Rong Yan, Xi-Hua Wang & Jian-Jun Huang

Authors
  1. En-Rong Yan
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  2. Xi-Hua Wang
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Correspondence to Xi-Hua Wang.

Appendix

Appendix

   

Appendix 1 The importance value of common species along a chronosequence of secondary forest succession in evergreen broad-leaved forests in Tiantong National Forest Park, Eastern China
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Appendix 2 Leaf nutrient contents of most abundant species along a chronosequence of secondary forest succession in evergreen broad-leaved forests in Tiantong National Forest Park, Eastern China
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Yan, ER., Wang, XH. & Huang, JJ. Shifts in plant nutrient use strategies under secondary forest succession. Plant Soil 289, 187–197 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-006-9128-x

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