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Leaf N:P stoichiometry across plant functional groups in the karst region of southwestern China

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Soil nitrogen and phosphorus are the most important factors influenced the leaf N:P ratios across plant functional groups in the karst region of southwestern China, and plant diversity are also important to certain groups.

Abstract

Leaf nitrogen:phosphorus (N:P) stoichiometry, which affects plant growth, nutrient cycling, and primary production in terrestrial ecosystems, is influenced by soil N and P, among other factors. However, it remains unclear how biotic and abiotic factors influence leaf N and P stoichiometry of different plant functional groups in the karst ecosystem of southwest China. We measured the leaf N and P of different plant functional groups, as well as soil total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), available nitrogen (AN), and available phosphorus at 0–15 cm depth under each plant functional group. The linear mixed models (LMMs) results showed that the leaf N, P, and N:P ratios were characterized by functional groups. Higher leaf P, but lower leaf N and N:P ratios, were found in grasses than in shrubs and trees. The leaf N was higher in trees than that in shrubs. Additionally, the leaf N and N:P ratios were higher in legumes than that in nonlegumes. The LMMs results showed that the Shannon–Wiener diversity indexes (H′), soil TN, and TP significantly impacted the leaf N:P ratios (with grass–shrub–tree group as random factor), and Simpson diversity indexes (DS), soil TN, AN, and TP significantly impacted the leaf N:P ratios (with nonlegume-legume group as random factor). It suggested that soil TN and TP had major effects on the leaf N:P ratios of all the studied functional groups in the karst region, while DS and H′ diversity indexes, and soil AN significantly impacted the leaf N:P ratios in several specific groups.

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Author contribution statement

Pan Fujing, Zhang Wei, and Wang Kelin designed the experiments; Pan Fujing, Zhang Wei and Liu Shujuan performed the experiments; Pan Fujing and Zhang Wei conducted data analysis and manuscript preparation; Pan Fujing wrote the manuscript; Zhang Wei, Li Dejun, and Wang Kelin helped perform the analysis and participated in constructive discussions.

Acknowledgments

This research project was financially supported by the Major State Basic Research Program of the People’s Republic of China (2006BACO1A10), the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-436), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31270555; 30800162).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Key Laboratory of Agro-Ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, 410125, China

      Fujing Pan, Wei Zhang, Shujuan Liu, Dejun Li & Kelin Wang

    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

      Fujing Pan & Shujuan Liu

    3. Huanjiang Observation and Research Station for Karst Ecosystems, Huanjiang, 547100, China

      Fujing Pan, Wei Zhang, Shujuan Liu, Dejun Li & Kelin Wang

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    1. Fujing Pan
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    2. Wei Zhang
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    Correspondence to Kelin Wang.

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    Communicated by T. Koike.

    F. Pan and W. Zhang are the first coauthors. These authors contributed equally to this work.

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    Pan, F., Zhang, W., Liu, S. et al. Leaf N:P stoichiometry across plant functional groups in the karst region of southwestern China. Trees 29, 883–892 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1170-y

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