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Shading reduced the compensation and enhancement effects of soil nutrition on the growth of cotyledon-damaged Quercus acutissima seedlings

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Abstract

Background and aims

Cotyledons are important nutrient sources for seedling establishment in seed plants, however, the acorns are often consumed by rodents and/or insects. This study aimed to examine the compensation or enhancement effect of soil nutrient for cotyledon damage on seedlings of Quercus acutissima under different light conditions.

Methods

We simulated three levels of predation (no damage; mild damage, excised 1/3 of cotyledons from the distal end and severe damage, excised 2/3 of cotyledons from the distal end), two soil nutrient contents (high and low nutrient) and two light intensities (high and low light) in a greenhouse experiment. Seedling survival rate, height, stem basal diameter, specific leaf area, chlorophyll concentration, leaf gas exchange, leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentration, leaf number, total and partitioned dry biomass were determined.

Results

Cotyledon damage had detrimental effects on height, stem basal diameter, dry weight, leaf number and net photosynthetic rate of the seedlings under high light condition. When soil nutrient was supplemented, the impact of cotyledon damage on the growth of seedlings was alleviated, which indicated the compensation or enhancement effect of soil nutrient on cotyledon damage. However, the compensation or enhancement effect was light-dependent, and was reduced under low light conditions.

Conclusions

Soil nutrients could partially replace the role of cotyledons in the growth and development of Q. acutissima seedlings, but shading reduced the compensation or enhancement effect of soil nutrients. Therefore, cotyledons are especially vital for seedling regeneration in nutrient-poor soil environment, particularly in low light intensity conditions.

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Abbreviations

A :

Net photosynthetic rate

E :

Transpiration rate

SLA:

Specific leaf area

ND:

No cotyledon damage

MD:

Mild cotyledon damage

SD:

Severe cotyledon damage

HN:

High nutrient

LN:

Low nutrient

HL:

High light

LL:

Low light

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the editor and reviewers for their constructive comments and advice on our manuscript. The study was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. ZR2020MC035), the Basic Work of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China (No. 2015FY210200), the Shandong Province “Double-Hundred Talent Plan” Project (No. WSG2018023), and the Research Foundation of Qingdao Forest Ecosystem (No. 11200005071603).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, 266237, China

    Haonan Chen, Luyu Qi, Xinke Sun, Qiang Li, Xiao Liu, Ning Wang, Weihua Guo, Renqing Wang & Ning Du

  2. Shandong Provincial Engineering and Technology Research Center for Vegetation Ecology, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, 266237, China

    Haonan Chen, Luyu Qi, Xinke Sun, Qiang Li, Xiao Liu, Ning Wang, Weihua Guo, Renqing Wang & Ning Du

  3. Jimo District Branch, Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, 146 Zhenhua Road, Qingdao, 266299, China

    Mingming Zhao

  4. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G2E3, Canada

    Janusz J. Zwiazek & Wenqing Zhang

  5. State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, 266237, China

    Fengyu Zhang

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  1. Haonan Chen
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Contributions

All authors contributed assistance to this study and the manuscript preparation. M.Z., R.W., and N.D. designed the original framework. M.Z. performed the experiments with the help of H.C., L.Q., X.S., Q.L., X.L., and N.W. H.C. and M.Z. wrote the manuscript with the help of N.D. and J.Z. H.C. revised the manuscript with the help of J.Z., W.Z., W.G., R.W., F.Z., and N.D.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Renqing Wang, Fengyu Zhang or Ning Du.

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Chen, H., Zhao, M., Qi, L. et al. Shading reduced the compensation and enhancement effects of soil nutrition on the growth of cotyledon-damaged Quercus acutissima seedlings. Plant Soil 482, 665–678 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05719-4

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