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Changes of mineral nutrition (K, Ca, and Mg) in soil and plants following historical nitrogen inputs in a temperate steppe: the implications for grass tetany

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Abstract

Background and aims

Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) are essential nutrients for plant and animal growth. The ratio of K/(Ca + Mg) in forage is considered as an indicator of grass tetany. While atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is declining or projected to decline in many countries, it remains unknown whether historical N inputs would have legacy effects on K, Ca, and Mg nutrition in soil and plants.

Methods

After the cessation of 6-yr N addition with wide-ranging rates, we measured the concentrations of K, Ca, and Mg in soil and plants in a temperate steppe of northern China during three successive years from 2016 to 2018.

Results

Soil K/(Ca + Mg) ratios were increased by historical N addition across the three years. Soil K/(Ca + Mg) ratios were higher than 0.08, indicating potential occurrence of grass tetany for ruminants. Plant mineral concentrations and K/(Ca + Mg) ratios at the plant community level showed no variation with increasing historical N addition rates in all the three years, except for the increasing K and Ca concentrations in 2017. All plant functional types showed strong stoichiometric homeostasis with respect to nutrient concentrations, which contributed to the stable forage K/(Ca + Mg) ratio under the N-induced increasing soil K/(Ca + Mg) ratio.

Conclusion

Our results highlight the critical role of stoichiometric homeostasis in maintaining forage non-N mineral nutrition of natural grasslands under the background of soil nutritional alterations.

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Data availability

The datasets analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFF1300603), National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171543), and Major Program of IAE, CAS (IAEMP202201).

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFF1300603), National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171543), and Major Program of IAE, CAS (IAEMP202201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Erguna Forest-Steppe Ecotone Research Station, CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Nian-Qian Kang, Yan-Yu Hu, Zhi-Wei Zhang & Xiao-Tao Lü

  2. School of Life Sciences, Liaoning University, Shenyang, 110036, China

    Nian-Qian Kang

  3. School of Life Sciences, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, 252059, China

    Zhi-Wei Zhang

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  1. Nian-Qian Kang
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Contributions

XTL conceived this study. All the authors conducted the field and laboratory works. NQK analyzed the samples and all the data. NQK and XTL wrote the draft with feedback from all other authors.

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Correspondence to Xiao-Tao Lü.

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Kang, NQ., Hu, YY., Zhang, ZW. et al. Changes of mineral nutrition (K, Ca, and Mg) in soil and plants following historical nitrogen inputs in a temperate steppe: the implications for grass tetany. Plant Soil 491, 57–68 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06012-8

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