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Litter stoichiometric traits have stronger impact on humification than environment conditions in an alpine treeline ecotone

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Abstract

Aim

Litter humification is vital for carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems. Probing the litter humification of treeline ecotone will be helpful to understand soil carbon afflux in alpine regions under climate change.

Methods

Foliar litter of six plant functional groups was chosen in an alpine treeline ecotone of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, and a field litterbag decomposition experiment (669 days) was conducted in an alpine shrubland (AS) and a coniferous forest (CF). Environmental factors, litter quality, humus concentrations (total humus, Huc; humic acid, HAc; and fulvic acid, FAc) and hue coefficient (ΔlogK and E4/E6) were measured to explore litter humification processes.

Results

Litter humification was controlled by both litter stoichiometric traits and local-environment conditions, while stoichiometric traits played a more obvious regulatory role. Significant discrepancies in litter humus were detected among six plant functional groups; more precisely, litter of evergreen conifer and shrubs showed a net accumulation of Huc and FAc during winter, whereas others experienced more mineralization than accumulation. Huc, HAc, and hue coefficient were mainly controlled by cellulose/N, cellulose/P, C/N, lignin/P, lignin/N, etc., yet FAc was more susceptible to local-environment conditions. Meanwhile, Huc, HAc and FAc, as well as humification degree and E4/E6 differed between AS and CF, with faster humification in AS.

Conclusion

We suggest that litter stoichiometric traits are more responsible for regulating litter humification than environmental conditions in elevational gradients. Furthermore, potential upward shifts by plants may accelerate litter humification in alpine ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31570605), the Key Project of Sichuan Education Department (18ZA0393), National Key Research and Development Plan (2017YFC0505003) and Key Research and Development Project of Sichuan Province (18ZDYF0307). J.Z. and Y.L conceived this study and designed the experiments and the manuscript. Y.C., L.W., and Y.Z. were involved in the fieldwork, and laboratory analyses was carried out by Y.Z. L.W., and Y.L providing constructive comments on this manuscript, and the first draft of the manuscript was written by Y.Z.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Safety on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Sichuan Province Key Laboratory of Ecological Forestry Engineering on the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Long-term Research Station of Alpine Forest Ecosystems, Institute of Ecology & Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, China

    Yu Zhou, Lifeng Wang, Jian Zhang & Yang Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation, China West Normal University, Ministry of Education, Nanchong, 637009, Sichuan, China

    Yamei Chen

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  1. Yu Zhou
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  2. Lifeng Wang
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  3. Yamei Chen
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  4. Jian Zhang
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  5. Yang Liu
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Correspondence to Yang Liu.

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Zhou, Y., Wang, L., Chen, Y. et al. Litter stoichiometric traits have stronger impact on humification than environment conditions in an alpine treeline ecotone. Plant Soil 453, 545–560 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04586-1

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