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Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Stoichiometry in an Ombrotrophic Peatland Reflects Plant Functional Type

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Abstract

Ombrotrophic bog peatlands are nutrient-deficient systems and important carbon (C) sinks yet the stoichiometry of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), essential for plant growth and decomposition, has rarely been studied. We investigated the seasonal variation in C, N, P, and K concentrations and their stoichiometric ratios in photosynthetically active tissues of 14 species belonging to five plant functional types (PFTs) (mosses, deciduous trees/shrubs, evergreen shrubs, graminoids, and forb) at Mer Bleue bog, an ombrotrophic peatland in eastern Ontario, Canada. Although we observed variations in stoichiometry among PFTs at peak growing season, there was convergence of C:N:P:K to an average mass ratio of 445:14:1:9, indicating N and P co-limitation. Nitrogen, P, and K concentrations and stoichiometric ratios showed little seasonal variation in mosses, evergreens, and graminoids, but in forb and deciduous species were the largest in spring and decreased throughout the growing season. Variations in nutrient concentrations and stoichiometric ratios among PFTs were greater than seasonal variation within PFTs. Plants exhibit N and P co-limitation and adapt to extremely low nutrient availability by maintaining small nutrient concentrations in photosynthetically active tissues, especially for evergreen shrubs and Sphagnum mosses. Despite strong seasonal variations in nutrient availabilities, few species show strong seasonal variation in nutrient concentrations, suggesting a strong stoichiometric homeostasis at Mer Bleue bog.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the field and laboratory assistance of Hicham Benslim, Mike Dalva, Leanne Elchyshyn, Kellie Foster, Angela Grant, Hélène Lalande, Tuula Larmola, Sheng-Ting Lin, and Cheenar Shah. We thank Elyn Humphreys for providing data from the eddy covariance tower at Mer Bleue. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers and the subject-matter editor, Dr. Merritt Turetsky, for their comments that greatly improved the earlier version of this manuscript. M.W. was awarded a Ph.D. fellowship by the Chinese Scholarship Council and this research was funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant to T.R.M. We thank the National Capital Commission for access to Mer Bleue.

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  1. Department of Geography and Global Environmental & Climate Change Centre, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Burnside Hall, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0B9, Canada

    Meng Wang & Tim R. Moore

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  1. Meng Wang
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Correspondence to Meng Wang.

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Both authors were involved in the experimental design and manuscript preparation. MW conducted the field-work and the laboratory analyses.

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Wang, M., Moore, T.R. Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Stoichiometry in an Ombrotrophic Peatland Reflects Plant Functional Type. Ecosystems 17, 673–684 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-014-9752-x

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