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Role of plant species and soil phosphorus concentrations in determining phosphorus: nutrient stoichiometry in leaves and fine roots

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Abstract

Aims

Terrestrial plants require relative stable stoichiometry of elements for their growth. The effects of plant species and soil phosphorus (P) concentration on P:nutrient stoichiometry in plant remains still unknown.

Methods

Soil and plant samples were collected from 88 sites in a P-rich area of a subtropical portion of China to examine the linkage of soil P concentration with the concentrations and stoichiometry of 12 nutrient elements (C, N, P, S, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Al, Zn, Mn and Na) for different plant species.

Results

Soil rich in P increased the concentrations of S, P, K, Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, Al, and Na in the plants, but induced a strong antagonism to Zn. Meanwhile, the concentrations of C and N in the leaf was restrained when the plants grew in soil under high P concentration. Clustering analysis showed that plant species were categorized according to soil P concentration into P > 2 mg g−1 and P < 2 mg g−1 groups. However, insignificant dissimilarity among plant species was noticed.

Conclusions

The stoichiometry of P:nutrient in the plant organs was strongly affected by soil P concentrations and this could reflect soil nutrient status over plant species. Therefore, the difference in soil P concentration is a major driver triggering the variation in elemental stoichiometry.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Fund Projects of China (51608499, 41701561), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded Project (2016 M601095), National Key Research and Development Project of China (2016YFD0800104-4) and Sino-Danish Joint Doctoral Promotion Programme (Chinese Academy of Sciences).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Wetland Research, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China

    Meng Li, Jinzhi Wang & Xiaoming Kang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Meng Li, Caihong Huang, Tianxue Yang & Beidou Xi

  3. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Crop Science Section, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegaard Allé 13, DK-2630, Taastrup, Denmark

    Meng Li & Fulai Liu

  4. Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Faculty of Biology and Environment, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang Road, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Marios Drosos

  5. College of Resources and Environment, Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Zhengyi Hu

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  1. Meng Li
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Correspondence to Beidou Xi or Zhengyi Hu.

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Li, M., Huang, C., Yang, T. et al. Role of plant species and soil phosphorus concentrations in determining phosphorus: nutrient stoichiometry in leaves and fine roots. Plant Soil 445, 231–242 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04288-3

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