Effects of different nitrogen:phosphorus levels on the growth and ecological stoichiometry of Glycyrrhiza uralensis

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2016.0230

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims The increase in atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has accelerated N cycling of ecosystems, probably resulting in increases in phosphorus (P) demand of ecosystems. Studies on the effects of artificial N:P treatment on the growth and carbon (C), N, P ecological stoichiometry of desert steppe species could provide not only a new insight into the forecasting of how the interaction between soils and plants responses to long-term atmospheric N deposition increase, but also a scientific guidance for sustainable management of grassland in northern China under global climate change. Methods Based on a pot-cultured experiment conducted for Glycyrrhiza uralensis (an N-fixing species) during 2013 to 2014, we studied the effects of different N:P supply ratios (all pots were treated with the same amount of N but with different amounts of P) on aboveground biomass, root biomass, root/shoot ratio, and C:N:P ecological stoichiometry both in G. uralensis (leaves and roots) and in soils. Additionally, through the correlation analyses between biomass and C:N:P ecological stoichiometry in leaves, roots, and soils, we compared the differences among the C:N:P ecological stoichiometry of the three pools, and discussed the indication of C:N:P ecological stoichiometry in soils for the growth and nutrient uptake of G. uralensis. Important findings The results showed that, reducing N:P decreased C:P and N:P ratios both in G. uralensis (leaves and roots) and in soils but increased aboveground biomass and root biomass of G. uralensis, indicating that low to moderate P addition increased P availability of soils and P uptake of G. uralensis. However, excessive low N:P (high P addition) led to great decreases in soil C:P and N:P ratios, thus hindering N uptake and the growth of G. uralensis. C:N:P ratios in the two pools of G. uralensis (especially in leaves) had close correlations with soil C:N:P ratio, indicating that the change in soil C:N:P ratio would have a direct influence on plants. Our results suggest that, through regulating C:N:P ratio in leaves and soils, appropriate amounts of P addition could balance soil P supply and plant P demand and compensate the opposite influences of long-term atmospheric N deposition increase on the structure of desert steppe.

http://jtp.cnki.net/bilingual/detail/html/ZWSB201703005

Key words: ecological stoichiometry, desert steppe, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, phosphorus addition

Ju-Ying HUANG, Hai-Long YU, Li-Li WANG, Kai-Bo MA, Yang-Mei KANG, Ya-Xian DU. Effects of different nitrogen:phosphorus levels on the growth and ecological stoichiometry of Glycyrrhiza uralensis[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2017, 41(3): 325-336.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2016.0230

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2017/V41/I3/325

Figures/Tables 8

Table 1 Basic soil properties before Glycyrrhiza uralensis transplanting

土壤有机碳 Soil organic carbon (g·kg^-1)	土壤全氮 Soil total nitrogen (g·kg^-1)	土壤全磷 Soil total phosphorus (g·kg^-1)	NH₄⁺-N (mg·kg^-1)	NO₃^--N (mg·kg^-1)	土壤速效磷 Soil available phosphorus (mg·kg^-1)
1.8	0.2	0.3	1.2	8.3	13.8

Fig. 1 Effects of nitrogen (N):phosphorus (P) level on root and aboveground biomass and root/shoot ratio of Glycyrrhiza uralensis (mean ± SE, n = 5). N10P1, N10P2, N10P4, N10P8, N10P16, and N10P32 represent all pots treated with 10.0 g·m-2·a-1 amount of N but with different amounts of P: 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 16.0, and 32.0 g·m-2·a-1, respectively. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference (p < 0.05) between indices within N:P levels. The same lowercase letters indicate insignificant differences (p > 0.05).

Fig. 2 Effects of nitrogen (N):phosphorus (P) level on leaf carbon (C), N, P and their stoichiometry ratios of Glycyrrhiza uralensis (mean ± SE, n = 5). N10P1, N10P2, N10P4, N10P8, N10P16, and N10P32 represent all pots treated with 10.0 g·m-2·a-1 amount of N but with different amounts of P: 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 16.0, and 32.0 g·m-2·a-1, respectively. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference (p < 0.05) between indices within N:P levels. The same lowercase letters indicate insignificant difference (p > 0.05).

Fig. 3 Effects of nitrogen (N): phosphorus (P) level on root carbon (C), N, P and their stoichiometry ratios of Glycyrrhiza uralensis (mean ± SE, n = 5). N10P1, N10P2, N10P4, N10P8, N10P16, and N10P32 represent all pots were treated with 10.0 g·m-2·a-1 amount of N but with differing amounts of P: 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 16.0, and 32.0 g·m-2·a-1, respectively. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) between indices within N:P levels. The same lowercase letters indicate insignificant differences (p > 0.05).

Fig. 4 Effects of nitrogen (N):phosphorus (P) level on soil carbon (C), N, and P content (mean ± SE, n = 5). N10P1, N10P2, N10P4, N10P8, N10P16, and N10P32 represent all pots treated with 10.0 g·m-2·a-1 amount of N but with different amounts of P: 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 16.0, and 32.0 g·m-2·a-1, respectively. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference (p < 0.05) between indices within N:P levels. The same lowercase letters indicate insignificant difference (p > 0.05).

Table 2 Correlation coefficients between carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P ) and their stoichiometry ratios in Glycyrrhiza uralensis and in soils

指标 Index	土壤有机C Soil organic C (g·kg^-1)	土壤全N Soil total N (g·kg^-1)	土壤全P Soil total P (g·kg^-1)	土壤速效P Soil available P (mg·kg^-1)	土壤C:N C_soil:N_soil	土壤C:P C_soil:P_soil	土壤N:P N_soil:P_soil
地上生物量 Aboveground biomass (g·plant^-1)	ns	ns	ns	0.51^*	ns	ns	0.05
地下生物量 Belowground biomass (g·plant^-1)	ns	ns	ns	ns	0.50^*	ns	ns
叶片全C Leaf total C (mg·g^-1)	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
叶片全N Leaf total N (mg·g^-1)	ns	-0.56^*	ns	ns	0.69^**	0.50^*	ns
叶片全P Leaf total P (mg·g^-1)	ns	ns	0.77^**	ns	ns	-0.70^**	-0.75^**
叶片C:N C_leaf:N_leaf	ns	ns	ns	ns	-0.56^*	ns	ns
叶片C:P C_leaf:P_leaf	ns	ns	-0.63^**	ns	ns	0.58^*	0.64^**
叶片N:P N_leaf:P_leaf	ns	ns	-0.80^**	-0.49^*	0.57^*	0.85^**	0.79^**
根系全C Root total C (mg·g^-1)	ns	ns	ns	0.62^**	ns	ns	-0.53^*
根系全N Root total N (mg·g^-1)	ns	ns	-0.50^*	ns	ns	ns	ns
根系全P Root total P (mg·g^-1)	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
根系C:N C_root:N_root	ns	ns	0.66^**	ns	ns	-0.58^*	-0.70^**
根系C:P C_root:P_root	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
根系N:P N_root:P_root	ns	ns	-0.57^*	ns	ns	0.65^**	0.67^**

Table 3 Correlation coefficients between carbon (C):nitrogen (N):phosphorus (P) ecological stoichiometry and the biomass or root/shoot ratio of Glycyrrhiza uralensis

指标 Index	地上生物量 Aboveground biomass (g·plant^-1)	地下生物量 Belowground biomass (g·plant^-1)	总生物量 Total biomass (g·plant^-1)	根冠比 Root/shoot ratio
土壤有机C Soil organic C (g·kg^-1)	0.18	0.35	0.32	-0.37
土壤全N Soil total N (g·kg^-1)	-0.01	-0.33	-0.23	-0.21
土壤全P Soil total P (g·kg^-1)	-0.27	-0.39	-0.39	0.01
土壤速效P Soil available P (mg·kg^-1)	0.51^*	0.18	0.35	-0.05
土壤C:N C_soil:N_soil	0.12	0.50^*	0.40	0.04
土壤C:P C_soil:P_soil	-0.00	0.19	0.13	0.18
土壤N:P N_soil:P_soil	0.05	0.07	0.07	0.13
叶片全C Leaf total C (mg·g^-1)	0.07	-0.08	-0.03	-0.33
叶片全N Leaf total N (mg·g^-1)	0.25	0.35	0.35	-0.27
叶片全P Leaf total P (mg·g^-1)	-0.07	-0.31	-0.25	-0.25
叶片C:N C_leaf:N_leaf	-0.18	-0.21	-0.22	0.27
叶片C:P C_leaf:P_leaf	0.02	0.22	0.16	0.41
叶片N:P N_leaf:P_leaf	0.07	0.29	0.23	0.15
根系全C Root total C (mg·g^-1)	0.39	0.39	0.44	-0.68
根系全N Root total N (mg·g^-1)	0.49^*	0.21	0.36	-0.58
根系全P Root total P (mg·g^-1)	0.43	0.19	0.32	-0.55
根系C:N C_root:N_root	-0.22	-0.03	-0.12	0.10
根系C:P C_root:P_root	-0.29	-0.05	-0.17	0.39
根系N:P N_root:P_root	-0.07	-0.04	-0.06	0.18

Fig. 5 Effects of nitrogen (N): phosphorus (P) level on soil carbon (C) :N:P stoichiometry ratio (mean ± SE, n = 5). N10P1, N10P2, N10P4, N10P8, N10P16, and N10P32 represent all pots treated with 10.0 g·m-2·a-1 amount of N but with different amounts of P: 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 16.0, and 32.0 g·m-2·a-1, respectively. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference (p < 0.05) between indices within N:P levels. The same lowercase letters indicate insignificant difference (p > 0.05).

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