Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2011, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (6): 587-595.DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1258.2011.00587

Special Issue: 生态化学计量

• Research Articles •     Next Articles

C : N : P stoichiometric characteristics of four forest types’ dominant tree species in China

WANG Jing-Yuan1,*(), WANG Shao-Qiang1, LI Ren-Lan2, YAN Jun-Hua3, SHA Li-Qings4, HAN Shi-Jie5   

  1. 1Qianyanzhou Integrated Ecological Station of Red Soil Hilly Land, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    2College of Atmospheric Science, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
    3South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
    4Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
    5Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
  • Received:2010-06-21 Accepted:2011-03-11 Online:2011-06-21 Published:2011-06-30
  • Contact: WANG Jing-Yuan

Abstract:

Aims The nitrogen and phosphorus characteristics of plants represent plant features and responses to environmental factors. Our objectives are to distinguish leaf and litter C : N : P stoichiometric characteristics, nitrogen and phosphorus resorption of trees, and the relationship between stoichiometric ratio and temperature and precipitation for four typical regions in China.

Methods We studied temperate coniferous, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved, tropical monsoon and tropical plantation forest in the Changbaishan, Dinghushan, Xishuangbanna and Qianyanzhou Ecological Stations, respectively. We analyzed leaf and litter C : N : P, N, P and the relation of N, P nutrition limitation at each station.

Important findings Leaf C : N : P in temperate needle and broad-leaved mixed, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved, tropical rain and subtropical plantation forests were 321 : 13 : 1, 561 : 22 : 1, 442 : 19 : 1 and 728 : 18 : 1, respectively. Litter C : N : P of the four forest types were 552 : 14 : 1, 1 305 : 35 : 1, 723 : 24 : 1, 1 950 : 27 : 1, respectively. The C : N of evergreen coniferous forest is higher than in evergreen broad-leaved and deciduous broad-leaved forests, but C : P has no relationship with forest type. Leaf N : P was highest in evergreen broad-leaved forest and lowest in deciduous broad-leaved forest. Plant N : P has a linear relation with latitude and mean monthly temperature, but neither N or P concentration has such a relationship. Plant at high latitude are easily limited by N, those in low latitude are easily limited by P, but results show that plants limited by N or P don’t have higher N or P resorption. Stoichiometric ratios of leaf and litter are consistent, but environmental factors have different effects on different kinds of plant.

Key words: C : N : P, ecological stoichiometry, forest type, nutrition limitation, nutrition resorption