Stoichiometric characteristics of soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus along soil depths in response to climatic variables in grasslands on the Mongolia Plateau

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2021.0266

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Responses of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) contents and their stoichiometric ratios to climatic variables (mean annual precipitation (MAP) and mean annual air temperature (MAT)) along soil depths are important for understanding the effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystem functions.
Methods To explore the responses of soil C, N, and P contents and their stoichiometric ratios along soil profile to MAP and MAT at a regional scale, we investigated these variables for four soil layers (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, and 60-80 cm) at 44 sites in grasslands on the Mongolia Plateau.
Important findings (1) Soil C and N contents decreased while soil P did not change with increasing soil depth. Soil C:P and N:P decreased while soil C:N was relatively stable with increasing soil depth. (2) Soil C, N, and P contents, as well as C:P and N:P, were positively correlated with MAP, but negatively correlated with MAT. Soil C:N was negatively correlated with MAP but did not correlate with MAT. The correlations between climate variables and soil C, N, and P contents and their stoichiometric ratios were weakened with increasing soil depth. (3) The effect of MAP or MAT on soil C, N, and P contents and their stoichiometric ratios were different among four soil depths. The total interpretation of the variations in soil C, N, and P contents and their stoichiometric ratios explained by MAP or MAT decreased with increasing soil depth. These results indicate that climatic variables had a top-down regulation on soil C, N, P contents and their stoichiometric ratios, and the effect of MAP was more important than that of MAT on soil C, N, P contents and their stoichiometric ratios in grasslands on the Mongolia Plateau.

Key words: soil nutrient, stoichiometric ratio, soil depth, mean annual precipitation, mean annual air temperature

ZHU Yu-He, XIAO Hong, WANG Bing, WU Ying, BAI Yong-Fei, CHEN Di-Ma. Stoichiometric characteristics of soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus along soil depths in response to climatic variables in grasslands on the Mongolia Plateau[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2022, 46(3): 340-349.

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Figures/Tables 4

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变量 Variable	土壤深度 Soil depth (cm)
变量 Variable	0-20	20-40	40-60	60-80
SOC (mg·g^-1)	14.56 ± 1.13^a	9.11 ± 0.76^b	6.57 ± 0.64^c	3.85 ± 0.35^d
STN (mg·g^-1)	1.30 ± 0.10^a	0.82 ± 0.06^b	0.55 ± 0.05^c	0.32 ± 0.03^d
STP (mg·g^-1)	0.09 ± 0.00	0.09 ± 0.00	0.08 ± 0.00	0.08 ± 0.01
C:N	12.76 ± 0.58^b	12.33 ± 0.52^b	17.56 ± 1.89^ab	23.33 ± 4.12^a
C:P	144.17 ± 7.22^a	104.89 ± 4.74^b	80.63 ± 4.21^c	53.38 ± 3.33^d
N:P	13.25 ± 0.75^a	9.99 ± 0.51^b	6.96 ± 0.44^c	4.75 ± 0.38^d

变量 Variable	土壤深度 Soil depth (cm)
变量 Variable	0-20	20-40	40-60	60-80
SOC (mg·g^-1)	14.56 ± 1.13^a	9.11 ± 0.76^b	6.57 ± 0.64^c	3.85 ± 0.35^d
STN (mg·g^-1)	1.30 ± 0.10^a	0.82 ± 0.06^b	0.55 ± 0.05^c	0.32 ± 0.03^d
STP (mg·g^-1)	0.09 ± 0.00	0.09 ± 0.00	0.08 ± 0.00	0.08 ± 0.01
C:N	12.76 ± 0.58^b	12.33 ± 0.52^b	17.56 ± 1.89^ab	23.33 ± 4.12^a
C:P	144.17 ± 7.22^a	104.89 ± 4.74^b	80.63 ± 4.21^c	53.38 ± 3.33^d
N:P	13.25 ± 0.75^a	9.99 ± 0.51^b	6.96 ± 0.44^c	4.75 ± 0.38^d

土壤深度 Soil depth (cm)	年降水量 Mean annual precipitation						年平均温度 Mean annual air temperature
土壤深度 Soil depth (cm)	SOC	STN	STP	C:N	C:P	N:P	SOC	STN	STP	C:N	C:P	N:P
0-20 vs 20-40	<0.001	<0.001	0.887	0.983	0.008	0.018	<0.001	<0.001	0.847	1.000	0.003	0.054
0-20 vs 40-60	<0.001	<0.001	0.875	0.656	0.002	0.058	<0.001	<0.001	0.677	0.998	<0.001	0.013
0-20 vs 60-80	<0.001	<0.001	0.881	0.520	0.001	0.040	<0.001	<0.001	0.448	0.405	0.003	0.002
20-40 vs 40-60	0.977	0.560	1.000	0.424	0.975	0.975	0.808	0.372	0.990	1.000	0.911	0.958
20-40 vs 60-80	0.508	0.003	1.000	0.305	0.928	0.992	0.421	0.002	0.909	0.355	0.998	0.745
40-60 vs 60-80	0.762	0.137	1.000	0.997	0.998	0.999	0.921	0.247	0.984	0.301	0.907	0.958

土壤深度 Soil depth (cm)	年降水量 Mean annual precipitation						年平均温度 Mean annual air temperature
土壤深度 Soil depth (cm)	SOC	STN	STP	C:N	C:P	N:P	SOC	STN	STP	C:N	C:P	N:P
0-20 vs 20-40	<0.001	<0.001	0.887	0.983	0.008	0.018	<0.001	<0.001	0.847	1.000	0.003	0.054
0-20 vs 40-60	<0.001	<0.001	0.875	0.656	0.002	0.058	<0.001	<0.001	0.677	0.998	<0.001	0.013
0-20 vs 60-80	<0.001	<0.001	0.881	0.520	0.001	0.040	<0.001	<0.001	0.448	0.405	0.003	0.002
20-40 vs 40-60	0.977	0.560	1.000	0.424	0.975	0.975	0.808	0.372	0.990	1.000	0.911	0.958
20-40 vs 60-80	0.508	0.003	1.000	0.305	0.928	0.992	0.421	0.002	0.909	0.355	0.998	0.745
40-60 vs 60-80	0.762	0.137	1.000	0.997	0.998	0.999	0.921	0.247	0.984	0.301	0.907	0.958