Altitudinal patterns of nutrient limiting characteristics of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest based on leaf and soil enzyme stoichiometry in western Sichuan, China

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2022.0449

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrient availability is a key factor governing forest productivity and carbon sequestration. However, scientific knowledge on the nutrient limitation in forest ecosystems under variable environments is still lacked. The mountain ecosystems, characterized by the dramatical changes in multiple environmental factors along increasing altitude such as climate, vegetation and soil properties, provide a natural experiment platform for understanding forest nutrient limitation and its drivers.
Methods In this study, we examined the nutrient limitation of a typical subalpine coniferous forest (Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest) along an altitudinal gradient (from 2 850 m to 3 200 m) in the southeastern Qingzang Plateau, by simultaneous detection of above-ground leaf N, P status and underground microorganisms extracellular stoichiometry, and analyzing the changes of forest nutrient limitation and the main driving factors along the altitude.
Important findings The results showed that: 1) as altitude increases, the concentration of leaf N and P decreased, while leaf N:P increased from 12.33 to 15.00, indicating a shift from N limitation to N-P co-limitation and an enhancement of P limitation with increasing altitude. (2) Vector model analysis showed that the vector angles of microbial extracellular enzyme stoichiometry were all exceed 45° at different altitudes, and as altitude increases, the vector angle showed an increasing trend, indicating that microorganisms were limited by P and the P limitation increases with altitude. (3) Temperature is the dominant factor driving nutrient limitation of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest. Collectively, both leaf and soil microbial nutrient evidence indicated that an enhancement of P limitation in subalpine coniferous forests with increasing altitudes in western Sichuan. This finding could provide an important theoretical basis for guiding forest nutrient adaptive management in subalpine coniferous ecosystems under the scenarios of global climate change.

Key words: altitude, nutrient limitation, N:P, soil extracellular enzyme stoichiometry, subalpine coniferous forest

HE Xi, FENG Qiu-Hong, ZHANG Pei-Pei, YANG Han, DENG Shao-Jun, SUN Xiao-Ping, YIN Hua-Jun. Altitudinal patterns of nutrient limiting characteristics of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest based on leaf and soil enzyme stoichiometry in western Sichuan, China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2023, 47(12): 1646-1657.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2022.0449

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2023/V47/I12/1646

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1 Vertical zonation and sampling point in the study area in subalpine mountains of western Sichuan.

Table 1 Soil moisture, pH and air temperature at different altitudes of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest in subalpine mountains of western Sichuan (mean ± SE, n = 5)

基本性质 Basic property	海拔 Altitude (m)
基本性质 Basic property	2 850	2 950	3 060	3 200
土壤含水量 Soil moisture (%)	46.89 ± 0.36^d	54.80 ± 2.31^b	50.79 ± 0.94^c	57.51 ± 2.26^a
土壤pH Soil pH	4.55 ± 0.02^a	4.15 ± 0.14^b	4.20 ± 0.05^b	3.92 ± 0.05^c
气温 Air temperature (°C)	15.33	13.99	12.51	10.64

Table 2 Concentration of soil nutrients at different altitudes of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest in subalpine mountains of western Sichuan (mean ± SE, n = 5)

土壤基本理化性质 Basic property	海拔 Altitudes (m)
土壤基本理化性质 Basic property	2 850	2 950	3 060	3200
TN (g·kg^-1)	5.23 ± 0.06^c	6.23 ± 0.30^b	5.36 ± 0.19^c	8.61 ± 0.99^a
TP (g·kg^-1)	0.53 ± 0.02^b	0.56 ± 0.05^b	0.54 ± 0.03^b	0.65 ± 0.02^a
DIN (mg·kg^-1)	17.11 ± 0.68^a	14.72 ± 1.68^b	10.14 ± 1.01^d	11.85 ± 0.83^c
AP (mg·kg^-1)	1.65 ± 0.25^b	4.74 ± 0.75^a	1.48 ± 0.11^b	4.01 ± 0.91^a

Fig. 2 Relationships of soil total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), available phosphorus (AP) contents and N:P with altitudes of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest in subalpine mountains of western Sichuan. Solid lines indicate the linear fitting relationship between the soil nutrient and altitudes, and grey areas are the 95% confidence intervals of the models.

Fig. 3 Relationships of foliar total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) contents and N:P of coniferous forest with altitudes of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest in subalpine mountains of western Sichuan. Solid lines indicate the model fits between the leaf nutrient contents and altitudes, and grey areas are the 95% confidence intervals of the models. The dashed lines represent leaf N:P of 14 and 16, respectively.

Fig. 4 Soil enzymatic stoichiometry and microbial resource limitation at different altitudes of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest in subalpine mountains of western Sichuan (mean ± SE, n = 5). Different lowercase letters in H and I indicate significant differences between different altitudes (p < 0.05). In A-C, solid lines indicate the model fits between soil nutrient and altitude, and grey areas are the 95% confidence intervals of the models. The diagonal dashed line represents the 1:1 line, the horizontal dashed line represents the vector angle of 45°. C, carbon; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus. ACP, 4-MUB-phosphate activity; BG, 4-MUB-β-D-glucoside activity; LAP, L-leucine-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin activity; NAG, 4-MUB-N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminide activity.

Fig. 5 Pearson correlation matrix between rhizosphere soil total nutrients content and its stoichiometry characteristics, available nutrients, physical properties, climate and plant nutrient limitation and microbial limitation of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest in subalpine mountains of western Sichuan. AP, available phosphorus content; C:N, soil total carbon to nitrogen ratio; C:P, soil total carbon to phosphorus ratio; DIN, dissolved inorganic nitrogen content; DOC, dissolved organic carbon content; pH, soil pH; LN:P, leaf total nitrogen to phosphorus ratio; N:P, soil total nitrogen to phosphorus ratio; SM, soil moisture; SOC, soil organic carbon content; T, air temperature; TN, total nitrogen content; TP, total phosphorus content; VA, vector angle. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001; n = 5.

Fig. 6 Relationship between forest nutrient limitation and soil physicochemical properties partial least squares path modelling (A) and effect value of each factor on forest nutrient limitation (B, C) of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana forest in subalpine mountains of western Sichuan. Solid and dotted line arrows indicate positive and negative flows of causality (p < 0.05), respectively. Numbers on the arrow indicate significant standardized path coefficients. R2 indicates the variance of dependent variable explained by the model. C:N, soil total carbon to nitrogen ratio; C:P, soil total carbon to phosphorus ratio; DIN, dissolved inorganic nitrogen content; pH, soil pH; LN:P, leaf total nitrogen to phosphorus ratio; N:P, soil total nitrogen to phosphorus ratio; SOC, soil organic carbon content; T, air temperature; TN, soil total nitrogen content; VA, vector angle.

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