Nitrogen addition increases biomass but reduces nitrogen use efficiency of terrestrial plants in China

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2023.0230

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Studies on the adaptation of plant biomass and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) to atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition were helpful to understand the changes of carbon (C) and N cycling in terrestrial ecosystems under the background of global N deposition. However, the effects of N addition on plant biomass and NUE and the main factors affecting these responses remained unclear. Our objective was to explore the responses of biomass and NUE in the whole and different components of plants to N addition.

Methods We conducted a meta-analysis by collecting data from 94 publications focusing on N addition in China, to quantitatively assess the effects of N addition on biomass allocation and NUE of plants, as well as the main influencing factors.

Important findings The results showed that: (1) N addition significantly increased total, aboveground, and belowground biomass while significantly decreased the NUE of different components. Plant aboveground biomass (34.0%) increased more than that of belowground biomass (5.3%), and the decreased belowground NUE (29.9%) was higher than that of aboveground (15.4%). (2) The responses of plant biomass and NUE to N addition varied across ecosystem types, N forms, N addition levels, duration, and water conditions. The responses of plant in grassland and desert to N addition were significantly higher than that in other ecosystems. (3) Soil total N content was the most important factor affecting the responses of plant total, aboveground, and belowground biomass. The responses of plant and aboveground NUE were mainly modulated by N addition rate, and the form of N fertilizer mainly influenced the responses of belowground NUE. In conclusion, the effects of N addition on plant biomass and NUE were opposite, and they were mainly affected by soil total N content and N addition rate, respectively. These findings may provide reference for further research and practice on the distribution and utilization of C and N in plants under the background of N deposition.

Key words: meta-analysis, soil total nitrogen, nitrogen addition, biomass allocation, nitrogen use efficiency, ecosystem type

GENG Xue-Qi, TANG Ya-Kun, WANG Li-Na, DENG Xu, ZHANG Ze-Ling, ZHOU Ying. Nitrogen addition increases biomass but reduces nitrogen use efficiency of terrestrial plants in China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2024, 48(2): 147-157.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2023.0230

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2024/V48/I2/147

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 Effects of nitrogen (N) addition on total (A), aboveground (B) and belowground (C) biomass of terrestrial plants in China (mean ± SE). The dotted line indicates that the effect value is 0; solid and hollow circle represent significant (p < 0.05) and insignificant (p ≥ 0.05) responses, respectively; the number in parentheses indicates the number of observations for that variable.

Table 1 Heterogeneity analysis (QM) for nitrogen (N) addition effect size across different categorical variables of biomass and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of terrestrial plants in China

	总生物量 TB	地上生物量 AGB	地下生物量 BGB	整体NUE Plant NUE	地上部分NUE Aboveground NUE	地下部分NUE Belowground NUE
生态系统类型 Ecosystem type	3.63^**	9.29^**	2.66^*	6.54^**	9.20^**	7.45^**
氮肥形式 N-form	1.28^**	5.15^**	0.84^**	7.88^**	4.64^**	10.35^**
施氮水平 N-addition level	0.84^**	4.91^**	0.83^**	8.84^**	5.89^**	6.64^**
实验持续时间 Duration	0.59^**	3.09^**	0.11	2.14^**	8.80^**	5.30^**
水分条件 AI	0.93^**	2.92^**	0.94^**	9.53^**	2.55^**	6.35^**

Fig. 2 Effects of nitrogen (N) addition on plant (A), aboveground (B) and belowground (C) nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of terrestrial plants in China (mean ± SE). The dotted line indicates that the effect value is 0; solid and hollow circle represent significant (p < 0.05) and insignificant (p ≥ 0.05) responses, respectively; the number in parentheses indicates the number of observations for that variable.

Fig. 3 Major influence factors for the effect size of total, aboveground and belowground biomass to nitrogen (N) addition (A-C), and relationships between soil total nitrogen content (TN) and the effect size of plant total, aboveground and belowground biomass (D-F) of terrestrial plants in China. AGB, aboveground biomass; AI, aridity index; BGB, belowground biomass; IncMSE, increase in mean squared error; MAP, mean annual precipitation; MAT, mean annual air temperature; R2, variance explanation rate; SOC, soil organic carbon (C) content; TB, total biomass. The dark columns indicate significant importance of this factor (p < 0.05).

Fig. 4 Major influence factors for the effect size of plant, aboveground and belowground nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) to nitrogen (N) addition (A-C), and relationships between N-addition rate and the effect size of plant and aboveground NUE, duration and the effect size of belowground NUE (D-F) of terrestrial plants in China. AI, aridity index; IncMSE, increase in mean squared error; MAP, mean annual precipitation; MAT, mean annual air temperature; R2, variance explanation rate; SOC, soil organic carbon (C) content; TN, soil total N content. The dark columns indicate a significant importance of this factor (p < 0.05).

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