Comparison of adaptive strategies to phosphorus-deficient soil between dominant species Artemisia frigida and Stipa krylovii in typical steppe of Nei Mongol

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2014.00085

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Artemisia frigida and Stipa krylovii are two dominant species in the typical steppe of northern China, and highly adapted to the local edaphic conditions. However, little is known about their ecophysiological traits in terms of adaptation to soil nutrient regimes in general and low available phosphorus (P) in particular. To understand the ecophysiological mechanisms by which the two species adapt to low P availability in soil, root morphological traits, acid phosphatase (APase) activity secreted by roots, exudation of organic acid, P uptake rate and P utilization efficiency in the two species were measured under varying concentrations of P supply in pot experiments.
Methods Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the responses of the two species to varying concentrations of P supply by determining biomass, shoot and root morphology, average P uptake rate, P utilization efficiency, exudation of organic acid and acid phosphatase in A. frigida and S. krylovii.
Important findings Phosphorus deficiency induced root-secreted APase activity and acidification of rhizosphere in A. frigida, while S. krylovii exhibited an enhanced exudation of malate from roots under phosphorus-deficient conditions. Stipa krylovii displayed similar P uptake rate to that of A. frigida, but its P utilization efficiency was markedly higher than in A. frigida under phosphorus-deficient conditions. The two species showed similar growth patterns in response to P deficiency, but A. frigida seedlings required higher external P level for their maximal growth than those of S. krylovii, suggesting that the two species have different physiological requirement for P. The different adaptive strategies between A. frigida and S. krylovii to the low soil P availability may provide an ecophysiological explanation for their co-existence in the infertile grassland in northern China.

Key words: acid phosphatase, Artemisia frigida, exudation of organic acid, phosphorus deficiency, rhizosphere acidification, root architecture, Stipa krylovii

LIU Na-Na,TIAN Qiu-Ying,ZHANG Wen-Hao. Comparison of adaptive strategies to phosphorus-deficient soil between dominant species Artemisia frigida and Stipa krylovii in typical steppe of Nei Mongol[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2014, 38(9): 905-915.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1258.2014.00085

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2014/V38/I9/905

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 Biomass, root/shoot ratio, plant height, branch numbers and tiller numbers in Artemisia frigida and Stipa krylovii grown under varying concentrations of phosphorus (P) supply (mean ± SE, n = 4). Different letters indicate significant differences among phosphorus treatments (p < 0.05). * and ** indicate significant difference between species under the same phosphorus level at p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively.

Table 1 Phosphorus (P) concentration, P accumulation, average P uptake rate and P utilization efficiency in Artemisia frigida and Stipa krylovii under different concentrations of P supply (mean ± SE, n = 4)

物种 Species	供P浓度 P concentration (mmol·L^-1)	植株P浓度 P concentration (mg·g^-1)		植株P累积量 P accumulation (μg·plant^-1)		平均吸P速率Average P uptake rate (ng P·cm^-1·d^-1)	P利用效率 P utilization efficiency (mg·mg^-1P)
物种 Species	供P浓度 P concentration (mmol·L^-1)	地上 Aboveground	地下 Belowground	地上 Aboveground	地下 Belowground	平均吸P速率Average P uptake rate (ng P·cm^-1·d^-1)	P利用效率 P utilization efficiency (mg·mg^-1P)
冷蒿 Artemisia frigida	0.00	1.52 ± 0.05^d	1.26 ± 0.04^d	151.07 ± 17.79^c	32.28 ± 2.07^c	5.25 ± 0.64^c	605.14 ± 8.49^a
	0.25	2.84 ± 0.25^c	2.88 ± 0.32^c	530.09 ± 35.03^bc	102.03 ± 13.25^bc	14.53 ± 2.97^bc	290.37 ± 20.45^b
	0.50	3.63 ± 0.13^b	4.29 ± 0.35^b	850.36 ± 255.08^b	182.84 ± 2.35^b	19.27 ± 5.89^b	255.86 ± 103.43^b
	5.00	7.17 ± 0.24^a	17.31 ± 0.67^a	1 348.18 ± 295.44^a	530.41 ± 97.69^a	73.14 ± 11.60^a	97.78 ± 4.22^c
克氏针茅 Stipa krylovii	0.00	1.09 ± 0.09^c**	0.63 ± 0.06^c**	51.25 ± 5.23^d**	13.58 ± 2.82^c**	4.75 ± 0.38^c	1 076.84 ± 60.87^a**
	0.25	2.72 ± 0.29^b	2.59 ± 0.30^b	249.55 ± 5.43^c**	77.47 ± 9.99^b	25.20 ± 2.65^b**	251.52 ± 27.23^b
	0.50	2.77 ± 0.23^b*	2.54 ± 0.24^bc**	263.18 ± 3.96^b*	88.49 ± 9.23^b**	29.70 ± 5.49^b	233.77 ± 7.14^b
	5.00	4.19 ± 0.66^a**	14.92 ± 0.26^a**	275.19 ± 3.79^a**	295.33 ± 39.26^a*	61.80 ± 1.72^a	95.49 ± 8.54^c

Fig. 2 Effects of different concentrations of phosphorus (P) supply on total root length, lateral root length, primary root length, and specific root length in Artemisia frigida and Stipa krylovii (mean ± SE, n = 4). Different letters indicate significant differences among treatments at p < 0.05. * and ** indicate significant differences between species under the same phosphorus levels at p < 0.05 and p < 0.01.

Fig. 3 Effects of different concentrations of phosphorus (P) supply on rhizospheric acidification in Artemisia frigida (A) and Stipa krylovii (B). The yellow and purple around roots indicate acidification and alkalization, respectively, of the rhizosphere.

Fig. 4 Exudation of organic acid and acid phosphatase from roots of Artemisia frigida and Stipa krylovii under varying concentrations of phosphorus (P) supply (mean ± SE, n = 4). Different letters indicate significant differences among treatments (p < 0.05). * and ** indicate significant differences between species under the same phosphorus levels at p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively.

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