Inconsistent stoichiometry response of grasses and forbs to nitrogen and water additions in an alpine meadow of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Li, Jingjing; Yang, Chao; Liu, Xiaoli; Shao, Xinqing

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2018.12.016

Cited by 27 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The soil is classi ed as Mat-Gryic Cambisol with a clay loam texture under the Chinese soil classi cation system (Ma et al, 2017), and the initial plant species are dominantly Stipa capillata, Potentilla chinensis Poa pratensis, Agropyron cristatum, Elymus dahuricus, Artemisia scoparia, Ajuga lupulina Maxim, and Potentilla anserine. As previously reported, the soil background properties were a total N of 3.53 g kg − 1 , a total P of 0.29 g kg − 1 , an inorganic N of 15.68 mg kg − 1 and an available P of 5.94 mg kg − 1 (Li et al, 2019b).…”

Section: Study Site and Experimental Designsupporting

confidence: 71%

Variations in soil properties rather than functional gene abundances dominate soil phosphorus dynamics under short-term nitrogen input

Han

Liu

et al. 2021

Plant Soil

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Background and aims Microorganisms play a vital role in regulating soil phosphorus (P) dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. However, how nitrogen (N) inputs trigger the functional traits of P transformationrelated microorganisms to affect P fates in soil needs to be explored further. Our aims were to reveal the soil microbial functional pro les for P turnover in response to N input and to explore the relationships between soil P dynamics, soil properties and functional genes.Methods We collected soil samples from eld experiments with three levels of N input over three years in an alpine meadow of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to determine soil P dynamics and other properties and functional genes via metagenomics.Results The soil available P and microbial biomass P were signi cantly affected by N inputs and signi cantly associated with soil properties (including soil pH, alkaline phosphatase activity, and soil total N and NO 3 --N contents). Meanwhile, high N input decreased the relative abundance of the pstS gene, and low N input reduced the relative abundances of ugpQ and C-P lyase genes. The pstS gene was a determinant of soil microbial biomass P and signi cantly correlated with soil pH. Moreover, Alphaproteobacteria with C-P lyase and Actinobacteria related to alkaline phosphatases and phosphatespeci c transport were the most abundant taxa but not affected by N input.Conclusions We found relationships between the pstS gene, microbial biomass P and soil pH, and the microbial functional gene abundance was less important than soil properties in regulating soil P dynamics under short-term N inputs.

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Section: Study Site and Experimental Designsupporting

confidence: 71%

Variations in soil properties rather than functional gene abundances dominate soil phosphorus dynamics under short-term nitrogen input

Han

Liu

et al. 2021

Plant Soil

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“…Nitrogen addition also had no effect on total above‐ground biomass; however, grasses biomass increased, but legumes decreased, whereas forbs showed little response and quickly switched from being N deficient to N excess (Xu et al, ). In addition, Li, Yang, Liu, and Shao () reported that the addition of N and water increased the total above‐ground productivity and biomass of grasses but decreased the biomass of forbs. Under natural conditions, forbs are out‐competed by grasses (You et al, ), which are then able to show the greatest response of all plant types to N application.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This feature allows forbs to be more efficient than sedges and Gramineae in utilizing soil N. However, with the addition of N, species composition shifted to more productive grasses, whereas legumes and upright forbs decreased (Sun, Yu, Shugart, & Wang, ; You et al, ), and the soil carbon pool increased (Wang et al, ). N deposition enhanced the dominance of grasses over forbs in alpine meadows due to the greater ability of grasses to absorb nutrients under relatively higher N levels (Li et al, ). This implied that N addition should be taken into account when planting Gramineae species in the restoration and development of severely degraded grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The forb, Ajania tenuifolia, uses soil nitrogen efficiently, allowing it to be dominant over sedges and Graminae in extremely degraded grasslands: Implications for grassland restoration and development on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2020

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Plant growth is mainly N‐limited in the alpine grasslands because of slow mineralization of soil organic matter due to low air temperature. Different plant species dominate in soils of different N concentrations. For example, more forbs occur in severely degraded alpine meadows than do sedges and Gramineae. We hypothesized that a more efficient uptake of low soil N by forbs than by sedges and Gramineae was the mechanism that allowed forbs to dominate. The amount and rate of soil N uptake and N allocation were determined in seven dominant alpine plant species using 15N isotope tracer. The plants, which included one forb, Ajania tenuifolia, three sedges, Kobresia humilis, Carex scabrirostris, and Carex enervis, and three Gramineae, Elymus nutans, Festuca sinensis, and Stipa purpurea, were maintained in pots with four different N concentrations (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg ha−1). The forb had the highest efficiency of N utilization (N uptake rate, 60.4%) in low N soil concentration, the Gramineae had intermediate efficiencies (27.9–47.9%), and the sedges had the lowest efficiencies (5.2–34.9%), and, consequently, our hypothesis was supported. N utilization of the seven species decreased with an increase in soil N concentration, from 32.1% at N50 to 18.0% at N150, which indicated that soil N uptake by plants was affected by soil N concentration. The mechanism used by forbs to be the dominant species in severely degraded alpine meadows was a more efficient utilization of soil N than Gramineae and sedges in conditions of low soil N. We concluded that plant species have different efficiencies in soil N uptake and utilization, which allow them to adapt and survive in habitats of different soil nutrition levels. These results implied that forbs should be reduced, and that Gramineae and sedges should be planted and N be added during the restoration and development of severely degraded grasslands on the Tibetan plateau when the soil N content is low.

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“…Atmospheric N deposition has increased substantially over the last decades due to anthropogenic activities ( Liu et al, 2015 ) and has dramatically altered the characteristics of soils and plants ( Pan et al, 2014 ). For example, studies have shown soil acidification and eutrophication, reduced species diversity, and increased primary productivity under N deposition ( Jing et al, 2016 ; She et al, 2018 ; Li et al, 2019 ). Phosphorus (P) is another key nutrient for plant growth and ecosystem health, but P has not increased by anthropogenic activity to the same degree as N ( Penuelas et al, 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This region has been experiencing a significant increase in N deposition, approximately 8 kg N ha –1 year –1 ( Lü and Tian, 2007 ). Due to its low contents and decomposition rates, N is always considered to be the critical limiting factor of alpine ecosystems on the QTP ( Li et al, 2019 ). However, it has also been reported that P, not N, is the limiting factor in the QTP’s alpine grassland ecosystem ( Jing et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

N Addition Overwhelmed the Effects of P Addition on the Soil C, N, and P Cycling Genes in Alpine Meadow of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2022

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Although human activities have greatly increased nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) inputs to the alpine grassland ecosystems, how soil microbial functional genes involved in nutrient cycling respond to N and P input remains unknown. Based on a fertilization experiment established in an alpine meadow of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, we investigated the response of the abundance of soil carbon (C), N, and P cycling genes to N and P addition and evaluated soil and plant factors related to the observed effects. Our results indicated that the abundance of C, N, and P cycling genes were hardly affected by N addition, while P addition significantly increased most of them, suggesting that the availability of P plays a more important role for soil microorganisms than N in this alpine meadow ecosystem. Meanwhile, when N and P were added together, the abundance of C, N, and P cycling genes did not change significantly, indicating that the promoting effects of P addition on microbial functional genes abundances were overwhelmed by N addition. The Mantel analysis and the variation partitioning analysis revealed the major role of shoot P concentration in regulating the abundance of C, N, and P cycling genes. These results suggest that soil P availability and plant traits are key in governing C, N, and P cycling genes at the functional gene level in the alpine grassland ecosystem.

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Inconsistent stoichiometry response of grasses and forbs to nitrogen and water additions in an alpine meadow of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Cited by 27 publications

References 45 publications

Variations in soil properties rather than functional gene abundances dominate soil phosphorus dynamics under short-term nitrogen input

Variations in soil properties rather than functional gene abundances dominate soil phosphorus dynamics under short-term nitrogen input

The forb, Ajania tenuifolia, uses soil nitrogen efficiently, allowing it to be dominant over sedges and Graminae in extremely degraded grasslands: Implications for grassland restoration and development on the Tibetan Plateau

N Addition Overwhelmed the Effects of P Addition on the Soil C, N, and P Cycling Genes in Alpine Meadow of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

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