Nutrient resorption of coexistence species in alpine meadow of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau explains plant adaptation to nutrient-poor environment

Jiang, Chunming; Yu, Guirui; Li, Yingnian; Cao, Guangmin; Yang, Zhaoping; Sheng, Wenping; Yu, Wantai

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2012.04.006

Cited by 66 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Nitrogen resorption efficiency (NRE) can vary substantially within an ecosystem at small spatial scales (Hättenschwiler et al 2008). The effect of functional groups on NRE varies (McJannet et al 1995;Aerts 1996;Ratnam et al 2008;Jiang et al 2012;Vergutz et al 2012), depending on the choice of functional group classification and ecosystem type.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of nitrogen resorption in functional groups in a Tibetan alpine meadow

Liang

Zhang

2015

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Nutrient resorption from senescing leaves is an important plant nutrient conservation mechanism. Effects of functional groups on nitrogen resorption efficiency (NRE) are well known in woody perennials in forest ecosystems, but less is known from other ecosystems. We investigated green and senesced leaf nitrogen (N) concentrations of different functional groups in a Tibetan alpine meadow. We found legumes contained higher N in green leaves, with no significant differences in N between graminoids and forbs. Graminoids contained the lowest amount of N in senesced leaves, followed by forbs and legumes. NRE was higher in graminoids, with no significant difference between legumes and forbs. Our results showed that level of N was related to resorption in this ecosystem, with NRE decreasing as green leaf N concentration increased, regardless of the functional group. Furthermore, we found differences in N concentration in senesced leaves resulted from differences in both green leaf N concentration and NRE across functional groups. Our findings highlight that the ability to minimize N loss by both reducing the N concentration in senescing leaves and increasing NRE could explain the dominance of graminoids in this alpine meadow. Our results indicate that change in the dominance of different functional groups could influence soil N cycling in this ecosystem.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of nitrogen resorption in functional groups in a Tibetan alpine meadow

Liang

Zhang

2015

Folia Geobot

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“…However, a recent global-scale analysis of soil nitrogen by Cleveland and Liptzin (2007) indicated that the soils of the alpine ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (including the Qilian Mountains) were mostly nitrogen-limited. Furthermore, just as in the soils of the boreal forest and arctic tundra, 95 % of the nitrogen in this region's soils is present as organic nitrogen and nitrogen in senescent leaves, sources that are more difficult for plants to absorb (Xu et al, 2006;Courtney and Harrington, 2010;Jiang et al, 2012). Therefore, the study of the diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacterial communities and the factors that impact them are of great importance in nitrogen-limited regions such as the southern Qilian Mountains.…”

Section: S Tai Et Al: High Diversity Of Nitrogen-fixing Bacteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

High diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the upper reaches of the Heihe River, northwestern China

et al. 2013

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Vegetation plays a key role in water conservation in the southern Qilian Mountains (northwestern China), located in the upper reaches of the Heihe River. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are crucial for the protection of the nitrogen supply for vegetation in the region. In the present study, nifH gene clone libraries were established to determine differences between the nitrogen-fixing bacterial communities of the Potentilla parvifolia shrubland and the Carex alrofusca meadow in the southern Qilian Mountains. All of the identified nitrogen-fixing bacterial clones belonged to the Proteobacteria. At the genus level, Azospirillum was only detected in the shrubland soil, while Thiocapsa, Derxia, Ectothiorhodospira, Mesorhizobium, Klebsiella, Ensifer, Methylocella and Pseudomonas were only detected in the meadow soil. The phylogenetic tree was divided into five lineages: lineages I, II and III mainly contained nifH sequences obtained from the meadow soils, while lineage IV was mainly composed of nifH sequences obtained from the shrubland soils. The Shannon–Wiener index of the nifH genes ranged from 1.5 to 2.8 and was higher in the meadow soils than in the shrubland soils. Based on these analyses of diversity and phylogeny, the plant species were hypothesised to influence N cycling by enhancing the fitness of certain nitrogen-fixing taxa. The number of nifH gene copies and colony-forming units (CFUs) of the cultured nitrogen-fixing bacteria were lower in the meadow soils than in the shrubland soils, ranging from 0.4 × 10⁷ to 6.9 × 10⁷ copies g⁻¹ soil and 0.97 × 10⁶ to 12.78 × 10⁶ g⁻¹ soil, respectively. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the diversity and number of the nifH gene copies were primarily correlated with aboveground biomass in the shrubland soil. In the meadow soil, nifH gene diversity was most affected by altitude, while copy number was most impacted by soil-available K. These results suggest that the nitrogen-fixing bacterial communities beneath Potentilla were different from those beneath Carex

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“…In recent years, there is a growing interest applying an important kind of bio-resources, biochar, to amend nutrient-poor soil for soil ecological restoration while also sequestering carbon (Lehmann et al, 2003;Woolf et al, 2010;Liu et al, 2012;Jiang et al, 2012). Many studies have been reported biochar as a soil amendment for improving soil quality and crop productivity (Chan et al, 2007;Glaser et al, 2002;Lehmann et al, 2006;Major et al, 2010;van Zwieten et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%