Spatial variation and allocation of sulfur among major plant organs in China

Zhao, Wenzong; Xiao, Chunwang; Li, Mingxu; Xu, Li; Li, Xin; He, Nianpeng

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157155

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…resulting in differences in leaf K among different plant species in different habitats 43,44 . Moreover, different sampling methods, measurements, and species composition could also yield disparate outcomes 40 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High precipitation rates increase potassium density in plant communities in the Tibetan Plateau

Li,

Cen

et al. 2023

Commun Earth Environ

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Potassium is essential for plant growth. However, our understanding of potassium in plant materials is limited due to a lack of systematic studies. Here, we measured potassium content in 2,040 ecosystem communities during the period 2019-2021 applying grid-sampling and explored the spatial patterns and drivers of potassium density in the Tibetan Plateau vegetation. Potassium content, density, and storage were estimated at 8.63 milligrams per grams, 21.71 grams per square meter, and 19.92 teragrams, respectively. Potassium allocation was isometric in most ecosystems, except for deserts which followed optimal partitioning. Precipitation was the main driver of potassium variations, with higher potassium in humid regions. The spatial distribution, as revealed by random forests model, indicated higher potassium in the southeastern regions but lower potassium values in the northwestern regions. Our research sheds light on climate change’s impact on vegetation potassium, offering valuable data for biogeochemical cycle optimization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The likelihood ratio test was used to determine significant differences in the allometric growth index (a) between different plant growth types of the same organ in pairs. The test was performed using the "sma" function of the "smatr" package in R 40 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High precipitation rates increase potassium density in plant communities in the Tibetan Plateau

Li,

Cen

et al. 2023

Commun Earth Environ

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“…Previous studies have also analyzed S content in plants, but these studies were limited to leaves and ignored the interaction between different organs of plants (Han et al., 2011; S. B. Zhang et al., 2012). As an essential element for plant growth and development, S is widely distributed in plants rather than concentrated in a single organ (W. Z. Zhao, Xiao, Li, Xu, Li, & He, 2022). Therefore, it is necessary to regard plants composed of multiple organs and use multidimensional methods to evaluate plant adaptation and response across lineages, life forms, and environments (N. P. He et al., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of functional equilibrium have shown that the biomass of plant leaves and stems will increase if the limiting factor comes from above‐ground (e.g., light, CO 2 ; Bloom et al., 1985), whereas the biomass ratio of roots, but not leaves and stems, will increase if the limiting factor comes from below‐ground (e.g., nutrients, water; Bloom et al., 1985; Eziz et al., 2017). S allocation strategies should give a more realistic picture of the state of nutrient limitation in nature and help explain the adaptation mechanisms of plants to their environment (W. Z. Zhao, Xiao, Li, Xu, Li, & He, 2022). For example, in an arid environment, plants tend to make full use of water and light and maximize the photosynthetic activity of the leaves, thus allowing the leaves to accumulate more S (Yan et al., 2016; W. Z. Zhao, Xiao, Li, Xu, & He, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeographic Patterns of Sulfur in the Vegetation of the Tibetan Plateau

Zhao

Xiao

et al. 2023

JGR Biogeosciences

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Sulfur (S) plays an important role in plant growth and development. However, due to climatic conditions and limited data availability, the variation and allocation of S are largely unknown at regional or global scales. In this study, we systematically evaluated the S distribution patterns and storage in vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau for the first time, based on consistent field‐measured data of 2,040 plant communities. The mean S contents of leaves, branches, trunks, and roots were 1.68, 0.40, 0.19, and 1.45 g kg−1, respectively; corresponding to S densities of 0.40 × 10−2 (9.57%), 1.18 × 10−2 (28.38%), 1.37 × 10−2 (32.90%) and 1.21 × 10−2 t hm−2 (29.15%), respectively. The mean S densities for forests (5.59 ± 0.26 × 10−2 t hm−2) were higher than that of shrublands (4.54 ± 0.51 × 10−2 t hm−2), grasslands (1.03 ± 0.07 × 10−2 t hm−2), and deserts (1.32 ± 0.28 × 10−2 t hm−2). The S density was generally lower in the northwest and higher in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau and had divergent allocation patterns between different plant organs and vegetation types. Furthermore, we found that S in leaves and roots was more strongly influenced by environmental factors and was particularly sensitive to radiation and atmospheric pressure. Moreover, the total S storage in the vegetation of the Tibetan Plateau was estimated to be 337.32 × 104 t, with 114.32 × 104 (33.89%), 92.36 × 104 (27.38%), 128.77 × 104 (38.17%), and 1.86 × 104 t (0.55%) in the forests, shrublands, grasslands, and deserts, respectively. Our study clarified the S densities of different plant organs and ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau and compiled 1 × 1 km vegetation S density data sets, which could help determine the key parameters for regional S cycle models in the future.

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“…For trees, sun‐exposed healthy leaves, branches less than 1 cm, and cores at the breast height were collected. For shrubs, leaves and branches were collected using the same criteria (Zhang, Li, et al., 2021; Zhao, Xiao, Li, Xu, Li, et al., 2022). For herbs, we collected all the aboveground parts of the plants from 1 × 1 m plots.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal Allocation Strategies of Plant Calcium on Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Jiao,

Zhang,

Wang

et al. 2024

JGR Biogeosciences

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Calcium (Ca) is an essential nutrient for plant growth and development. As Ca plays crucial roles in plant structure and signaling, its allocation strategies among organs can reflect the optimization of plant functions and responses to the environment. However, the allocation strategies and spatial variation of plant Ca at the community level have not been systematically determined on a large scale despite their potential link to ecosystem functions. Here, we mapped community‐level Ca content and density (1 × 1 km) using grid‐investigated data on leaves, branches, trunks, and roots from 680 sampling sites on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (TP). Specifically, the Ca content and density of the leaves, branches, trunks, and roots of TP plants were 10.90, 6.09, 1.85, and 15.62 mg g−1 and 3.29, 17.10, 12.27, and 12.06 g m−2, respectively. Importantly, plant adopted optimal allocation strategies with allocating more Ca to roots in stressed ecosystems to maintain survival while more Ca to leaves in suitable forests for growth, that is the proposed survival/growth‐driven allocation hypothesis. Furthermore, plants optimally absorbed more nutrients in stressed environments for defense, as demonstrated by the higher Ca content and lower Ca use efficiency in deserts and grasslands than in forests. Furthermore, the strong evidence for the proposed hypothesis was the spatial pattern of plant Ca content decreasing from the northwest to the southeast. Our findings reveal the optimal nutrient allocation strategies and provide data support (Ca content and density) for assessing plant nutrient status in different types of ecosystems.

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Spatial variation and allocation of sulfur among major plant organs in China

Cited by 8 publications

References 57 publications

High precipitation rates increase potassium density in plant communities in the Tibetan Plateau

High precipitation rates increase potassium density in plant communities in the Tibetan Plateau

Biogeographic Patterns of Sulfur in the Vegetation of the Tibetan Plateau

Optimal Allocation Strategies of Plant Calcium on Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

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