Plant nitrogen concentration is more sensitive in response to degradation than phosphorus concentration in alpine meadow

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106323

	Plant nitrogen concentration is more sensitive in response to degradation than phosphorus concentration in alpine meadow
	Zhou, Tiancai 1,2; Zong, Ning 1,2; Sun, Jian 3; Hou, Ge 1,2; Shi, Peili 1,2
刊名	ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
	2021-11-01
卷号	169 页码:9
关键词	Alpine meadow Grassland degradation Plant nutrients concentrations Tibetan Plateau
ISSN号	0925-8574
DOI	10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106323
通讯作者	Shi, Peili(shipl@igsnrr.ac.cn)
英文摘要	Exploring the early warning signals of plant and soil characteristics in response to degradation is of great theoretical significance to illuminate the underlying driving mechanism of alpine meadow degradation. Here, in alpine meadow of Damxung County on the Tibetan Plateau, a field survey along degradation gradients was conducted to measure plant and soil properties: from non-degradation to severely degradation, simultaneous impairments in plant total biomass, plant coverage, plant N concentration, soil moisture, soil total C and N were detected, which significantly (P<0.05) decreased by 85.36%, 54.30%, 25.23%, 26.95%, 28.94% and 12.85% in sequence, while no significant change in plant P concentration was observed. As grassland degradation increased, a consistent decrease of plant N: P ratios (<14) not only demonstrated that N was a strong limiting factor for plants growth, but also supported our hypothesis that plant N concentration was more sensitive in response to degradation than plant P concentration. Path analyses further indicated that soil moisture and soil total nitrogen were the most critical factors that mediated the plant N: P in response to degradation. Although our findings suggested that N resorption efficiency was improved after grassland degradation, the increase in grassland degradation would enhance the N concentration decoupling from P concentration, which in turn might further exacerbate the N limitation and the degradation in alpine ecosystems. The early-warning signals of grassland degradation obtained here not only can improve the understanding of grassland degradation, but also can provide guidance for the restoration and management of degraded alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau.
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China[31870406] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[42071066] ; National Key Research and Development Program[2017YFA0604802]
WOS关键词	N-P RATIOS ; GRASSLAND DEGRADATION ; TERRESTRIAL PLANTS ; INORGANIC NITROGEN ; DEGRADED GRADIENTS ; SOIL NUTRIENTS ; STOICHIOMETRY ; RESORPTION ; VEGETATION ; COMMUNITY
WOS研究方向	Environmental Sciences & Ecology ; Engineering
语种	英语
出版者	ELSEVIER
WOS记录号	WOS:000674452700008
资助机构	National Natural Science Foundation of China ; National Key Research and Development Program
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://ir.igsnrr.ac.cn/handle/311030/163713]
专题	中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所
通讯作者	Shi, Peili
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geog Sci & Nat Resources Res, Key Lab Ecosyst Network Observat & Modelling, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China 2.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Coll Resources & Environm, Beijing 100190, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Tibetan Plateau Res, State Key Lab Tibetan Plateau Earth Syst Sci LAT, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Zhou, Tiancai,Zong, Ning,Sun, Jian,et al. Plant nitrogen concentration is more sensitive in response to degradation than phosphorus concentration in alpine meadow[J]. ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING,2021,169:9.
APA	Zhou, Tiancai,Zong, Ning,Sun, Jian,Hou, Ge,&Shi, Peili.(2021).Plant nitrogen concentration is more sensitive in response to degradation than phosphorus concentration in alpine meadow.ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING,169,9.
MLA	Zhou, Tiancai,et al."Plant nitrogen concentration is more sensitive in response to degradation than phosphorus concentration in alpine meadow".ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING 169(2021):9.