Plants adapted to nutrient limitation allocate less biomass into stems in an arid-hot grassland.
Biomass allocation can exert a great influence on plant resource acquisition and nutrient use. However, the role of biomass allocation strategies in shaping plant community composition under nutrient limitations remains poorly addressed. We hypothesized that species-specific allocation strategies can affect plant adaptation to nutrient limitations, resulting in species turnover and changes in community-level biomass allocations across nutrient gradients. In this study, we measured species abundance and the concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in leaves and soil nutrients in an arid-hot grassland. We quantified species-specific allocation parameters for stems vs leaves based on allometric scaling relationships. Species-specific stem vs leaf allocation parameters were weighted with species abundances to calculate the community-weighted means driven by species turnover. We found that the community-weighted means of biomass allocation parameters were significantly related to the soil nutrient gradient as well as to leaf stoichiometry, indicating that species-specific allocation strategies can affect plant adaptation to nutrient limitations in the studied grassland. Species that allocate less to stems than leaves tend to dominate nutrient-limited environments. The results support the hypothesis that species-specific allocations affect plant adaptation to nutrient limitations. The allocation trade-off between stems and leaves has the potential to greatly affect plant distribution across nutrient gradients.
Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, 610041, China.|Institute of Tropical Eco-agricultural Sciences, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, 651300, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Bangguo
B
Yan
Institute of Agricultural Environment and Resources, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650205, China.
Zhonghua
Z
Ji
Institute of Tropical Eco-agricultural Sciences, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, 651300, China.
Bo
B
Fan
Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, 610041, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Xuemei
X
Wang
Institute of Tropical Eco-agricultural Sciences, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, 651300, China.
Guangxiong
G
He
Institute of Tropical Eco-agricultural Sciences, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, 651300, China.
Liangtao
L
Shi
Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, 610041, China.
Gangcai
G
Liu
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D018533:Biomass; D065948:Grassland; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000172:deficiency*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000172:deficiency*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000502:physiology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry
D012987:Soil; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen
allometric scaling; biomass allocation; ecological stoichiometry; nutrient gradient; savannah grassland; species turnover