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- Title
Changes of community composition strengthen the positive effects of nitrogen deposition on litter N:P stoichiometry in a semi-arid grassland.
- Authors
Hou, Shuang-Li; Yang, Jun-Jie; Yin, Jiang-Xia; Wei, Hai-Wei; Hu, Yan-Yu; Zhang, Zhi-Wei; Yang, Guo-Jiao; Lü, Xiao-Tao
- Abstract
Aims: The stoichiometric traits of litter play an important role in driving litter decomposition and ecosystem nutrient cycling. While the impacts of nitrogen (N) deposition on the species-level litter stoichiometric traits have been well addressed, we know little about that at community-level, which is supposed to be driven by both intra-specific variation and changes in community composition. Methods: We examined the effects of N deposition on litter phosphorus (P) concentration and N:P ratio at both species- and community-level in a semi-arid grassland of northern China. We further decomposed the community-level variations of litter nutritional traits into intra- and inter-specific variation. Results: Nitrogen addition, especially at high rates, substantially changed community composition. Litter P concentrations and N:P ratios significantly varied among different species. Litter P concentrations and N:P ratios at both species- and community-level were positively correlated with N addition rates. Biomass-weighted community-level N:P ratios were more sensitive to N addition than the non-weighted ones, indicating that community composition strengthened the positive impacts of N addition on litter N:P ratios. There was positive co-variation between intra- and inter-specific variation for litter N:P ratio, indicating the consistency of community composition and intra-specific variation in their effects on litter N:P ratio. Conclusions: Our results indicated that the imbalance of N and P following N enrichment would be much larger than the expectation based on the findings from species-level, and thus highlight the importance of changes in community composition in driving the responses of community-level litter N:P stoichiometry to N deposition in the semi-arid grassland.
- Subjects
CHINA; NUTRIENT cycles; COMMUNITY change; GRASSLANDS; STOICHIOMETRY; NITROGEN
- Publication
Plant & Soil, 2022, Vol 473, Issue 1/2, p63
- ISSN
0032-079X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11104-020-04534-z