Nutrient resorption is an important strategy for obtaining nutrition, it determines the ecosystems productivity and nutrient cycling. The Wuyi rock tea cultivars are used as important species for controlling soil erosion in hilly mountainous areas, but the mechanism of nutrient resorption is still unclear. The Wuyi Rock tea (Camellia sinensis) plantations are the main economic crops in Fujian province, China, and also have important ecological functions. The tea plants can absorb and conserve nutrients from the senesced leaves, but foliar nutrient resorptions of Wuyi Rock tea cultivars have not been well quantified. Three Wuyi Rock tea cultivars (e.g., Wuyi Jingui, Wuyi Rougui, and Wuyi Shuixian) were chosen in the Wuyishan National Soil and Water Conservation & Science and Technology Demonstration Park this study. Resorption efficiencies of nitrogen (NRE), phosphorus (PRE), potassium (KRE) and their stoichiometric characteristics were determined. KRE and NRE of the three tea cultivars were significantly higher than PRE, indicating that P was more limited than N and K. With the exception of Wuyi Rougui, the other two cultivars (Wuyi Jingui and Wuyi Shuixian) had strong stability in the leaf N and P contents under the changing soil environments. Leaf nutrient and leaf traits such as leaf thickness and specific leaf area had significant correlations with nutrient resorption efficiencies, indicating that leaf nutrient and traits can be used as indicators for nutrient resorption status. Wuyi Rock tea cultivars have strong adaptability to the environment, and they also have high carbon sequestration ability. Simultaneously, Wuyi Rock tea cultivars can reabsorb nutrients and be introduced into nutrient poor mountainous areas for soil and water conservation.

Nutrient resorption is an important strategy for plants to retain critical nutrients from senesced leaves and plays important roles in nutrient cycling and ecosystem productivity. As a main economic crop and soil and water conservation species, Wuyi Rock tea has been widely planted in Fujian Province, China. However, foliar nutrient resorptions of Wuyi Rock tea cultivars have not been well quantified. In this study, three Wuyi Rock tea cultivars (Wuyi Jingui, Wuyi Rougui, and Wuyi Shuixian) were selected in the Wuyishan National Soil and Water Conservation, Science and Technology Demonstration Park. Resorption efficiencies of nitrogen (NRE), phosphorus (PRE), and potassium (KRE) along with their stoichiometric characteristics were determined. PRE of the three tea cultivars was significantly higher than KRE and NRE, indicating that tea cultivars were P limited due to low P availability for the tea growth. With the exception of Wuyi Rougui, leaf N and P contents of the other two cultivars (Wuyi Jingui and Wuyi Shuixian) had strong homeostasis under the changing soil environments. Leaf thickness and specific leaf area were positively and significantly correlated with KRE, and total chlorophyll concentration was positively correlated with NRE, indicating that leaf functional traits can be used as indicators for nutrient resorption status. Wuyi Rock tea cultivars had strong adaptabilities to the environments and had high carbon sequestration capabilities; thus, they and could be introduced into nutrient-poor mountainous areas for both economic benefits and soil and water conservation.