Coordinated Patterns in the Allocation, Composition, and Variability of Multiple Elements Among Organs of Two Desert Shrubs Under Nitrogen Addition and Drought

Abstract

Nutrient allocation closely correlates plant functional traits and development to ecosystem supply services. Desert shrubs maintain the stability of desert ecosystems, whereas the knowledge of how they coordinate nutrients among organs is still limited when responding to differing nitrogen (N) and water regimes. Here we investigated the allocation, composition, and variability of nine elements within organs of Alhagi sparsifolia and Calligonum caput-medusae seedlings under various N addition (0, 3, 6, and 9 gN m −2 year −1 ) and water regimes (drought versus well-watered). Results showed that plant species identity, organ type, and nitrogen and water treatments significantly affected the concentrations of nine elements independently and interactively (P < 0.05). N addition significantly improved elemental allocation to roots of droughtstressed A. sparsifolia seedlings, whereas N addition of 9.0 gN m −2 year −1 exerted adverse influence on C. caput-medusae. Photosynthetic organs contained more macronutrients, such as N and potassium (K), whereas trace metals accumulated in roots, such as iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn). Soil elemental concentrations were weakly correlated with those in plants. Macroelements in all organs show less variability (coefficient of variation). Coarse root Fe and stem K contents constituted hub traits in plant element networks (PENs) of A. sparsifolia and C. caput-medusae seedlings, respectively, and may play a key role in plant adaptation in desert environments. The looser PEN of A. sparsifolia implied its stronger adaptability than C. caput-medusae. Desert shrubs can coordinate the allocation of multiple elements within and among organs in response to changes in water and N in the environment.

Effect of Jasmonic Acid Foliar Spray on the Morpho-Physiological Mechanism of Salt Stress Tolerance in Two Soybean Varieties (Glycine max L.)

“…The reduction or inhibition of photosynthetic activity due to salt stress is primarily caused by toxic accumulations of Na + and Cl − [8]. Additionally, the uptake and homeostasis of mineral ions are critical for plants' normal development and growth [9,10]. In addition to causing ion toxicity in plants, excessive salt stress also affects the uptake of important mineral ions such as K + , Mg 2+ , Fe 2+ , Mn 2+ , Zn 2+ , and B 3+ [11,12].…”

Concentrations and bioconcentration factors of leaf microelements in response to environmental gradients in drylands of China

“…Concentrations of Mn, Ni, Cu and Zn were on average lesser and of leaf Fe concentration was greater than concentrations of these elements in six land use types in southeast China (Ren et al, 2019). In addition, soil Fe, Cu and Zn concentrations were similar to the soil Mn concentration, but was lesser than concentrations in the Taklamakan Desert (Zhang et al, 2022), while soil Mn and Zn concentrations were greater and of soil Fe and Zn concentrations were similar to soil concentrations in the Alxa Desert (He et al, 2016). Significant correlations emerged among soil total microelement concentrations, probably because the strong sorption capacity of microelement oxides to other microelements.…”

Vein Network and Climatic Factors Predict the Leaf Economic Spectrum of Desert Plants in Xinjiang, China

“…According to the description of the aridity index (AI) of the recent study [ 29 ], which is the ratio of MAP to mean annual potential evapotranspiration, sites Turpan and Cele are in the hyper-arid region (AI < 0.05), while Mosuowan is in the arid region. Most rainfall occurs in the summer (June to August) in the form of several bursts of rain, which are interspersed with droughts [ 30 ]. These climate data (2003–2013) were collected from the weather stations belonging to XIEG, CAS, about 1 km away from the sampling sites.…”