Ecological Stoichiometric Characteristics in Organs of Ammopiptanthus mongolicus in Different Habitats

Abstract

The essence of plant ecological stoichiometry is to study the relationships between species and their environment, including nutrient absorption, utilization and cycling processes as well as the nutrient limitation of plants. Plants can regulate nutrient elements and adapt to environmental changes. To understand the adaptation mechanism, it is important to take plants as a whole and quantify the correlation between the chemometrics of different organs. Ammopiptanthus mongolicus is within the second-class group of rare–endangered plants in China and is the only evergreen broad-leaved shrub in desert areas. We analyzed the ecological stoichiometric characteristics of leaves, stems, roots, flowers and seeds of A. mongolicus in five habitats, namely fixed sandy land, semi-fixed sandy land, stony–sandy land, alluvial gravel slope and saline–alkali land. We found that (1) the nutrient contents of N, P and K were in the order of seed > flower > leaf > root > stem. The enrichment of the N, P and K in the reproductive organs promoted the transition from vegetative growth to reproductive growth. Additionally, (2) the contents of C, N, P and K and their stoichiometric ratios in different organs varied among different habitat types. The storage capacity of C, N and P was higher in sandy soil (fixed and semi-fixed sandy land), whereas the content of K was higher in gravelly soil (stony–sandy land and alluvial gravel slope), and the C:N, C:P and N:P were significantly higher in gravelly soil than those in sandy soil. A. mongolicus had higher nutrient use efficiency in stony–sandy land and alluvial gravel slope. Furthermore, (3) the C:N and N:P ratios in each organ were relatively stable among different habitats, whereas the K:P ratio varied greatly. The N:P ratios of leaves were all greater than 16 in different habitats, indicating that the growth was mainly limited by P. Moreover, (4) except for the P element, the content of each element and its stoichiometric ratio were affected by the interaction between organs and habitat. Habitat had a greater impact on C content, whereas organs had a greater influence on N, P and K content and C:N, C:P, C:K and N:P.

Study on ecological stoichiometry homeostasis characteristics of different halophytes in the Yellow River Delta

“…Throughout plant growth, different halophytes show consistent patterns in nutrient changes across roots, stems, and leaves. For example, leaf N and P contents in the three halophytes exceed those in roots and stems—a finding that aligns with most related studies (Figure 2) (Dong, Zhang, et al, 2023; Zhang et al, 2018). On one hand, vigorous leaf transpiration during summer aids in transporting N and P absorbed by halophyte roots to leaves along with water.…”

Leaf stoichiometry of potassium, calcium, and magnesium in tropical plants: Responses to climatic and geographical variations—A case study from Hainan Island

“…This indicates a distinct differentiation in leaf K, Ca, and Mg contents across various life forms. The Growth Rate Hypothesis states that short‐lived, fast‐growing plants (such as annual herbs) have higher nutrient contents than long‐lived, slow‐growing plants (such as evergreen woody plants) (Chen et al, 2021; Dong et al, 2023; He et al, 2008; Tong et al, 2021). Evergreen woody plants place greater emphasis on utilizing nutrients for plant growth, resulting in higher nutrient utilization efficiency and lower nutrient requirements (Xu et al, 2021b).…”

“…This indicates a distinct differentiation in leaf K, Ca, and Mg contents across various life forms. The Growth Rate Hypothesis states that short-lived, fast-growing plants (such as annual herbs) have higher nutrient contents than long-lived, slow-growing plants (such as evergreen woody plants) (Chen et al, 2021;Dong et al, 2023;He et al, 2008;Tong et al, 2021).…”

Nutrient coordination mechanism of tiger nut induced by rhizosphere soil nutrient variation in an arid area, China

“…Especially in the arid areas with limited resources, plants have more sensitive physiological processes (Luo et al, 2021). Plants adapt to the harsh environment by increasing the C content of organs to form a more stable structure (Dong et al, 2023), although at the cost of a lower photosynthetic rate, the aboveground part of plants will increase N content to resist drought stress (Wang et al, 2019b), and plants also increase N content of leaves to improve their resource competitiveness (Su et al, 2022). When plant growth is limited by nutrient and water supply under dry conditions, plants may invest relatively more of their assimilated C into their root system, thereby increasing their ability to absorb water and nutrients (He and Djikstra, 2014).…”