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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2019, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (3): 743-750.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201903.040

• Research paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Stoichiometric characteristics of nitrogen and phosphorus in leaf-litter-soil system of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantations.

REN Yue1,2, GAO Guang-lei1,2*, DING Guo-dong1,2, ZHANG Ying1, GUO Mi-shan1,2, CAO Hong-yu1,2, SU Min1,2   

  1. 1Key Laboratory of State Forestry Administration on Soil and Water Conservation, School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Fore-stry University, Beijing 100083, China;
    2Yanchi Ecology Research Station of the Mu Us Desert, Yanchi 751500, Ningxia, China
  • Received:2018-06-19 Online:2019-03-20 Published:2019-03-20
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development of China (2018YFC0507101), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31600583), and the Fundamental Research Fund for the Central Universities (2017PT03, 2015ZCQ-SB-02).

Abstract: To reveal the allocation pattern and stoichiometric characteristics of N and P in Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantation, we selected three P. sylvestris plantation with different stand ages (middle-aged, near-mature, mature) in the Hulunbuir, Horqin, and Mu Us sandy land as objects, and analyzed the contents of nitrogen, phosphorus and the N:P stoichiometry ratios in the leaf, litter, and soil. The results showed that the contents of N, P and N/P ratios in leaf, litter and soil varied in the range of 0.17-49.02, 0.11-3.01 g·kg-1 and 0.51-19.74, respectively, with the order of leaf>litter>soil. The content of N and N:P ratio were significantly different between leaf, litter and soil; the P content in leaf was significantly higher than that in litter and soil. The different areas and stand ages affected N, P content and N/P stoichiometry ratio, but the interaction of area and stand age had no significant effect on N/P stoichiometry ratio. The N, P contents in leaf, litter and soil increased with stand age, and were highest in the mature forest. The contents of N, P and N/P ratios were significantly positively correlated among the leaf, litter and soil. In the Hulunbuir and Horqin sandy land, the N/P ratros of leaf were between 14.53 to 15.57, which indicated that the P. sylvestris var. mongolica plantations was restricted by both N and P availability. In Mu Us sand land, the N:P ratios of leaf were between 18.56 to 19.71, which indicated P limitation. The stand age had no significant influence on soil N and P limitation. To improve the productivity of P. sylvestris var. mongolica plantations, we could appropriately add N or P fertilization in the plantation tending management based on local conditions. Our findings could contribute to a further understanding of the mechanism of interactions and constraints between N and P in the leaf-litter-soil system of P. sylvestris var. mongolica plantations, and provide a scientific guidance for the management.