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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2018, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (7): 2286-2294.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201807.020

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Effects of drought stress on C, N and P stoichiometry of Ulmus pumila seedlings in Horqin sandy land, China.

WANG Kai1*, SHEN Chao1, SUN Bing1, WANG Xiao-nan1, WEI Dong1, LYU Lin-you2   

  1. 1College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Liaoning Technical University, Fuxin 123000, Liaoning, China;
    2Liaoning Institute of Sandyland Improvement and Utilization, Fuxin 123000, Liaoning, China
  • Received:2017-12-06 Online:2018-07-18 Published:2018-07-18
  • Contact: *E-mail: wangkai_2005@hotmail.com
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31400613, 31770757) and the Service Local Project in the Department of Education of Liaoning Province (LJ2017FBL005).

Abstract: To understand the effects of drought stress on C, N and P stoichiometry in different organs of Ulmus pumila, U. pumila seedlings were grown under suitable water level, mild, moderate and serious water stress treatment, i.e., 80%, 65%, 50% and 35% of field water holding capacity. The results showed that drought stress increased C content in leaves, stems, coarse and fine roots, N content in leaves, stems and coarse roots, and P content in fine roots, but decreased P content in leaves, stems and coarse roots. Moreover, C:N in leaves and stems decreased, while C:P and N:P in leaves, stems and coarse roots increased and in fine roots reduced in response to drought stresses. There were significant correlations of C content among different organs, while N content was not correlated with P content in all organs. Soil water content was negatively related to C content in all organs, N content in leaves, P content and C:N in fine roots, C:P and N:P in leaves, stems and coarse roots. There were positive relationships between the soil water content and N content in fine roots, P content in leaves, stems and coarse roots, C:P and N:P in fine roots. These findings indicated that the absorption and upward translocation of N and P of U. pumila seedlings were influe-nced by drought stress. Nitrogen limitation for the growth of U. pumila seedlings was found. With the increases of drought stress, however, P limitation was gradually enhanced.