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cje ›› 2011, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (01): 77-81.

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Characteristics of plant leaf nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry in relation to soil nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in Songnen Plain meadow.

DING Fan1,2, LIAN Pei-yong1,2, ZENG De-hui1**   

  1. 1Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China|2Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Online:2011-01-08 Published:2011-01-08

Abstract: We measured total nitrogen (N) and total phosphorus (P) concentrations in leaves of Leymus chinensis, Phragmites communis and  Lespedeza hedysaroides in Songnen Plain meadow, and analyzed their relationship with soil total N and total P concentrations. The results showed that foliar total N concentration differed significantly among three species (P<0.05), while foliar total P concentrations did not show significant difference (P>0.05). The leaf N concentration of the three species had no significant correlation with soil total N concentrations (P>0.05), while the leaf N:P ratio was significantly negatively correlated with soil total P concentrations (P<0.05), suggesting that in our study area, different plant species had great difference in their leaf N concentration, but less difference in their leaf P concentration. Compared with leaf N and P concentrations, leaf N:P ratio was more related to soil N and P concentrations. In addition, the growth of Leymus chinensis and Lespedeza hedysaroides in study area was P-limited, and thereby, appropriate application of P fertilizer could be considered.

Key words: Phytoplankton, Red tide, Abundance, Water dynamics, Changjiang River estuary