Plant stoichiometric coupling among all elements is fundamental to maintaining growth-related ecosystem functions. However, our understanding of nutrient balance in response to global changes remains greatly limited to plant carbon : nitrogen : phosphorus (C : N : P) coupling. Here we evaluated nine element stoichiometric variations with one meta-analysis of 112 global change experiments conducted across global terrestrial ecosystems and one synthesis over 1900 species observations along natural environment gradients across China. We found that experimentally increased soil N and P respectively enhanced plant N : potassium (K), N : calcium (Ca) and N : magnesium (Mg), and P : K, P : Ca and P : Mg, and natural increases in soil N and P resulted in qualitatively similar responses. The ratios of N and P to base cations decreased both under experimental warming and with naturally increasing temperature. With decreasing precipitation, these ratios increased in experiments but decreased under natural environments. Based on these results, we propose a new stoichiometric framework in which all plant element contents and their coupling are not only affected by soil nutrient availability, but also by plant nutrient demand to maintain diverse functions under climate change. This study offers new insights into understanding plant stoichiometric variations across a full set of mineral elements under global changes.
1.Chinese Acad Sci, Key Lab Ecosyst Network Observat & Modeling, Inst Geog Sci & Nat Resources Res, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China 2.Univ Minnesota, Dept Forest Resources, St Paul, MN 55108 USA 3.Western Sydney Univ, Hawkesbury Inst Environm, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia 4.Lakehead Univ, Fac Nat Resources Management, 955 Oliver Rd, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada 5.Guizhou Inst Forest Inventory & Planning, Guiyang 550003, Guizhou, Peoples R China 6.Univ Oklahoma, Dept Microbiol & Plant Biol, Norman, OK 73019 USA 7.China Agr Univ, Key Lab Plant Soil Interact, Coll Resources & Environm Sci, Key Lab Plant Nutr,Minist Agr,Minist Educ, Beijing 100193, Peoples R China 8.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Dept Resources & Environm, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China
Recommended Citation:
Tian, Dashuan,Reich, Peter B.,Chen, Han Y. H.,et al. Global changes alter plant multi-element stoichiometric coupling[J]. NEW PHYTOLOGIST,2019-01-01,221(2):807-817