The relative contributions of intra- and inter-specific variation in driving community stoichiometric responses to nitrogen deposition and mowing in a grassland
Aims: The stoichiomernic characteristics of plant communities are important controller for several fundamental ecological processes. The effects of environmental changes on community stoichiometric characteristics are driven by intra- and inter-specific variation. However, the relative importance of both pathways has seldom been empirically examined.
Methods: We quantified the relative contribution of intra- and inter-specific variation to the changes of community nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations after seven-year factorial N addition and mowing treatments in a semi-arid grassland of northern China.
Results: Nitrogen addition significantly increased community N and P concentrations and N:P ratio. Mowing significantly increased community N concentration and N:P. Intra-specific variation contributed more than inter-specific variation to the total variability of all the nutritional and stoichiometric characteristics, with intra-specific variation accounting for 68%, 70%, and 75% of the total variation in community level N, P, and N:P, respectively. Negative covariations between the contribution of intra- and inter specific variation occurred for community N and P concentrations. Further, N addition and mowing interacted to affect the impacts of intra- and inter-specific variation on community N concentration and N:P stoichiometry.
Conclusions: Our results highlight different ways of trait selection for N addition and mowing treatments. Interactions between those two factors make it more difficult to accurately predict the responses of plant-mediated biogeochemical cycles under co-occurrence of environmental changes. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Appl Ecol, Key Lab Forest Ecol & Management, Erguna Forest Steppe Ecotone Res Stn, Shenyang 110016, Liaoning, Peoples R China 2.Liaoning Univ, Sch Life Sci, Shenyang 110036, Liaoning, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Bot, State Key Lab Vegetat & Environm Change, Beijing 100093, Peoples R China 4.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China
Recommended Citation:
Hou, Shuang-Li,Lu, Xiao-Tao,Yin, Jiang-Xia,et al. The relative contributions of intra- and inter-specific variation in driving community stoichiometric responses to nitrogen deposition and mowing in a grassland[J]. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,2019-01-01,666:887-893