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An assessment on the uncertainty of the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio as a threshold for nutrient limitation in plants.

ABSTRACT: Background and Aims:The nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) ratio (N:P) has been widely used as a threshold for identifying nutrient limitations in terrestrial plants; however, the associated reliability has not been well assessed. Methods:The uncertainty of nutrient limitations caused by the N:P threshold was evaluated using two approaches: fertilization experiments synthesized across multiple ecosystems; and random sampling simulation of the impacts of different nutrient sufficiencies and deficiencies. Key Results:The fertilization experiment data indicated that the types of nutrient limitation determined via N:P thresholds were partly inconsistent with the growth responses observed under N and P additions, i.e. under N:P thresholds of 14 and 16 (or 10 and 20), 32.5 % (or 16.2 %) of the data were inconsistent between these two. The random sampling simulation suggested that N:P thresholds may indicate N (or P) limitations when leaf N (or P) content is sufficient, whereas these thresholds may not indicate N (or P) limitations when leaf N (or P) content is deficient. The error risks calculated from the sampling simulation presented large fluctuations at small sample sizes and decreased as the thresholds of nutrient content sufficiency (or deficiency) increased (or decreased). The N:P thresholds of 10 and 20 showed lower error risks than the thresholds of 14 and 16. Conclusions:These findings highlight that canonical N:P thresholds have the potential to introduce a large uncertainty when used to detect plant nutrient limitations, suggesting that the error risks should be cautioned in future studies.

SUBMITTER: Yan Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5710604 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An assessment on the uncertainty of the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio as a threshold for nutrient limitation in plants.

Yan Zhengbing Z Tian Di D Han Wenxuan W Tang Zhiyao Z Fang Jingyun J

Annals of botany. 20171101 6

<h4>Background and aims</h4>The nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) ratio (N:P) has been widely used as a threshold for identifying nutrient limitations in terrestrial plants; however, the associated reliability has not been well assessed.<h4>Methods</h4>The uncertainty of nutrient limitations caused by the N:P threshold was evaluated using two approaches: fertilization experiments synthesized across multiple ecosystems; and random sampling simulation of the impacts of different nutrient sufficiencie ...[more]

PMID: 29028870

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Project description:Most previous studies have ascribed variations in the resorption of a certain plant nutrient to its corresponding environmental availability or level in tissues, regardless of the other nutrients' status. However, given that plant growth relies on both sufficient and balanced nutrient supply, the nutrient resorption process should not only be related to the absolute nutrient status, but also be regulated by the relative limitation of the nutrient. Here, based on a global woody-plants dataset from literature, we test the hypothesis that plants resorb proportionately more nitrogen (or phosphorus) when they are nitrogen (or phosphorus) limited, or similar proportions of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) when co-limited by both nutrients (the relative resorption hypothesis). Using the N:P ratio in green foliage as an indicator of nutrient limitation, we found an inverse relationship between the difference in the proportionate resorption of N vs P and this foliar N:P ratio, consistent across species, growth-forms, and vegetation-types globally. Moreover, according to the relative resorption hypothesis, communities with higher/lower foliar N:P (more likely P/N limited) tend to produce litter with disproportionately higher/lower N:P, causing a worsening status of P/N availability; this positive feedback may somehow be counteracted by several negative-feedback mechanisms. Compared to N, P generally shows higher variability in resorption efficiency (proportion resorbed), and higher resorption sensitivity to nutrient availability, implying that the resorption of P seems more important for plant nutrient conservation and N:P stoichiometry. Our findings elucidate the nutrient limitation effects on resorption efficiency in woody plants at the global scale, and thus can improve the understanding of nutrient resorption process in plants. This study also suggests the importance of the foliar N:P ratio as a key parameter for biogeochemical modeling, and the relative resorption hypothesis used to deduce the critical (optimal) N:P ratio for a specific plant community.

Dataset Information

An assessment on the uncertainty of the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio as a threshold for nutrient limitation in plants.

Publications

An assessment on the uncertainty of the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio as a threshold for nutrient limitation in plants.

Similar Datasets

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