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Precipitation is the main factor affecting the variation of foliar nitrogen isotope composition in two leguminous shrub species of northwestern China.

ABSTRACT: An increase in foliar nitrogen isotope composition (?15N) with decreasing precipitation has been shown to occur widely in non-N2-fixing plant species. However, similar patterns have not been identified in N2-fixing species. Here, we tested the relationships of foliar ?15N with local environmental factors and leaf properties in two leguminous shrub species (Caragana korshinskii and Caragana liouana) sampled from 30 populations. Results indicated that the mean annual precipitation (MAP) primarily accounted for the variation of foliar ?15N in the two species. Further analysis revealed strong negative correlations between foliar ?15N and MAP within and across species. These results suggest that the foliar ?15N of leguminous shrub species also shift along precipitation gradients, which augments our understanding of the relationships between foliar ?15N and climatic factors.

SUBMITTER: Ma F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6083231 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Precipitation is the main factor affecting the variation of foliar nitrogen isotope composition in two leguminous shrub species of northwestern China.

Ma Fei F Xu Ting-Ting TT Li Ming M Liu Ji-Li JL Sun Zhao-Jun ZJ

Biology letters 20180701 7

An increase in foliar nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) with decreasing precipitation has been shown to occur widely in non-N2-fixing plant species. However, similar patterns have not been identified in N2-fixing species. Here, we tested the relationships of foliar δ15N with local environmental factors and leaf properties in two leguminous shrub species (Caragana korshinskii and Caragana liouana) sampled from 30 populations. Results ind ...[more]

PMID: 30045906

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Project description:Shrublands are one of the major types of ecosystems in the desert regions of northern China, which is expected to be substantially more sensitive to global environmental changes, such as widespread nitrogen enrichment and precipitation changes, than other ecosystem types. However, the interactive effects of nitrogen and precipitation on them remain poorly understood. We conducted a fully factorial field experiment simulating three levels of precipitation (ambient, +20%, +40%) and with two levels of nitrogen deposition (ambient, 60 kg N ha-1 yr-1) in a desert shrubland in the Mu Us Desert of northern China. We used plant architectural traits (plant cover, volume, twig size and number) as proxies to predict aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of the dominant shrub (Artemisia ordosica Krasch), and assessed the responses of plant productivity and architectural traits to water and nitrogen addition. We found significant differences in twig size and number of A. ordosica under water and nitrogen treatments but not in shrub cover/volume, which suggest that twig size and number of the shrub species were more sensitive to environmental changes. The productivity of the overall community was sensitive to increased precipitation and nitrogen, and shrubs played a more important role than herbaceous plants in driving productivity in this ecosystem. Precipitation- and nitrogen-induced increases in vegetation production were positively associated with increases in twig size and number of the dominant shrub. Water addition enhanced the twig length of A. ordosica, while nitrogen addition resulted in increased twig density (the number of twigs per square meter). Water and nitrogen interacted to affect twig length, but not twig number and shrub ANPP. The trade-off, defined as negative covariance between twig size and number, was likely the mechanism underlying the responses of twig length and shrub ANPP to water and nitrogen interactions. Our results highlight the sensitivity of twig size and number as indicators to estimate shrub production and the mechanism underpinning desert shrub ANPP response to global environmental changes.

Dataset Information

Precipitation is the main factor affecting the variation of foliar nitrogen isotope composition in two leguminous shrub species of northwestern China.

Publications

Precipitation is the main factor affecting the variation of foliar nitrogen isotope composition in two leguminous shrub species of northwestern China.

Similar Datasets

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