Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus are more coupled in legumes than in non-legumes, globally

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtaf176

J Plant Ecol ›› Advance articles DOI:10.1093/jpe/rtaf176

• Research Article •

Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus are more coupled in legumes than in non-legumes, globally

Tiancai Zhou^1,2, GUSANG Qunzong^1,*, Jian Sun^1,2,*

¹ Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Environment on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Ministry of Education, Lhasa 850011, China

² State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

^* Corresponding to: GUSANG Qunzong: gusang@utibet.edu.cn ；Jian Sun: sunjian@itpcas.ac.c

Received:2025-05-30 Accepted:2025-09-30 Online:2025-10-21 Published:2025-10-21
Supported by:
This work was supported by the Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Environment on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Ministry of Education (KLBE2025009), the Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology of Xizang Plateau, Ministry of Education (XZAJYBSYS-202501), the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42301071), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2023M743633).

Abstract

Abstract: Despite nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) being biologically coupled and controlling many biochemical reactions, few studies have examined the N: P patterns and controls of legumes and non-legumes at a global scale. Herein, we explored how the ratio of N and P in legumes and non-legumes responds to environmental factors, globally. Our results indicated that legumes exhibit stronger N-P coupling (R² = 0.39, P < 0.0001) in warm-humid environments (mean precipitation: 988.94 mm, temperature: 12.63 °C), and the N:P is negatively affected by the soil total P (scored at = –0.25). In contrast, non-legumes are more flexible in N and P (R² = 0.23, P < 0.0001) in semihumid regions (precipitation = 785.01 mm, temperature = 8.85 ℃), where soil total N (scored at = –0.22) and biodiversity (scored at = 0.16) emerge as dominant drivers for the N:P. Although legumes are expected to be more soil P-limited, our findings reveal that the leaf N and P are more coupled in legumes than in non-legumes, which offers a unique perspective on resource utilization and survival strategies in different plant functions.

Key words: Nitrogen and phosphorus, Legumes and non-legumes, Soil nutrients, Coupling, Global

摘要：
尽管氮和磷在生物体中相互耦合并控制着许多生化过程，但鲜有研究关注全球豆科和非豆科植物的氮磷耦合模式及其调控机制。因此，我们探究了全球豆科和非豆科植物叶片的氮磷耦合模式如何响应环境因子的变化。结果表明，在暖湿气候条件下（年降水量：988.94 mm，年均温：12.63 °C），豆科植物具有更强的叶片氮磷耦合（R² = 0.39，P < 0.0001），且氮：磷主要受到土壤总磷的负面影响（–0.25）。相比之下，在半湿润气候条件下（年降水量：785.01 mm，年均温：8.85 ℃），非豆科植物叶片的氮和磷耦合度更低（R² = 0.23，P < 0.0001），且土壤全氮（–0.22）和土壤生物多样性（0.16）是氮：磷的关键驱动因素。尽管豆科植物预计会受到更多的土壤磷限制，但我们的研究结果表明，豆科植物叶片氮和磷的耦合程度高于非豆科，这为理解不同植物功能群的资源利用和生存策略提供了新视角。

关键词: 氮和磷, 豆科和非豆科, 土壤养分, 耦合, 全球

Tiancai Zhou, Gusang Qunzong, Jian Sun. Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus are more coupled in legumes than in non-legumes, globally[J]. J Plant Ecol, DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf176.

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Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus are more coupled in legumes than in non-legumes, globally

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