Drought-induced reductions in plant residue decomposition across organs consistently differ between two tree species (gymnosperm and angiosperm) in drylands

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtag019

J Plant Ecol ›› Advance articles DOI:10.1093/jpe/rtag019

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Drought-induced reductions in plant residue decomposition across organs consistently differ between two tree species (gymnosperm and angiosperm) in drylands

Qianqian Zuo ^{a, b, c}, Guopeng Liang ^{d, e}, Zebin Jiao ^f, Lulu Ma ^f, Xiangyu Ji ^g, Xian He ^{a, b, c}, Zhiyuan Xu ^f, Zhenhong Hu ^{a, b, c, g, h, i *}

^a State Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Desertification Control, The Research Center of Soil and Water Conservation and Ecological Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Education, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
^b Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
^c University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
^d Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
^e Institute for Global Change Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
^f State Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Desertification Control, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
^g State Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Desertification Control, College of Soil and Water Conservation Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
^h CREAF, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193, Catalonia, Spain
ⁱ Northwest A&F University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518057, China
^*Corresponding author: Zhenhong Hu, E-mail: zhhu2020@nwafu.edu.cn

Received:2025-09-14 Accepted:2026-01-25 Published:2026-02-11
Supported by:
This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2024YFF1308600), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32271853), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20230807111402004), and the Beatriu de Pinós Program (2022BP00059).

干旱胁迫下旱区植物残体分解的降低在不同器官间表现出一致的树种差异(裸子植物与被子植物)

Abstract

Abstract: Drought strongly influences plant residue decomposition and forest carbon cycling, and these effects are mediated by tree species traits. Although angiosperm residues generally decompose faster than gymnosperm residues due to higher nutrient concentrations, it remains unclear whether drought effects differ consistently between tree species across different plant organs and how underlying traits drive these differences. Herein, we examined the decomposition of wood, fine roots and leaf litter from Pinus tabuliformis (gymnosperm) and Robinia pseudoacacia (angiosperm) under 0%, 40%, and 80% rainfall reduction on the Loess Plateau, China. Drought significantly decreased plant residue decomposition, with the magnitude of reduction varying with both drought intensity and tree species. Decomposition of all plant residues declined more under 80% rainfall reduction than under 40% rainfall reduction. Moreover, under 80% rainfall reduction, decomposition declined significantly more in R. pseudoacacia than in P. tabuliformis, whereas no significant difference was observed under 40% rainfall reduction. This is because R. pseudoacacia has lower carbon and lignin concentrations, lower Proteobacteria abundance, and higher phosphorus concentration and Actinobacteriota abundance, yielding greater moisture sensitivity of its residue decomposition. Furthermore, drought-induced reductions in decomposition were greater for wood and leaf litter than for fine roots. Variation partitioning analysis and structural equation modeling further demonstrated that interactions among residue moisture, traits, and microbes jointly governed decomposition. Our findings highlight that contrasting tree species traits underlie drought-induced reductions in residue decomposition in drylands, which have important implications for predicting dryland carbon fluxes under future climate change characterized by increasing drought intensity and forest mortality.

This study found that drought significantly inhibited plant residue decomposition from different species and organs on the Loess Plateau, with stronger effects under more severe drought. Systematic differences between gymnosperms (Pinus tabuliformis) and angiosperms (Robinia pseudoacacia) were mainly driven by interspecific variations in plant residue traits and their associated microbial communities, which modulated the moisture sensitivity of decomposition, providing key mechanistic insights for predicting arid land carbon cycling under future drought intensification.

Key words: Drought, Dryland ecosystems, Moisture availability, Tree species traits, Plant residue decomposition

摘要：
干旱强烈影响植物残体分解过程及森林碳循环，而这些影响受树种性状调控。被子植物残体因养分含量较高，分解通常快于裸子植物残体，但干旱效应是否在不同植物器官间表现出一致的树种差异，以及其潜在的性状驱动机制，目前尚不清楚。为此，我们在中国黄土高原地区设置0%、40%和80%的降雨减少处理，探究了干旱条件下油松(Pinus tabuliformis，裸子植物)和刺槐(Robinia pseudoacacia，被子植物)木材、细根及凋落叶的分解过程。结果表明，干旱显著抑制植物残体分解，且抑制程度随干旱强度和树种的不同而变化。所有植物残体在80%降雨减少处理下的分解降幅均大于40%降雨减少处理。此外，在80%降雨减少处理下，刺槐植物残体的分解降幅显著高于油松，而在40%降雨减少处理下，两树种间无显著差异。这是因为刺槐植物残体具有较低的碳和木质素含量、较低的变形菌门丰度，以及较高的磷含量和放线菌门丰度，导致其残体分解对水分变化更敏感。进一步分析表明，干旱引起的分解降幅在木材和凋落叶中大于细根。变异分解分析和结构方程模型进一步表明，残体水分、性状和微生物之间的相互作用共同调控残体分解过程。本研究表明，树种间的性状差异是驱动旱地植物残体分解对干旱响应不同的内在机制，这为预测未来气候变化背景下(干旱加剧和森林死亡率增加)干旱区碳通量的变化提供了重要科学依据。

关键词: 干旱, 旱地生态系统, 水分可利用性, 树种性状, 植物残体分解

Qianqian Zuo, Guopeng Liang, Zebin Jiao, Lulu Ma, Xiangyu Ji, Xian He, Zhiyuan Xu, Zhenhong Hu. Drought-induced reductions in plant residue decomposition across organs consistently differ between two tree species (gymnosperm and angiosperm) in drylands[J]. J Plant Ecol, DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtag019.

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Drought-induced reductions in plant residue decomposition across organs consistently differ between two tree species (gymnosperm and angiosperm) in drylands

干旱胁迫下旱区植物残体分解的降低在不同器官间表现出一致的树种差异(裸子植物与被子植物)

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