J Plant Ecol ›› 2023, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (2): rtac031.DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtac031

• Research Articles • Previous Articles    

Changes in plant multidimensional chemical diversity along a local soil chemical gradient in temperate forest swamps

Xu-Yan Liu1,2, Yu-Kun Hu1,*   

  1. 1Beijing Key Laboratory of Wetland Services and Restoration, Institute of Wetland Research, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China;
    2Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
  • Received:2021-04-22 Revised:2021-11-06 Accepted:2021-12-04 Online:2022-03-13 Published:2023-04-01
  • Contact: E-mail: huyukun@caf.ac.cn

温带森林沼泽植物化学多样性沿局域尺度土壤化学梯度的变化

Abstract: Multiple elements are critical for plant growth and survival, community structure and vegetation function. Chemical diversity, defined as the ranges in element concentrations of plant species within communities, could provide essential insights into plant nutrient strategies and community assembly rules. However, little is known about the chemical diversity of multi-elements besides N and P, and current understanding of chemical diversity is largely based on aboveground plant traits. We investigated understory plant communities in forest swamps along a local soil chemical gradient and determined 11 major and trace elements in leaves and roots of dominant and subordinate plants. Using n-dimensional hypervolume, we examined the changes in leaf and root chemical diversity and their linkages with soil properties. Plant chemical diversity decreased significantly with soil Al, Mn, Mg and Zn concentrations, but showed no relationships with soil N, P, K, Na, and Fe concentrations, soil pH and C:N. These patterns also held after controlling for species richness and soil moisture. Furthermore, leaf and root chemical diversity was positively correlated and showed similar relationships with soil factors. Root chemical diversity was not significantly higher than leaf chemical diversity. Our results emphasized the important role of soil trace elements for plant chemical diversity along the local soil chemical gradient. Similar patterns and extent of leaf and root chemical diversity may indicate similar local-scale environmental constraint on aboveand belowground plant chemical diversity. These findings have important implications for plant community assembly and ecosystem functioning influenced by soil nutrient changes.

Key words: above- and belowground linkage, environmental gradient, fine roots, functional diversity, hypervolume, multi-elements, trace elements

摘要:
多种化学元素对于植物生长和生存、群落结构及植被功能具有至关重要的作用。化学多样性,即群落中植物元素含量的变异大小,能为深入探究植物养分策略和群落构建机制提供重要见解。然而,目前对于氮和磷以外的其它元素的化学多样性认识很少,而且主要集中于植物地上部分。本研究通过对沿局域土壤化学梯度下的森林沼泽林下植物群落的调查,测定优势和亚优势植物叶片和细根11种元素含量,使用n维的超体积指数,探究了叶片和细根化学多样性的变化,及其与土壤因子间的关系。研究发现植物化学多样性随着土壤铝、锰、镁和锌含量的增加而减少,而与土壤氮、磷、钾、钠和铁含量及土壤pH和碳氮比之间没有关系。在控制物种多样性和土壤水分含量的影响后,这些变化格局仍然稳固。此外,叶和根化学多样性之间存在显著正相关,两者与土壤因子的关系相似。植物根化学多样性略高于叶化学多样性,但差异不显著。这些研究结果强调了局域尺度下土壤微量元素在决定植物化学多样性中的重要作用。植物叶和根化学多样性具相似的大小和格局,表明了在局域尺度下相似的环境因子驱动了植物地上与地下化学多样性。本研究结果对进一步认识土壤养分影响下的植物群落构建和生态系统功能具有重要的意义。

关键词: 地上与地下联系, 环境梯度, 细根, 功能多样性, 超体积, 多元素, 微量元素