摘要
Understanding how dominant plants respond to nitrogen(N)addition is critical for accurately predicting the potential effects of N deposition on ecosystem structure and functionality.Biomass partitioning serves as a valuable indicator for assessing plant responses to environmental changes.However,considerable uncertainty remains regarding how biomass partitioning shifts with increasing N inputs in sandy ecosystems.To address this gap,we conducted a greenhouse N fertilization experiment in April 2024,using seeds from 20 dominant plant species in the Horqin Sandy Land of China representing 5 life forms:annual grasses,annual forbs,perennial grasses,perennial forbs,and shrubs.Six levels of N addition(0.0,3.5,7.0,14.0,21.0,and 49.0 g N/(m2•a),referred to as N0,N1,N2,N3,N4,and N5,respectively)were applied to investigate the effects of N inputs on biomass partitioning.Results showed that for all 20 dominant plant species,the root biomass:shoot biomass(R:S)consistently declined across all N addition treatments(P<0.050).Concurrently,N addition led to a 23.60%reduction in root biomass fraction,coupled with a 12.38%increase in shoot biomass fraction(P<0.050).Allometric partitioning analysis further indicated that N addition had no significant effect on the slopes of the allometric relationships(leaf biomass versus root biomass,stem biomass versus root biomass,and shoot biomass versus root biomass).This suggests that plants can adjust resource investment—such as allocating more resources to shoots—to optimize growth under favorable conditions without disrupting functional trade-offs between organs.Among different life forms,annual grasses,perennial grasses,and annual forbs exhibited increased allocation to aboveground biomass,enhancing productivity and potentially altering community composition and competitive hierarchies.In contrast,perennial forbs and shrubs maintained stable biomass partitioning across all N addition levels,reflecting conservative resource allocation strategies that support long-term ecosystem resilience in nutrient-poor environments.Taken together,these findings deepen our understanding of how nutrient enrichment influences biomass allocation and ecosystem dynamics across different plant life forms,offering practical implications for the management and restoration of degraded sandy ecosystems.
基金
supported by the National Grassland Technology Innovation Centre(Preparation)Project(CCPTZX2023B02-2)
the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32071845)
the Key Science and Technology Project of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(2021ZD001505).
