Abstract

Stabilizing the local elemental stoichiometry is an important step toward restoring species diversity in a damaged ecosystem, especially those affected by wildfire. Stability of nitrogen (N) utilization is mainly affected by wildfire through restoration, which is one of the most important parts of stoichiometric utilization. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationship between N utilization stability and species diversity are not well understood in burned areas. We investigated variation in species diversity and in the stability of leaf N utilization of locally dominant tree species in a series of burned areas during early community restoration following wildfires of different intensities. This study shows that low fire intensity led to an increase in the soil N concentration, and significantly affected the utilization of leaf N. With higher fire intensity, the leaf N concentration first decreased, and then increased as fire intensity increased. The dominant trees showed more stable N utilization at a medium intensity, compared with other intensities, but the stability of N utilization was overall higher for the dominant species than for the regenerating pioneer species. We also concluded that other soil nutrients altered the stability of plant N utilization, which we found was closely related to species diversity during restoration. The Shannon index and N utilization stability in burned areas were most significantly correlated. The N utilization stability regulation between soil total nitrogen (STN) and leaf total nitrogen (LTN) (HSTN-LTN) of Betula platyphylla Suk (BPS) correlated significantly and positively with the increase of the Shannon index (H), but the HSMN-LTN of the dominant species correlated significantly and negatively with H.

Highlights

  • Wildfire is the primary cause of disturbance in boreal forest ecosystems, and leads to forest ecosystem succession [1,2]

  • It is generally believed that changes in soil nitrogen (N) concentration are related to fire intensity, and that soil N dynamics are affected by forest wildfires through volatilization, ash deposition, plant absorption, and changes in soil microbial carbon substrates and soil organic matter [5,6]

  • soil total nitrogen (STN) was lowest in areas with heavy fire intensity

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Summary

Introduction

Wildfire is the primary cause of disturbance in boreal forest ecosystems, and leads to forest ecosystem succession [1,2]. Soil nutrients and community composition, in particular, are strongly affected by wildfire. Wildfire alters both nutrient utilization strategies of plants and nutrient cycling [3]. These physical and chemical changes in the soil can vary depending on differences in the intensity and frequency of wildfires, and can in turn affect the process of forest community succession [4]. It is generally believed that changes in soil nitrogen (N) concentration are related to fire intensity, and that soil N dynamics are affected by forest wildfires through volatilization, ash deposition, plant absorption, and changes in soil microbial carbon substrates and soil organic matter [5,6]. Wildfires return immobilized N, which increases the amount of N available to plants [7,8]

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