Abstract
Plant nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) stoichiometry is of essentially ecological meaning to non-wood forest production (NWFP) plant community in the temperate forest ecosystem. In this study, natural Aralia elata (Miq.) Seem. communities in montane areas of southern Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China were investigated for plant density, vegetative growth, and soil and leaf parameters on slopes in 5°, 9°, and 14° degrees. We found that individual height was greater in sites on 5°- (1.6 m) and 9°-degree slopes (1.9 m) than on the 14°-degree slope (0.8 m), but soil available P content was highest on the steepest slope (5.5, 4.0, and 16 mg kg-1, respectively). The foliar N:P ratio ranged 6–13. Nitrogen availability tended to promote community density and individual growth; while P availability tended to depress density but promote foliar biomass accumulation. By the diagnosis of plant nutritional monogram, the better growth and high foliar N:P ratio of about 13:1 in A. elata individuals on 9°-degree slope were generated by both deficiency-driving N uptake and excessive P depletion. We recommend the 9°-degree slope to develop A. elata community which can be fed by higher N availability if higher density was achieved.
 
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 In press - Online First. Article has been peer reviewed, accepted for publication and published online without pagination. It will receive pagination when the issue will be ready for publishing as a complete number (Volume 47, Issue 3, 2019). The article is searchable and citable by Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI link will become active after the article will be included in the complete issue.
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Highlights
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are two most important macro-nutrients limiting wild plant growth in terrestrial ecosystems
The difference of population characteristics Height of A. elata plants was similar in sites of slopes of 5° and 9°, but that on the slope of 14° declined by 51-58% (Table 1)
For A. elata plants, the first PC can be described as adverse properties of height growth in high density and diameter growth with dense leaf growth in a given area, while the second PC can be taken as the adverse relationship between diameter and density (Fig. 1)
Summary
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are two most important macro-nutrients limiting wild plant growth in terrestrial ecosystems. Since Koerselman and Meuleman (1996) put forward the critical value of vegetation N:P ratio as a tool of diagnosed nutrient state on a community level for wetland plants, arguments continued to prove or revise this concept in different ecosystems (Tessier and Raynal, 2003; Drenovsky and Richards, 2004; Li et al, 2011; Mo et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2015) Global change drivers, such as elevated [CO2], N and P addition, drought, and species invasion, have been found to modify N and P cycles in several ecosystems (Mo et al, 2015; Jing et al, 2017; Sardans et al, 2017), which increased the uncertainty for the change of N:P stoichiometry. Due to the interplay between adult trees and understory plants, such as the retention of N deposition by crown (Tessier and Raynal, 2003) and competition for soil sources (Lewis and Tanner, 2000; Sitters et al, 2013), there are even more uncertainties to indicate N and P states in understory community by N:P stoichiometry than that in the dominant trees
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