Nutrients of green and senesced leaves of a Robinia pseudoacacia plantation along a latitudinal gradient on the Loess Plateau, China

Abstract

Plantations have been widely established to improve ecosystem services and functioning. Black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia L. is a common, widely planted species to control soil erosion on the Loess Plateau. Previous studies have focused on economic values but the interactions between soil and plant carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) remain unknown. Investigating variations of soil, green and senesced leaf C, N and P levels in R. pseudoacacia along a latitudinal gradient is useful to understanding its ecological functions. The results show that soil C, N and senesced leaf N and P significantly decreased with an increase in latitude, but there were no significant changes in the senesced leaf C and soil P. The resorption efficiency of N was related with latitude and soil N levels, and the relation between green leaf N and soil N was significant. These relations suggest that soil N was the key in affecting green leaf N levels. At higher latitudes, senesced leaves had lower N levels associated with higher N resorption efficiency to maintain a stable N content in green leaves. With a decrease of soil N, R. pseudoacacia can enhance N resorption efficiency to meet the demand of growth. Thus, it is an important species for reforestation, especially in nutrient-poor environments.