Resource conservation strategy helps explain patterns of biological invasion in a low-N environment

Abstract

Several studies have been conducted on the distribution of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in plant, however, there has been rare data linking Ecological Stoichiometry to plant invasion success, especially in a low-N environment. Accordingly, an experiment in this study was performed to explore the nutrition distribution and stoichiometry among various organs in plant, contributing to plant invasion. According to the results of this study, both invasive and native species exhibited a higher C, N concentration and lower C/N ratio in their leaf compared with stem and root overall (p < 0.05), the stem exhibited the lower N concentration, higher C concentration and C/N ratio compared with leaf and root overall (p < 0.05). In addition, C and N concentrations of invasive Solidago canadensis were significantly lower, while the C/N and Relative Growth Rate (RGR) were significantly higher than those of the native Artemisia argyi (p < 0.05). As revealed from the mentioned results, plant invasion success in low-N environmental conditions was dependent on the following: 1) Invasive used more conservative nutrients strategy (higher C/N ratio), instead of the high capacity to retain or resorb nutrients compared with natives; 2) Invasive species (higher RGR) had less N-limited growth as compared with natives. Furthermore, this study presented baseline information to describe the internal mechanism of plant invasion, thereby helping predict and control invasive species.