Responses of plant and microbial C:N:P stoichiometry to livestock removal

Abstract

Livestock removal (LR) is considered an effective strategy for recovering ecosystem functions in degraded grasslands. Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), as well as their ratios in plants and microorganisms, act as key regulators of ecosystem stability and nutrient limitation during grassland succession. However, few studies have comprehensively evaluated plant and microbial nutrient limitations through C:N:P stoichiometry following LR over different durations. Here, our study explored the C, N, P contents, and C:N, C:P and N:P ratios of green and senescent leaves, microbial biomass and extracellular enzymes after 33 years of LR on the Loess Plateau, China. The results showed that LR increased the C, N, and P contents of plant and microbial communities. LR (>26 years) enhanced C, N, P contents of green leaves by 364.7 %, 232.2 %, 134.6 %, and C, N, P contents of senescent leaves by 164.8 %, 230.8 %, 86.3 %, respectively. LR also increased plant C:P and N:P ratios and the P reabsorption efficiency, indicating that the plant communities shifted from N to P-limitation during grassland restoration. Compared with the grazing sites, LR26 increased C, N, P contents, C:P and N:P ratios of soil microbial biomass, whereas reduced soil N-acquiring enzyme activity and enzymatic N:P ratio, indicating that the microbial community experienced higher P limitation than that of grazing sites. Plant and microbial communities showed strong plastic relationships with soil resource. Vegetation cover and productivity played strong roles in altering the plant and microbial C:N:P stoichiometry following LR. These findings indicate that long-term LR (>26 years) will exacerbate plant and microbial P limitation during grassland succession.