Stoichiometric homeostasis does not affect species dominance and stability in an alpine steppe, Tibetan Plateau

Jianbo Wu,Xiaodan Wang

doi:10.1080/15230430.2018.1560112

Jianbo Wu, Xiaodan Wang

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1560112

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Abstract

ABSTRACTStudies of stoichiometric homeostasis in different types of plant species growing in alpine steppe environments are important in understanding the fitness and nutrient-use strategies of alpine plants in northern Tibet, which may be correlated with species dominance and stability. We used an N- and P-addition experiment to investigate the stoichiometric homeostasis N (HN) in the foliage of different plant species in the Stipa purpurea steppe of the Tibetan Plateau from 2013 to 2016. The concentration of N in the foliage of different types of plants increased significantly with the amount of N added. We found that the HN value of the foliage of alpine steppe plants was much lower than that of plants in temperate grasslands and grasslands with tall grass, suggesting that these alpine plants can absorb more nutrients when they are available. There was no difference in the HN values for different alpine plant species, which is also different from previously reported results for other types of grasslands. Furthermore, the temporal stability and dominance of species was not significantly correlated with the foliage HN value of the species. Our results suggest that the HN value of plant foliage in an alpine steppe environment little affected the species dominance and stability seen in the control and N-addition plots at the species level, which is in conflict with the results from temperate grasslands. The different types of species in this alpine steppe environment show the same nutrient utilization strategies (low HN value, about 2) for coping with a variable and limited supply of nutrients.

Highlights

Stoichiometric homeostasis (H) is an important concept in ecology, and refers to the ability of an organism to maintain relatively constant concentrations or ratios of elements within its tissues under variable environmental conditions (Koojiman 1995; Elser et al 2010)
Studies of stoichiometric homeostasis in different types of plant species growing in alpine steppe environments are important in understanding the fitness and nutrient-use strategies of alpine plants in northern Tibet, which may be correlated with species dominance and stability
We found that the homeostasis N (HN) value of the foliage of alpine steppe plants was much lower than that of plants in temperate grasslands and grasslands with tall grass, suggesting that these alpine plants can absorb more nutrients when they are available

Summary

Introduction

Stoichiometric homeostasis (H) is an important concept in ecology, and refers to the ability of an organism to maintain relatively constant concentrations or ratios of elements within its tissues under variable environmental conditions (Koojiman 1995; Elser et al 2010). Species with low stoichiometric homeostasis tend to grow faster than species with high homeostasis at high nutrient availability, but grow slower at low nutrient availability (Sardans, Rivas-Ubach, and Peñuelas 2012; Yu et al 2012). It has been demonstrated in temperate grasslands and in grasslands with tall grass that species with high stoichiometric homeostasis are more common and stable than species with low stoichiometric homeostasis, suggesting that stoichiometric homeostasis could be predictive of the success and stability of plant species (Yu et al 2010, 2015)

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