Topsoil Nutrients Drive Leaf Carbon and Nitrogen Concentrations of a Desert Phreatophyte in Habitats with Different Shallow Groundwater Depths

Bo Zhang,Yan Lu,Hanlin Luo,Zhihao Zhang,Jie Xue,Caibian Huang,Fanjiang Zeng,Muhammad Shareef,Gangliang Tang,Hui Yin,Xiaopeng Gao

doi:10.3390/w13213093

Abstract

Phreatophytes are deep-rooted plants that reach groundwater and are widely distributed in arid and semiarid areas around the world. Multiple environmental factors affect the growth of phreatophytes in desert ecosystems. However, the key factor determining the leaf nutrients of phreatophytes in arid regions remains elusive. This study aimed to reveal the key factors affecting the ecological stoichiometry of desert phreatophytes in the shallow groundwater of three oases at the southern rim of the Taklimakan Desert in Central Asia. Groundwater depth; groundwater pH and the degree of mineralization of groundwater; topsoil pH and salt concentration; topsoil and leaf carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations of phreatophytic Alhagi sparsifolia grown at groundwater depths of 1.3–2.2 m in the saturated aquifer zone in a desert–oasis ecotone in northwestern China were investigated. Groundwater depth was closely related to the mineralization degree of groundwater, topsoil C and P concentrations, and topsoil salt content and pH. The ecological stoichiometry of A. sparsifolia was influenced by depth, pH and the degree of mineralization of groundwater, soil nutrients and salt concentration. However, the effects of soil C and P concentrations on the leaf C and N concentrations of A. sparsifolia were higher than those of groundwater depth and pH and soil salt concentration. Moreover, A. sparsifolia absorbed more N in the soil than in the groundwater and atmosphere. This quantitative study provides new insights into the nutrient utilization of a desert phreatophyte grown at shallow groundwater depths in extremely arid desert ecosystems.

Highlights

IntroductionNitrogen, and phosphorus are vital microelements in most terrestrial plants
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are vital microelements in most terrestrial plants
The study sites were located in Cele, Moyu, and Hetian counties in the Hetian Prefecture (79◦ 280 E–81◦ 040 E, 36◦ 540 N–37◦ 140 N), which belong to the southern rim of the Taklimakan Desert of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China (Figure S1)

Summary

Introduction

Nitrogen, and phosphorus are vital microelements in most terrestrial plants. C, which comes from CO2 in the air by plant photosynthesis, is the foundation for synthesizing most organic compounds. Nitrogen is a critical component of proteins, nucleic acids, nucleotides, and enzymes as well as amino acid synthesis. Phosphorus is a vital element of phospholipids, water-soluble P esters, phosphoproteins, DNA, and RNA [1,2].

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