Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2017, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (6): 756-763.DOI: 10.11983/CBB16248

• EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Seasonal Variation of N and P Stoichiometric Characteristics in Leaves of Certain Ephemeral Plants in the Gurbantunggut Desert, China

Liu Jianguo1,2, Liu Weiguo1,2,*(), Zhu Yuanyuan3, Huo Jusong1,2, Maria∙Nurlan1,2   

  1. 1College of Resources and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
    2Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology, Ministry of Education, Urumqi 830046, China
    3Gansu Normal University for Nationalities, Hezuo 747000, China
  • Received:2016-12-15 Accepted:2017-05-07 Online:2017-11-01 Published:2018-02-22
  • Contact: Liu Weiguo

Abstract: Ephemeral plants are an important part of desert ecosystems. To understand the stoichiometric characteristics of leaf N and P in growth season variation, we compared plant leaf N and P with seasonal variation among 6 main species of ephemeral plants in the Gurbantunggut Desert in China, including 3 species of annual ephemeral plants and 3 of perennial ephemeral plants: Erodium oxyrrhynchum, Nepeta micrantha, Alyssum linifolium, Eremurus chinensis, Scorzonera pusilla, and Soranthus meyeri. The mean N content for the 3 annual ephemeral species was (11.23±7.16), (14.11±6.38) and (10.85±6.14) mg·g-1 and mean P content was (2.82±0.73), (3.12±1.24) and (3.43±0.55) mg·g-1. The mean N content for the 3 perennial ephemeral species was (19.97±5.94), (15.08±4.01) and (17.94±9.03) mg·g-1 and mean P content was (3.55±0.83), (2.73±1.11) and (5.03±0.65) mg·g-1. The stoichiometric characteristics of leaf N-P differed during the growth of ephemeral plants. The content of N and P in each species was higher in the early growth stage than during other growing seasons. The content of N and P decreased with increasing leaf biomass in the growing season but increased in the late growth season. The relation among the elements at different life stages differed, with no significant difference in the relation between the elements of the same life stage, so it embodies the consistency of inter species.

Key words: ephemeral plants, stoichiometric characteristics, seasonal variation, life type