Nutrient Characteristics in Relation to Plant Size of a Perennial Grass Under Grazing Exclusion in Degraded Grassland

Identifying the linkages between nutrient properties and plant size is important for reducing uncertainty in understanding the mechanisms of plant phenotypic plasticity. Although the positive effects of grazing exclusion on plant morphological plasticity has been well documented, surprisingly little...

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Main Authors: Zhiying Liu, Taogetao Baoyin, Junjie Duan, Guofeng Yang, Juan Sun, Xiliang Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Plant Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2018.00295/full
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spelling doaj-45b69ce64b1a44d683c45f38daaa7c602020-11-24T22:21:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2018-03-01910.3389/fpls.2018.00295317943Nutrient Characteristics in Relation to Plant Size of a Perennial Grass Under Grazing Exclusion in Degraded GrasslandZhiying Liu0Taogetao Baoyin1Junjie Duan2Guofeng Yang3Juan Sun4Xiliang Li5Xiliang Li6Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, ChinaKey Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, ChinaNational Forage Improvement Center, Institute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, ChinaSchool of Life Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, ChinaSchool of Animal Science and Technology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, ChinaNational Forage Improvement Center, Institute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, ChinaKey Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and Restoration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Hohhot, ChinaIdentifying the linkages between nutrient properties and plant size is important for reducing uncertainty in understanding the mechanisms of plant phenotypic plasticity. Although the positive effects of grazing exclusion on plant morphological plasticity has been well documented, surprisingly little is known about the relationship of nutrient strategies with plant shoot size after long-term grazing exclusion. We experimentally investigated the impacts of grazing exclusion over time (0, 9, 15, and 35 years) on the relationships of nutrient traits (nutrient concentration, allocation, and stoichiometry) of with morphological plasticity in Leymus chinensis, which is a dominant species in grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China. Our results showed that there was a significantly negative correlation between the degrees of plasticity and stability of various morphological traits. Increases in plant size by 126.41, 164.17, and 247.47% were observed with the increase of grazing exclusion time of 9, 15, and 35 years, respectively. Plant size was negatively correlated with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations, but was positively correlated with carbon (C) concentration. Biomass partitioning and leaf to stem ratios of nutrient concentrations contributed more than 95% of the changes in N, P, and C allocation in L. chinensis leaves and stems induced by grazing exclusions. Nine years’ grazing exclusion rapidly changed the nutrient concentrations (averaged by -34.84%), leaf to stem nutrient allocations (averaged by -86.75%), and ecological stoichiometry (averaged by +46.54%) compared to free-grazing, whereas there was no significant trend of these nutrient traits across the 9, 15, and 35 years’ grazing exclusion in L. chinensis individuals. Our findings suggest that with the increase of the duration of the grazing exclusion, time effects on plant performances gradually weakened both in plant morphological plasticity and nutrient properties. There is a significant negative effect between plant sizes and nutrient traits under long-term grazing exclusion.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2018.00295/fullphenotypic plasticitylivestock grazingLeymus chinensisplant nutrient strategyfunctional traits
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Zhiying Liu
Taogetao Baoyin
Junjie Duan
Guofeng Yang
Juan Sun
Xiliang Li
Xiliang Li
spellingShingle Zhiying Liu
Taogetao Baoyin
Junjie Duan
Guofeng Yang
Juan Sun
Xiliang Li
Xiliang Li
Nutrient Characteristics in Relation to Plant Size of a Perennial Grass Under Grazing Exclusion in Degraded Grassland
Frontiers in Plant Science
phenotypic plasticity
livestock grazing
Leymus chinensis
plant nutrient strategy
functional traits
author_facet Zhiying Liu
Taogetao Baoyin
Junjie Duan
Guofeng Yang
Juan Sun
Xiliang Li
Xiliang Li
author_sort Zhiying Liu
title Nutrient Characteristics in Relation to Plant Size of a Perennial Grass Under Grazing Exclusion in Degraded Grassland
title_short Nutrient Characteristics in Relation to Plant Size of a Perennial Grass Under Grazing Exclusion in Degraded Grassland
title_full Nutrient Characteristics in Relation to Plant Size of a Perennial Grass Under Grazing Exclusion in Degraded Grassland
title_fullStr Nutrient Characteristics in Relation to Plant Size of a Perennial Grass Under Grazing Exclusion in Degraded Grassland
title_full_unstemmed Nutrient Characteristics in Relation to Plant Size of a Perennial Grass Under Grazing Exclusion in Degraded Grassland
title_sort nutrient characteristics in relation to plant size of a perennial grass under grazing exclusion in degraded grassland
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Plant Science
issn 1664-462X
publishDate 2018-03-01
description Identifying the linkages between nutrient properties and plant size is important for reducing uncertainty in understanding the mechanisms of plant phenotypic plasticity. Although the positive effects of grazing exclusion on plant morphological plasticity has been well documented, surprisingly little is known about the relationship of nutrient strategies with plant shoot size after long-term grazing exclusion. We experimentally investigated the impacts of grazing exclusion over time (0, 9, 15, and 35 years) on the relationships of nutrient traits (nutrient concentration, allocation, and stoichiometry) of with morphological plasticity in Leymus chinensis, which is a dominant species in grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China. Our results showed that there was a significantly negative correlation between the degrees of plasticity and stability of various morphological traits. Increases in plant size by 126.41, 164.17, and 247.47% were observed with the increase of grazing exclusion time of 9, 15, and 35 years, respectively. Plant size was negatively correlated with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations, but was positively correlated with carbon (C) concentration. Biomass partitioning and leaf to stem ratios of nutrient concentrations contributed more than 95% of the changes in N, P, and C allocation in L. chinensis leaves and stems induced by grazing exclusions. Nine years’ grazing exclusion rapidly changed the nutrient concentrations (averaged by -34.84%), leaf to stem nutrient allocations (averaged by -86.75%), and ecological stoichiometry (averaged by +46.54%) compared to free-grazing, whereas there was no significant trend of these nutrient traits across the 9, 15, and 35 years’ grazing exclusion in L. chinensis individuals. Our findings suggest that with the increase of the duration of the grazing exclusion, time effects on plant performances gradually weakened both in plant morphological plasticity and nutrient properties. There is a significant negative effect between plant sizes and nutrient traits under long-term grazing exclusion.
topic phenotypic plasticity
livestock grazing
Leymus chinensis
plant nutrient strategy
functional traits
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2018.00295/full
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