Recently, the Agricultural Clean Watershed Innovation Team of the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, CAAS revealed that plant nutrient acquisition strategies based on differences in root physiological traits underlie the differences in leaf macroelement and microelement contents between grasses and forbs. The related research findings have been published in  Functional Ecology.

Nutrient composition of plant leaves is a reliable tool for determining plant ecological strategies and niche differentiation. This study aims to reveal the underlying physiological mechanisms of different leaf nutrient contents in coexisting grassland species and to clarify the role of plant groups and environmental conditions in leaf nutrient composition.

The study was carried out on local, regional, and national scales, respectively. According to the research findings, grasses, compared with forbs, showed higher root branching intensity but lower organic acid release and leaf transpiration rate. These different nutrient acquisition and transport strategies resulted in lower leaf nutrient concentrations (of N, P, Ca, Mg, and Mn) in grasses than in forbs at the local scale. Macroelement concentrations exhibited high phylogenetic conservation and low environmental influence, while microelement concentrations were more prone to regulation with environmental changes. The results showed that different nutrient acquisition and transport strategies may underlie the different leaf nutrient compositions between two plant groups.

Zhou Na, a master student at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, CAAS, is the first author of the study paper. This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Linkage: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14629