Leaf and soil stoichiometry of four herbs in the Gurbantunggut Desert, China
The leaf and soil stoichiometric characteristics and their relationships of two ephemeral plants (Hypecoum erectum and Euphorbia turczaninowii) and two ephemeroid plants (Ferula meyeri and Astragalus flexus) were analyzed in extreme desert environment.There was no significant difference among each soil factor in different sampling plots of each species.Soil nitrogen (N) content (0.18-0.22 mg · g-1) was far lower than soil phosphorus (P) content (1.58-1.62 mg · g-1),and the N/P only ranged 0.12-0.15,indicating a serious lack of soil N.N,P and N/P all represented significant difference among the four species,in which A.flexus had the highest values with 57.36 mg · g-1,2.46 mg ·g-1 and 23.43,followed by H.erectum with 34.05 mg · g-1,1.98 mg · g-1 and 17.56,the values for E.turczaninowii were 27.07 mg · g-1,1.87 mg · g-1 and 14.51,and the values for F.meyeriwere 28.63 mg · g-1,2.20 mg · g-1 and 13.10,respectively.N and P contents showed significant correlation of each species,while most soil factors did not show significant correlation with leaf stoichiometric values.
stoichiometrysoil nutrientnutrient limitationdesert herblife form