Higher capability of C₃ than C₄ plants to use nitrogen inferred from nitrogen stable isotopes along an aridity gradient
Luo, Wentao (Zhongguo ke xue yuan. Erguna Forest-Steppe Ecotone Research Station)
Wang, Xiaoguang (Zhongguo ke xue yuan. Erguna Forest-Steppe Ecotone Research Station)
Sardans i Galobart, Jordi (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Wang, Zhengwen (Zhongguo ke xue yuan. Erguna Forest-Steppe Ecotone Research Station)
Dijkstra, Feike A. (The University of Sydney. Sydney Institute of Agriculture)
Lü, Xiao-Tao (Zhongguo ke xue yuan. Erguna Forest-Steppe Ecotone Research Station)
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Han, Xingguo (Zhongguo ke xue yuan. Erguna Forest-Steppe Ecotone Research Station)

Fecha:	2018
Resumen:	Background and aims: the nitrogen isotope composition (δ¹⁵N) of plants in arid and semiarid grasslands is affected by environmental factors, especially water availability. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether the response of δ¹⁵N to water availability differs between C₃ and C₄ photosynthetic pathways. - Methods: we investigated plant δ¹⁵N of coexisting C₃ and C4 species as a function of aridity along a 3200 km aridity gradient across the arid and semi-arid grasslands of northern China. - Results: aridity was positively correlated with plant δ15N values in both C₃ and C₄ plants and also in the entire plant community, whereas soil bulk δ¹⁵N values increased first and then decreased along the aridity gradient. The N uptake by C₄ plants appeared to be more affected by competition pressure of neighboring plants and soil microbes than for C₃ plants along the transect. - Conclusions: the decoupled relationship between plant and soil δ15N values indicated that variations in vegetation and soil δ15N values were driven by differential biogeochemical processes, while different soil N sources were used for plant growth along the climatic gradient. The advantage of C₃ plants in the use of N may counteract the competitive advantage that C₄ plants have over C₃ plants due to their higher water use efficiency under drier conditions. These findings can help understand why C₄ plants do not completely replace C₃ plants in drier environments despite their higher water use efficiency.
Ayudas:	European Commission 610028 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2013-48074-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2014-SGR-274
Derechos:	Tots els drets reservats.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Materia:	Competition ; Grassland transect ; Photosynthetic pathway ; Precipitation ; Trade-off
Publicado en:	Plant and soil, Vol. 428, issue 1-2 (Jul. 2018) , p. 93-103, ISSN 1573-5036

DOI: 10.1007/s11104-018-3661-2

Post-print 36 p, 1013.0 KB

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Documentos de investigación > Documentos de los grupos de investigación de la UAB > Centros y grupos de investigación (producción científica) > Ciencias > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals) > Imbalance-P
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