Soil C:N:P stoichiometry and its influencing factors in forest ecosystems in southern China

作者：Mengzhen Lu, Fuping Zeng, Siwei Lv, Hao Zhang, Zhaoxia Zeng, Wanxia Peng, Tongqing Song, Kelin Wang, Hu Du · 发表于：Frontiers in Forests and Global Change · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3389/ffgc.2023.1142933 · 被引用次数：28 · 研究领域：Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Plant Ecology and Soil Science、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Introduction Soil carbon and nutrient contents and their stoichiometric characteristics play a vital role in indicating plant growth and element balance, which can be used to indicate nutrient limitation. However, it has been less studied about their driving factors within forest soils at the regional scale in southern China. Methods In this study, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) were analyzed in the topsoil (0–10 cm) at 345 sampling plots representing different forest types in Guangxi Province. Results The results showed that the mean contents of C, N, and P were 29.80, 2.46, and 0.51 g/kg, respectively, and soil C:N, C:P, and N:P were 13.95, 69.60, and 5.53 respectively. The ratios also showed remarkable correlations with each other. C, N, and P contents and their ratios presented significant differences among different soil and vegetation types. C, N, and P concentrations increased with the increase of elevation and latitude, and decrease with the increase of average annual temperature (MAT). Conversely, C:N showed an opposite trend. C, N, and N:P were also increased with increasing average annual precipitation (MAP). Collectively, soil type, vegetation type, geographical, and climatic factors explained 43.46, 64.02, 68.61, 32.93, 39.64, and 37.87% of the variance in C, N, P, C:N, C:P, and N:P, respectively. For Soil C, both latitude and MAP had strong influences. Soil type was the largest explanation for soil N and P contents. Lat...