Inter-and intra-specific phenotypic variation of ecological stoichiometric traits in a mixed-oak secondary forest in China

Ecological stoichiometry provides a framework for the balance and flow of elements between organisms and ecosystems.Elemental phenotypes have an important influence on the environmental adaptation and ecological evolution of plants.There have been few reports on inter-and intra-specific phenotypic variations of ecological stoichiometric traits for congeneric species in a mixed forest although such variations are well-documented at the species level at global,regional and local scales.In this study,total carbon(TC),nitrogen(TN),phosphorus(TP)and potassium(TK)were measured in leaves and the elemental phenotypes were statistically analyzed in four species of oaks—Quercus fabri,Q.serrata var.glandulifera,Q.acutissima and Q.variabilis—in a mixed-oak secondary forest in Yushan,Jiangsu,China.The average element concentrations in the four oak species were not relatively higher than previously reported for oaks from world and Chinese flora.Ecological stoichiometry traits were correlated with tree height and diameter at breast height,indicating that phosphorous and potassium were positively correlated with tree size,while carbon was negatively correlated,especially the relationship between oak growth and total carbon or total phosphorus was obvious,and the study concluded that this was because plant growth depended on phosphorus storage and had opposite effects on leaf carbon accumulation.Based on tree plasticity index and the coefficient of variation,there was medium variation in element concentrations.The plasticity index of total carbon levels was the lowest,and that of potassium the highest.Principal component analysis and cluster analysis showed that the intra-specific variation among the four oak species was higher than inter-specific variation.From the perspective of nutrient supply and ecological adaptation,this study creates a foundation for the management of secondary oak forest stands.

Effect of long-term fertilization on bacterial communities in wheat endosphere

Fertilization has been shown to exert a significant influence on soil microorganisms and directly and indirectly influences plant growth and survival in agroecosystems. However, it is unknown whether fertilization affects endophytic microbial communities, which are ubiquitous and intimately associated with plant growth and health. Herein, we investigated endophytic bacterial communities in wheat leaves and roots under different long-term fertilization regimes,including NPK chemical fertilizer and NPK chemical fertilizer combined with wheat straw, pig manure, or cow manure. Endophytic bacterial community composition considerably differed in leaves and roots. Although different fertilization treatments did not affect the endophytic bacterial species richness or phylogenetic diversity in either leaves or roots, the community composition was significantly altered, particularly in roots. The endophytic bacterial co-occurrence network in leaves was more complex and stable than that in roots. Furthermore, many of the keystone species that were identified by their topological positions in the co-occurrence networks of leaves and roots were involved in plant growth and fitness. The total relative abundance of keystone species was the highest in the NPK plus cow manure treatment in both leaves and roots. Overall, our results suggest that different fertilization regimes can strongly affect endophytic bacterial communities, and the combination of NPK fertilizer and cow manure promoted the relative abundance of the key endophytic bacterial microbiota in both leaves and roots, which might be beneficial for plants in agroecosystems.