Abstract

The effect of shrub encroachment on soil carbon (C): nitrogen (N): phosphorus (P) stoichiometric ratios are largely still unknown. We investigated this effect and the effect of shrub size in a high altitude forest cutover among four common shrub species: Cerasus trichostoma, Ribes glaciale, Rosa omeiensis and Salix sphaeronymphe. The difference in topsoil C:N ratio between meadows and shrub islands was greatly influenced by shrub species and plant sizes. Topsoil N:P and C:P ratios were always higher in shrub islands than in meadows, irrespective of shrub species and plant size. The expansion of shrubs merely increased the topsoil C:N ratio beneath Cerasus and Rosa, and increased the topsoil N:P and C:P ratios beneath the four shrub species. The increase in stoichiometric ratio followed an identical pattern among the four shrub species as shrub size increased. There were always higher topsoil C:P and N:P ratios beneath Ribes than under the other shrub species with the same plant size. This study clearly suggests that the effect of shrub islands on soil C:N:P stoichiometric ratios was dependent on shrub species and size. Our results are conducive to clarifying the currently confusion in secondary successional trends of soil C:N:P stoichiometry.

  Keywords

Plant Species, Shrub Islands, Shrub Size, Soil Stoichiometry

Authors’ Info

Paper Info

Citation

Feng D, Bao W (2018). Shrub encroachment alters topsoil C:N:P stoichiometric ratios in a high-altitude forest cutover. iForest 11: 594-599. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2803-011

Academic Editor

Francesco Ripullone

Paper history

Copyright Information

© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2018

  Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Web Metrics

Citation Metrics

Article Citations

Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Feb 2023)

Total number of cites (since 2018): 7
Average cites per year: 1.17

Articles citing this article

List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.

References

Related Content

Soil stoichiometry modulates effects of shrub encroachment on soil carbon concentration and stock in a subalpine grassland
Ding L, Wang P, Zhang W, Zhang Y, Li S, Wei X, Chen X, Zhang Y, Yang F
Vol. 13, pp. 65-72 (online: Feb 2020)

A model of shrub biomass accumulation as a tool to support management of Portuguese forests
Botequim B, Zubizarreta-Gerendiain A, Garcia-Gonzalo J, Silva A, Marques S, Fernandes PM, Pereira JM, Tomé M
Vol. 8, pp. 114-125 (online: Apr 2015)

Preliminary results of the tolerance to inorganic contaminants and phytoextraction potential of twelve ornamental shrub species tested on an experimental contaminated site
Vincent G, Shang K, Zhang G, Labrecque M
Vol. 11, pp. 442-448 (online: Jun 2018)

Shrub facilitation of Quercus ilex and Quercus pubescens regeneration in a wooded pasture in central Sardinia (Italy)
Alias S, Bianchi L, Calamini G, Gregori E, Sioni S
Vol. 3, pp. 16-22 (online: Jan 2010)

Patterns of carbon allocation in a chronosequence of Caragana intermedia plantations in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Tian Y, Cao J, Yang X, Shan N, Shi Z
Vol. 8, pp. 756-764 (online: Dec 2015)

Effect of size and surrounding forest vegetation on chemical properties of soil in forest gaps
Özcan M, Gökbulak F
Vol. 8, pp. 67-72 (online: Feb 2015)

Soil C:N stoichiometry controls carbon sink partitioning between above-ground tree biomass and soil organic matter in high fertility forests
Alberti G, Vicca S, Inglima I, Belelli-Marchesini L, Genesio L, Miglietta F, Marjanovic H, Martinez C, Matteucci G, D’Andrea E, Peressotti A, Petrella F, Rodeghiero M, Cotrufo MF
Vol. 8, pp. 195-206 (online: Apr 2015)

Soil fauna communities and microbial activities response to litter and soil properties under degraded and restored forests of Hyrcania
Bazyari M, Etemad V, Kooch Y, Shirvany A
Vol. 14, pp. 490-498 (online: Dec 2021)

Wood-soil interactions in soil bioengineering slope stabilization works
Moscatelli MC, Romagnoli M, Cenfi S, Lagomarsino A, Di Tizio A, Spina S, Grego S
Vol. 2, pp. 187-191 (online: Oct 2009)

Spatial heterogeneity of soil respiration in a seasonal rainforest with complex terrain
Song Q-H, Tan Z-H, Zhang Y-P, Cao M, Sha L-Q, Tang Y, Liang N-S, Schaefer D, Zhao J-F, Zhao J-B, Zhang X, Yu L, Deng X-B
Vol. 6, pp. 65-72 (online: Apr 2013)