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Plant diversity shifts soil phosphorus and nitrogen limitations to carbon processes along latitudinal gradients: Role of nutrient stoichiometry
| First Author: |
Azene, Belayneh |
| Abstract: |
In a warming world, understanding how climate, vegetation, and topography influence forest soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry is critical. However, the role of species diversity across latitudinal and elevational gradients remains unclear. To address this, we investigated the spatial variation in soil C, N, and P stoichiometry associated with climate, topography, and vegetation attributes by analyzing 1322 georeferenced topsoil samples from six 20-ha forest sites spanning an elevational gradient from tropical monsoon rainforest to temperate subalpine coniferous forest in Southwest China. While climatic factors shaped broad biogeochemical patterns, within-site species diversity was significantly positively associated with soil P concentrations and negatively associated with C:N, C:P and N:P ratios, suggesting a potential alleviation of nutrient limitation. Importantly, site-specific analysis revealed that these associations were context-dependent. Specifically, diversity was negatively correlated with soil C:P and N:P in sites with high soil C:P ratios (P-poor), whereas it was positively correlated with them in sites with low soil C:P (P-rich), suggesting that diversitystoichiometry relationships depend on local soil P status. This systematic shift indicates that higher diversity was associated with relatively greater soil P content in P-limited environments, but with higher soil C and N concentrations under P-rich conditions. Overall, our findings indicate that plant diversity is strongly associated with forest soil nutrient balance, suggesting that maintaining or restoring species diversity may contribute to forest ecosystem function and resilience under environmental change. |
| Contact the author: |
Xia, SW; He, XX |
| Page Number: |
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| Issue: |
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| Subject: |
Forestry |
| Impact Factor: |
3.7 |
| Authors units: |
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| PubYear: |
2026 |
| Volume: |
606 |
| Publication Name: |
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT |
| The full text link: |
10.1016/j.foreco.2026.123574 |
| ISSN: |
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| Download: |
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