Seasonal dynamics of leaf stoichiometry of phragmites Australis: A case study from Yangguan Wetland, Dunhuang, China

Abstract

Leaf stoichiometry can enhance our understanding of leaf elements’ (C, N and P) concentrations and their corresponding ratios in an ecosystem with seasonal environment changes. This study quantified the seasonal dynamics of leaf stoichiometry of P. australis from Yangguan wetland, Dunhuang, China as a case study example. The leaf C concentration (LC) of P. australis changed between seasons and was 392.26 (g.kg−1), 417.35 (g.kg−1) and 392.58 (g.kg−1) in spring, summer and autumn, respectively. Leaf N and P concentrations (LN and LP) were 23.49 (g.kg−1), and 17.54 (g.kg−1) and 5.86 (g.kg−1), and 1.00 (g.kg−1), 0.75 (g.kg−1) and 0.16 (g.kg−1), respectively, in the three seasons. The maximum (77.68) and the minimum values (17.00) of LC:LN were observed in the autumn and spring, respectively. Seasonal variations in LC:LP also showed a similar trend, with the greatest value of 3015.91 in autumn and the lowest value of 429.39 in spring. However, the highest (45.67) and the lowest values (24.18) of LN:LP were observed in autumn and summer, respectively, indicating that the growth of P. australis was mainly affected by P. Based on these results, it can be concluded that P. australis adopted a competition strategy during the early growth stage but took on a defense life strategy at the late growth stage to cope with various environments.