The relative contributions of intra- and inter-specific variation in driving community stoichiometric responses to nitrogen deposition and mowing in a grassland

Abstract

Aims: The stoichiometric characteristics of plant communities are important controller for several fundamental ecological processes. The effects of environmental changes on community stoichiometric characteristics are driven by intra- and inter-specific variation. However, the relative importance of both pathways has seldom been empirically examined.

Methods: We quantified the relative contribution of intra- and inter-specific variation to the changes of community nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations after seven-year factorial N addition and mowing treatments in a semi-arid grassland of northern China.

Results: Nitrogen addition significantly increased community N and P concentrations and N:P ratio. Mowing significantly increased community N concentration and N:P. Intra-specific variation contributed more than inter-specific variation to the total variability of all the nutritional and stoichiometric characteristics, with intra-specific variation accounting for 68%, 70%, and 75% of the total variation in community-level N, P, and N:P, respectively. Negative covariations between the contribution of intra- and inter-specific variation occurred for community N and P concentrations. Further, N addition and mowing interacted to affect the impacts of intra- and inter-specific variation on community N concentration and N:P stoichiometry.

Conclusions: Our results highlight different ways of trait selection for N addition and mowing treatments. Interactions between those two factors make it more difficult to accurately predict the responses of plant-mediated biogeochemical cycles under co-occurrence of environmental changes.

Keywords: Ecological stoichiometry; Hay-making; Intra- and inter-specific variation; Nitrogen addition; Nutrient cycling; Species abundance rank; Temperate steppe; Variance decomposition.