ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Density and Stoichiometric Characteristics
of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in Surface
Soil of Alpine Grassland in Sanjiangyuan
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1
Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, Qinghai, 810008 China
2
Institute of Sanjiangyuan National Park, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, Qinghai, 810008 China
3
State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai, 810016 China
4
Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
5Minzu University of China, Beijing, 100081 China
5
Minzu University of China, Beijing, 100081 China
Submission date: 2021-09-29
Final revision date: 2022-03-09
Acceptance date: 2022-03-10
Online publication date: 2022-05-20
Publication date: 2022-07-12
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2022;31(4):3531-3539
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ABSTRACT
The balance and stoichiometry of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) can reflect
the quality and content of organic matter and is very important for understanding ecological processes
and ecosystem response to climate change and disturbance. To explore the spatial distribution
characteristics of C, N, P, and their stoichiometry of topsoil in Sanjiangyuan (SJY), we sampled
0-20 cm soil of alpine grassland in SJY, measured soil C, N, and P, and analyzed their correlation
with latitude, longitude, altitude, and vegetation characteristics (diversity, height, coverage, biomass,
etc.). The results showed that the average densities of soil organic C (SOC), total N (TN), total P (TP),
and soil inorganic C (SIC) in SJY were 7.56 kg·m-2, 0.71 kg·m-2, 151.57 g·m-2, and 1.77 kg·m-2,
respectively. The spatial distribution of SOC, TN, and TP in SJY showed a pattern of high in the east
and low in the west, while SIC showed the opposite pattern. The heterogeneity of soil TP in the SJY
region was small, which indicated that there may be little difference in soil parent materials in the whole
region. The soil nutrients were mainly affected by longitude, soil water content, pH, and vegetation
height and coverage. The C: N: P ratio of the 0-20 cm soil in the study area was approximately 48:5:1,
and the C: N, C: P, and N: P ratios were significantly affected by soil water content and vegetation
height. Soil C: N ratio (10.45) and N:P ratio (4.51) were lower than the national level, which indicated
that the soil N mineralization capacity of SJY was higher than that of other regions in China,
and the degree of soil N limit was small.