Precipitation is the main factor affecting the variation of foliar nitrogen isotope composition in two leguminous shrub species of northwestern China | Zendy

Fei Ma | Zendy; Tingting Xu | Zendy; Ming Li | Zendy; Jili Liu | Zendy; Zhaojun Sun | Zendy

Open Access

Precipitation is the main factor affecting the variation of foliar nitrogen isotope composition in two leguminous shrub species of northwestern China

Author(s) -

Fei Ma,

Tingting Xu,

Ming Li,

Jili Liu,

Zhaojun Sun

Publication year - 2018

Publication title -

biology letters

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.596

H-Index - 110

eISSN - 1744-957X

pISSN - 1744-9561

DOI - 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0382

Subject(s) - shrub , biology , precipitation , caragana , δ15n , nitrogen , δ13c , isotopes of nitrogen , agronomy , botany , ecosystem , stable isotope ratio , ecology , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , meteorology , quantum mechanics

An increase in foliar nitrogen isotope composition (δ15 N) with decreasing precipitation has been shown to occur widely in non-N2 -fixing plant species. However, similar patterns have not been identified in N2 -fixing species. Here, we tested the relationships of foliar δ15 N with local environmental factors and leaf properties in two leguminous shrub species (Caragana korshinskii andCaragana liouana ) sampled from 30 populations. Results indicated that the mean annual precipitation (MAP) primarily accounted for the variation of foliar δ15 N in the two species. Further analysis revealed strong negative correlations between foliar δ15 N and MAP within and across species. These results suggest that the foliar δ15 N of leguminous shrub species also shift along precipitation gradients, which augments our understanding of the relationships between foliar δ15 N and climatic factors.

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