Long-term drought triggers contrasting responses of foliar stable nitrogen isotopes and soil available nitrogen in a subtropical forest

Drought disrupts nitrogen (N) cycling by simultaneously reshaping N dynamics in leaves and soils, potentially limiting plant growth and ecosystem productivity. Understanding how drought affects these coupled dynamics in forests is crucial for predicting future carbon-nitrogen interactions amid declining global N availability.
Based on a long-term experimental drought platform in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest, foliar N concentration, stable N isotopes (δ15N) in two dominant tree species, i.e., Lithocarpus glaber and Schima superba, and four soil N stocks (i.e., total, ammonia, nitrate, and available N) were determined to assess drought-induced shifts in N cycles in subtropical forests.
Experimental droughts significantly decreased soil N stocks, with typical declines in soil ammonia (14.6%) and available N (14.3%) contents, indicating less soil available N under water limitation. While foliar N concentration decreased slightly (1.5% - 2.9%), the canopy-level leaf area index..., , # Data from: Long-term drought triggers contrasting responses of foliar stable nitrogen isotopes and soil available nitrogen in a subtropical forest

**Authors:** Songbo Tang, Huanfa Sun, Xiaoni Xu, Fangxiu Wan, Erqian Cui, Yang Qiao, Ying Du, Xuhui Zhou, Jianyang Xia, Liming Yan

**Corresponding authors:** Jianyang Xia ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])) and Liming Yan ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail]))

**File: data01.xlsx: Foliar nitrogen concentration and stable nitrogen isotopes**

* **Description (Column: Description, Type)**

**Plot:** Plot number, Integer (Experimental Drought plots: 1,2,4; Control plots: 7, 8, 9)

**Year:** Sampling year, Integer

**Month:** Sampling month, Integer

**Treatment:** Treatment, String (Drought: Experimental Drought; CK: Control)

**Species:** Species name, String (SS: *Schima superb*, LG: *Lithocarpus glaber*)

**N15:** Foliar δ15N (%), Numeric

**N:** Foliar N concentration (%), Numeric

**Fi...,

干旱通过同时改变叶片与土壤中的氮（N）动态，扰乱氮循环（nitrogen cycling），进而可能限制植物生长与生态系统生产力。明晰干旱如何影响森林生态系统中的这类耦合氮动态，对于在全球氮素可利用性持续下降的背景下预测未来碳氮交互作用（carbon-nitrogen interactions）至关重要。

基于亚热带常绿阔叶林长期干旱实验平台，本研究测定了两种优势树种（即石栎*Lithocarpus glaber*与木荷*Schima superba*）的叶片氮浓度、稳定氮同位素（stable N isotopes）(δ¹⁵N)，以及4类土壤氮库（soil N stocks，即总氮、氨态氮、硝态氮与有效氮），以此评估亚热带森林中干旱诱导的氮循环变化。

实验性干旱显著降低了土壤氮库，其中土壤氨态氮含量下降14.6%、有效氮含量下降14.3%，表明水分限制下土壤有效氮供应减少。尽管叶片氮浓度仅小幅下降（1.5%~2.9%），林冠尺度叶面积指数……

# 数据来源：亚热带森林长期干旱引发叶片稳定氮同位素与土壤有效氮的差异化响应

**作者：唐松波、孙焕法、徐晓妮、万芳秀、崔尔谦、乔阳、杜颖、周旭辉、夏建阳、严利民**

**通讯作者：夏建阳（[[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])）与严利民（[[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])）**

**文件：data01.xlsx：叶片氮浓度与稳定氮同位素**

* **字段说明（列：字段名称，数据类型）**

**样地：样地编号，整数型（干旱实验组样地：1、2、4；对照组样地：7、8、9）**

**采样年份：采样年份，整数型**

**采样月份：采样月份，整数型**

**处理：实验处理，字符串型（Drought：干旱实验组；CK：对照组）**

**物种：物种名称，字符串型（SS：木荷*Schima superba*，LG：石栎*Lithocarpus glaber*）**

**N15：叶片δ¹⁵N（%），数值型**

**N：叶片氮浓度（%），数值型**

Fi...,