Interspecific competition alters leaf stoichiometry in 20 grassland species

The extensive use of traits in ecological studies over the last few decades to predict community functions has revealed that plant traits are plastic and respond to various environmental factors. These plant traits are assumed to predict how plants compete and capture resources. Variation in stoichiometric ratios both within and across species reflects resource capture dynamics under competition. However, the impact of local plant diversity on species-specific stoichiometry remains poorly studied. Here, we analyze how spatial and temporal diversity in resource-acquisition traits affects leaf elemental stoichiometry of plants (i.e., the result of resource capture) and how flexible this stoichiometry is depending on the functional composition of the surrounding community. Therefore, we assessed inter- and intraspecific variations of leaf carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) (and their ratios) of 20 grassland species in a large trait-based plant diversity experiment located in Jena...近数十年来，植物性状（plant traits）在生态学研究中被广泛用于群落功能预测，这一研究范式揭示了植物性状具有可塑性，并可响应多种环境因子。学界普遍认为，此类植物性状可用于预测植物的竞争能力与资源获取策略。种内与种间的化学计量比（stoichiometric ratios）变异，反映了竞争情境下的资源获取动态。然而，局域植物多样性对物种特异性化学计量特征（species-specific stoichiometry）的影响仍鲜有研究。本研究旨在解析资源获取性状的空间与时间多样性如何影响植物叶片元素化学计量（leaf elemental stoichiometry，即资源获取的结果），以及该化学计量特征的可塑性如何随周围群落的功能组成发生变化。为此，我们依托位于耶拿（Jena）的大型基于性状的植物多样性实验，测定了20种草地植物的叶片碳（C）、氮（N）、磷（P）及其比值的种内与种间变异。