Divergent nitrogen and phosphorus allocation strategies in terrestrial plant leaves and fine roots: a global meta-analysis

The quantification of the allocation of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) among plant organs is essential to improve our understanding of plant growth, life-history strategies, and ecosystem nutrient and energy cycles. However, allocation strategies of N and P between terrestrial plant leaves and fine roots are unclear.
Here, we compiled a global dataset comprising 807 terrestrial plant species to analyze the stoichiometric scaling of N and P between leaves and fine roots across species, families, plant groups, biomes, and locations.
We found that N and P, and N:P ratios manifest different scaling exponents (α-values) between leaves and fine roots. Specifically, overall αN and αP were >1 and <1, respectively, and αN:P = 1, indicating a higher proportional increase of N to fine roots and P to leaves. However, there were differences in αN, αP, and αN:P among major species, families, plant groups, biomes, and locations. In addition, αN and αN:P increased with latitude; there was no c...

量化氮（N）与磷（P）在植物器官间的分配格局，对于深化我们对植物生长、生活史策略以及生态系统养分与能量循环的认知至关重要。然而，陆地植物叶片与细根间的氮、磷分配策略仍不明晰。
本研究整合了一套涵盖807种陆地植物的全球数据集，用以分析不同物种、科属、植物类群、生物群系（biomes）及采样位点间叶片与细根的氮磷化学计量缩放（stoichiometric scaling）关系。
研究发现，氮、磷及其氮磷比（N:P）在叶片与细根间呈现出不同的缩放指数（scaling exponents，即α值）。整体而言，α_N与α_P分别大于1和小于1，且α_N:P=1，表明氮向细根的比例增幅更高，而磷向叶片的比例增幅更高。不过，不同优势物种、科属、植物类群、生物群系及采样位点间的α_N、α_P与α_N:P存在显著差异。此外，α_N与α_N:P随纬度升高而增大；未观测到……