Response of C:N:P Stoichiometry to Phosphorus Addition and Homeostasis of Plant Tissues in a Subtropical Slash Pine Plantation

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) fertilizer is commonly used in subtropical plantations to augment nutrients including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and P to maintain plants engaged in metabolism. Stoichiometric homeostasis reflects the adaptation of plants to various environments (including P fertilizer supply rates). It is thus of great significance to understand C:N:P stoichiometry in the plant–litter–soil system under P addition and the stoichiometric homeostasis of plant tissues for the P fertilization management of slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm) plantations. In subtropical China, we measured the C, N, and P contents in root, branch, needle, litter, and soil in slash pine plantations fertilized with four treatments, P1 (25 kg P ha1 yr1), P2 (50 kg P ha1 yr1), P3 (100 kg P ha1 yr1), and a control (CK), and calculated the stoichiometric homeostasis of plant tissues. The results show that P3 treatment increased the C, N, and P contents of the needle. P2 and P3 treatments increased the P content of the litter and the N:P ratio of the root while decreasing the C:N ratio of the root. P addition treatments increased C and P element accumulation in soil but had no effect on soil stoichiometry. The nutrient contents of needle and branch were higher than those of root and litter, indicating that slash pine was more inclined to allocate nutrients to the aboveground tissues. The stoichiometric homeostasis of C, N, and P among plant tissues was graded as follows: root > branch > needle. The needle’s nutritional homeostasis was C > N > P, with 1/H values of 0.08, 0.34, and 0.74, respectively. These findings demonstrate that during P addition, the C, N, and P stoichiometric homeostasis varied among plant tissues and element types. In conclusion, P application altered nutrient distribution in the plant–litter–soil system, alleviating P restriction in slash pine forests in southern China. P addition levels should be finely adjusted in the future for longer-term observation trials, and the trade-off between P addition rates and economic and ecological advantages should be properly examined.