Decoupling of nitrogen and phosphorus in terrestrial plants associated with global changes

• Published in: Nature climate change Vol. 5; no. 5; pp. 465 - 469
• Main Authors: Yuan, Z. Y., Chen, Han Y. H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.05.2015; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 704/158/2445; 704/172/169/895; Biogeochemical cycles; Biogeochemistry; Carbon dioxide; Climate Change; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Drought; Ecosystem services; Environment; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; letter; Natural environment; Nitrogen; Nutrients; Terrestrial environments
• ISSN: 1758-678X; 1758-6798
• DOI: 10.1038/nclimate2549

Living plants maintain a balance of multiple chemical elements for optimal growth and reproduction. A meta-analysis now shows that terrestrial plant N:P ratios decrease with increased atmospheric CO 2 , rainfall, and P fertilization, but increase with warming, drought, and N fertilization. Living organisms maintain a balance of chemical elements for optimal growth and reproduction, which plays an important role in global biogeochemical cycles 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 . Human domination of Earth’s ecosystems has led to drastic global changes 6 , 7 , 8 , but it is unclear how these affect the stoichiometric coupling of nutrients in terrestrial plants, the most important food source on Earth. Here we use meta-analyses of 1,418 published studies to show that the ratio of terrestrial plant nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) decreases with elevated concentrations of CO 2 , increasing rainfall, and P fertilization, but increases with warming, drought, and N fertilization. Our analyses also reveal that multiple global change treatments generally result in overall additive effects of single-factor treatments and that the responses of plant nutrients and their stoichiometry are similar in direction, but often greater in controlled than in natural environments. Our results suggest a decoupling of the P biogeochemical cycle from N in terrestrial plants under global changes 6 , 7 , 8 , which in turn may diminish the provision of ecosystem services 1 , 5 , 9 .