Lou, Y.; Wang, R.; Che, P.; Zhao, C.; Chen, Y.; Yang, Y.; Mu, J. Nitrogen Addition Affects Interannual Variation in Seed Production in a Tibetan Perennial Herb. Biology2023, 12, 1132.
Lou, Y.; Wang, R.; Che, P.; Zhao, C.; Chen, Y.; Yang, Y.; Mu, J. Nitrogen Addition Affects Interannual Variation in Seed Production in a Tibetan Perennial Herb. Biology 2023, 12, 1132.
Lou, Y.; Wang, R.; Che, P.; Zhao, C.; Chen, Y.; Yang, Y.; Mu, J. Nitrogen Addition Affects Interannual Variation in Seed Production in a Tibetan Perennial Herb. Biology2023, 12, 1132.
Lou, Y.; Wang, R.; Che, P.; Zhao, C.; Chen, Y.; Yang, Y.; Mu, J. Nitrogen Addition Affects Interannual Variation in Seed Production in a Tibetan Perennial Herb. Biology 2023, 12, 1132.
Abstract
The variability observed in the annual seed production of perennial plants can be seen as an indication of changes in the allocation of resources between growth and reproduction, which can be attributed to fluctuations in the environment. However, a significant knowledge gap exists concerning the impacts of nitrogen addition on the interannual seed production patterns of perennial plant. We hypothesized that the addition of nitrogen would impact the annual variations in the seed production of perennial plants, ultimately affecting their overall reproductive efficiency. A multiyear field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of varying nitrogen supply levels (e.g., 0, 4, 8 kg N ha−1 yr−1 of N0, N4, and N8) on the vegetative and floral traits, pollinator visitation rates, and seed traits over a period of four consecutive years. The results showed that the N0 treatment exhibited the highest levels of seed production and reproductive efficiency within the initial two years. In contrast, the N4 treatment displayed its highest level of performance in these metrics in the second and third years, whereas the N8 treatment showcased its most favorable outcomes in the third and fourth years. The similar patterns were found in the number of flowers per capitulum and the number of capitula per plant. There exists a positive correlation between aboveground biomass and several factors, encompassing the number of flowers per capitulum, the number of capitula per plant, the volume of nectar per capitulum, and the seed production per plant. This implies that the addition of N affected the maintenance of plant aboveground biomass, flower traits stability and, subsequently, the frequency of seed production, and the reproductive efficiency. Our results suggest that augmenting the nitrogen content in the soil may have the capacity to modify the inherent variability in seed production that is observed across various years. These findings have the potential to enhance our comprehension of the impact of nitrogen addition on the reproductive performance of perennial herbaceous plants, and the underlying mechanisms of biodiversity in the context of global environmental changes.
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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