C:N:P stoichiometry in soil:: is there a "Redfield ratio" for the microbial biomass?

被引:1902
作者
Cleveland, Cory C.
Liptzin, Daniel
机构
[1] Univ Colorado, Earth & Environm Sci Inst, Boulder, CO 80303 USA
[2] Univ Colorado, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary, Boulder, CO 80303 USA
[3] Univ Montana, Dept Ecosyst & Conservat Sci, Missoula, MT 59812 USA
关键词
carbon; microbial biomass; nitrogen; phosphorus; soil; stoichiometry;
D O I
10.1007/s10533-007-9132-0
中图分类号
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号
08 ; 0830 ;
摘要
Well-constrained carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (C:N:P) ratios in planktonic biomass, and their importance in advancing our understanding of biological processes and nutrient cycling in marine ecosystems, has motivated ecologists to search for similar patterns in terrestrial ecosystems. Recent analyses indicate the existence of "Redfield-like" ratios in plants, and such data may provide insight into the nature of nutrient limitation in terrestrial ecosystems. We searched for analogous patterns in the soil and the soil microbial biomass by conducting a review of the literature. Although soil is characterized by high biological diversity, structural complexity and spatial heterogeneity, we found remarkably consistent C:N:P ratios in both total soil pools and the soil microbial biomass. Our analysis indicates that, similar to marine phytoplankton, element concentrations of individual phylogenetic groups within the soil microbial community may vary, but on average, atomic C:N:P ratios in both the soil (186:13:1) and the soil microbial biomass (60:7:1) are well-constrained at the global scale. We did see significant variation in soil and microbial element ratios between vegetation types (i.e., forest versus grassland), but in most cases, the similarities in soil and microbial element ratios among sites and across large scales were more apparent than the differences. Consistent microbial biomass element ratios, combined with data linking specific patterns of microbial element stoichiometry with direct evidence of microbial nutrient limitation, suggest that measuring the proportions of C, N and P in the microbial biomass may represent another useful tool for assessing nutrient limitation of ecosystem processes in terrestrial ecosystems.
引用
收藏
页码:235 / 252
页数:18
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