Groundwater Depths Affect Phosphorus and Potassium Resorption but Not Their Utilization in a Desert Phreatophyte in Its Hyper-Arid Environment.

ABSTRACT: Nutrients are vital for plant subsistence and growth in nutrient-poor and arid ecosystems. The deep roots of phreatophytic plants are necessary to access groundwater, which is the major source of nutrients for phreatophytes in an arid desert ecosystem. However, the mechanisms through which changes in groundwater depth affect nutrient cycles of phreatophytic plants are still poorly understood. This study was performed to reveal the adaptive strategies involving the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) and nutrient resorption efficiency (NRE) of desert phreatophytes as affected by different groundwater depths. This work investigated the nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) concentrations in leaf, stem, and assimilating branch, as well as the NUE and NRE of the phreatophytic Alhagi spa

SUBMITTER: Zhang B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8216241 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature