Trait–Abundance Relationships of Annual Ephemerals in Response to Nitrogen Addition in Gurbantunggut Desert

Abstract

Understanding the effect of nitrogen addition on species trait–abundance relationships is one of the central focuses of community ecology and can offer us insights into the mechanisms of community assembly under atmospheric nitrogen deposition. However, few studies have focused on desert ecosystems. In this study, we measured the abundance and ecological stoichiometric traits, leaf carbon content (LCC), nitrogen content (LNC), and phosphorus content (LPC) for all annual ephemerals in all plots subjected to nitrogen addition in early spring in Gurbantunggut Desert, northern Xinjiang, China. We found a significant relationship between traits (LNC, N:P, and C:N) and abundance, indicating that ecological stoichiometry is a good proxy for explaining and predicting species abundance. We further found that significant trait–abundance relationships still existed under different nitrogen addition levels. The result suggests that trait-based niche-assembly theory plays an important role in determining species abundance under atmospheric nitrogen deposition.

Keywords

• community assembly
• abundance
• ecological stoichiometric traits
• annual ephemeral
• desert