Skip to main content
Dryad

Global leaf sulphur stoichiometry and the relationships with nitrogen and phosphorus: phylogeny, growth form and environmental controls

Zhang, Liangjian1; Zuo, Zhenjun1; Qiao, Xiujuan2; Liu, Yixuan3; Qu, Rui1; Zhao, Haocun1; Wang, Youxin3; Zhao, Peidong1; Zhang, Lin4; Wu, Zhigang5; Wang, Zhong1

Published Mar 05, 2024; Updated May 29, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fj6q5741c

Data files

Mar 05, 2024 version files 6.89 MB
Mar 19, 2024 version files 12.20 MB
Mar 18, 2024 version files 12.20 MB
May 29, 2024 version files 21.39 MB

Abstract

Sulphur (S) is an essential bioelement with vital roles in serving regulatory and catalytic functions, and tightly coupled with N and P in plants. However, globally stoichiometric patterns of leaf S and its relationships to leaf N and P are less well studied. We compiled 31,939 records of leaf-based data for 2,600 plant species across 6,652 sites worldwide. All plant species were divided into different phylogenetic taxa and growth forms. Standard major axis analysis was employed to fit the bivariate element relationships. A phylogenetic linear mixed effect model and a multiple regression model were used to partition the variations of bioelements into phylogeny and environments, and then to estimate the importance of environmental variables. Global geometric mean leaf S, N and P concentrations were 1.44, 15.70 and 1.27 mg g-1, with significant differences among plant groups. Leaf S-N-P positively correlated to each other, ignoring plant groups. The scaling exponents of LN-LS, LP-LS and LN-LP were 0.64, 0.76 and 0.79 for all species, but differed among plant groups. Both phylogeny and environments regulated the bioelements. The variability, rather than mean temperature controlled the bioelements. Phylogeny explained more for the concentrations of all the three bioelements than environments, of which S was the one most affected by phylogenetic taxa.