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Different effects of sheep excrement type and supply level on plant and soil C:N:P stoichiometry in a typical steppe on the loess plateau

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Abstract

Aims

Deposition of urine and dung is a key mechanism by which herbivores influence the nutrient cycling of terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, little is known about the roles of urine, dung and their mixtures in regulating the plant and soil carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (C:N:P) stoichiometry and their interactions.

Methods

We explored how different excrement types (urine, dung and their mixtures) and supply levels [urine: 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 L m−2; dung: 4.7, 9.4 and 14.2 g m−2; mixtures (urine+dung): 0.5 + 4.7, 1.0 + 9.4 and 1.5 + 14.2] altered the plant and soil C:N:P stoichiometry in a semi-arid grassland on the Loess Plateau.

Results

We found that the aboveground biomass of the whole community was highest at the highest mixtures application rate, while the highest aboveground biomass of the three dominant species was detected at applications of 0.5 L m−2 urine for Stipa bungeana, 9.4 g m−2 dung for Lespedeza davurica and 1.0 L m−2 urine +9.4 g m−2 dung for Artemisia capillaris. Urine and dung alone increased plant N concentration, which peaked at 1.0 L m−2 urine. Plant P concentration at 1.5 + 14.2 mixtures was significantly higher than that at control without significant difference between excrement types. Compared to the control, excrement deposition did not significantly change plant C concentration and C:N, C:P and N:P ratios. However, plant C:P and N:P ratios under the mixtures were significantly lower than those under urine or dung. Excrement applications led to more soil (total, microbial and organic) C, N and P accumulations. Compared to urine and dung, the mixtures induced higher total P concentration but lower total N concentration in soil.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrated that the impacts of sheep urine and dung on plant and soil C and nutrient concentrations and stoichiometry differed from that of mixtures. The plant N:P ratio indicated balanced N:P supply for urine and dung applications but N limitation for mixtures application. This study provides experimental evidence that the excrement of herbivores plays an important role in altering ecological stoichiometry in plants and soil.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Feike A. Dijkstra, Dr. Harry Olde Venterink, and other two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions, which have significantly improved the paper. We are also grateful to Dr. Violet Lee and Dr. Yongran Ji for their help in editing the language of this article. This research was supported by National Program for S&T Collaboration of Developing Countries (KY202002011) and Innovative Research Team of Ministry of Education (IRT_17R50).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China

    Lan Li, Jing Zhang & Fujiang Hou

  2. School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Xiong Zhao He

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  1. Lan Li
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  2. Jing Zhang
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Contributions

Fujiang Hou and Lan Li contributed to the study conception and design. Lan Li prepared materials and collected data. Lan Li, Xiong Z. He and Jing Zhang analysed the data. Lan Li wrote the first draft of the manuscript and all authors revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Fujiang Hou.

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Supplementary Information

Additional file 1:

Figure S1. Annual dynamics of precipitation and temperature from 2016 to 2017. Figure S2. Layout of a randomized complete block design of an experiment to determine plant aboveground biomass and plant and soil C:N:P stoichiometry affected by the excrement types and their supply levels corresponding to different stocking rates (SR, sheep ha−1). Figure S3. Mean (± SE) of plant C, N and P concentration among excrement supply levels for each dominant plant species (A. capillaris, L. davurica and S. bungeana) from 2016 to 2017. For each category, means with the same letters are not significantly different (Tukey’s HSD post hoc tests: P > 0.05. Figure S4. Mean (± SE) of plant C:N:P stoichiometry among excrement supply levels for each dominant plant species (A. capillaris, L. davurica and S. bungeana) from 2016 to 2017. For each category, means with the same letters are not significantly different (Tukey’s HSD post hoc tests: P > 0.05). Table S1. The F and P values from the generalized multivariate nested linear model for plant C, N and P concentration and stoichiometry, plant aboveground biomass (AGB), relative aboveground biomass (RAGB, ratio of aboveground biomass of each species to that of the community) of three dominant species affected by year, excrement type (urine, dung and their mixtures), excrement supply level and/or plant species, and their interactions (DOC 364 kb)

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Li, L., Zhang, J., He, X.Z. et al. Different effects of sheep excrement type and supply level on plant and soil C:N:P stoichiometry in a typical steppe on the loess plateau. Plant Soil 462, 45–58 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04880-6

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