Linkages of Litter and Soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Stoichiometry in a Temperate Broad -Leaved Forest Stand

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Background: Measures of nutrient availability such as concentrations of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are important indicators of terrestrial ecosystems productivity. Current research illustrates the C, N and P stoichiometry of litter and soil in a coastal mixed forest stand, northern Iran. Materials and Methods: To this, the Carpinus betulus (CB), Acer velutinum (AV), Pterocarya fraxinifolia (PF), Quercus castaneifolia (QC) species were considered; litter and soil (0-15cm depth) samples were taken under tree canopy cover. Results: Litter and soil C: N ratio differed among the tree species, showing the highest (61.08 and 31.44) and lowest (21.90 and 3.59) under the QC and CB tree species, respectively. The litter and soil C: P ratio varied among the study sites and ranked in order of QC (52.4 and 27227.04) > PF (30 and 1465.61) > AV (15.74 and 630.54) ≈ CB (13.42 and 566.28). The higher amounts of litter N: P ratio were significantly found under QC (0.86) > PF (0.73) > CB (0.61) ≈ AV (0.55), whereas soil N: P ratio were significantly higher under CB (177.69) > PF (123.53) ≈ AV (121.60) > QC (109.25), respectively. Conclusion: We found the species that differed in traits could influence C, N and P dynamics and its stoichiometry. The Q. castaneifolia species with different root traits that resulted in different vertical and horizontal distributions of C, N and P, reflecting differences in nutrient uptake by plants and microbial dynamics, drove the biggest changes in litter and soil C, N and P.