2026-10-10T20:41:51Z https://www.scidb.cn/oai

10.57760/sciencedb.39570 2026-07-06T14:28:38Z

2026-07-06 P-acquisition and use doi:10.57760/sciencedb.39570 en Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition is shifting global grasslands towards phosphorus (P) limitation, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem function. How plants reconfigure their P-acquisition and utilization strategies under P limitation, and the consequences for community assembly, remain unclear. To address this, we integrated a global meta-analysis of grassland N-manipulation studies with a 9-year field experiment in a Eurasian meadow steppe to reveal general patterns and resolve underlying mechanisms. By tracking three key phenological stages of regreening, flowering, and yellowing in the case study, we unraveled how N enrichment reshapes plant P-acquisition strategies and leaf P fraction dynamics. Across global grasslands, we find N enrichment increased root phosphatase activity, leaf Mn concentrations, and root exudation rate, while decreased root mycorrhizal colonization. In the case study, dominant carboxylates of root shift from low-molecular oxalic acid (90 Da) at regreening stage to high-molecular citric acid (192 Da), tartaric acid (150 Da), and maleic acid (116 Da) at flowering stage, and down to formic acid (46 Da) at yellowing stage, pointing to a potential trade-off between carbon investment and metabolic overflow. Additionally, Leymus chinensis drove functional divergence of P-acquisition traits among subordinate species, including specific root length and area, mycorrhizal colonization, root and rhizosphere soil phosphatase activity, and carboxylates, whereas its removal induced functional convergence among subordinates under N addition. To mitigate competition under converged P acquisition, N addition reallocated foliar P from storage (orthophosphate) and structural pools (diphosphate) to metabolically active pools (monophosphate) during flowering stage, sustaining plants for key metabolic processes and growth, achieving efficient P use. Coupling global patterns of P acquisition with phenological stage-specific insights into P utilization fundamentally advances our understanding of plant adaptation to N enrichment and the subsequent loss of biodiversity under eutrophication. Nitrogen enrichment; phenophase; carboxylates; phosphatase activity; root functional trait; mycorrhizal colonization; leaf phosphorus fraction Jing Lü Ruzhen Wang PUBLIC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ dataset Science Data Bank