Abstract. Litters of reproductive organs have been rarely studied, despite their role in allocating nutrients for offspring reproduction. This study determines the mechanism through which flower litters efficiently increase the available soil nutrient pool. Field experiments were conducted to collect plant litters and calculate biomass production in an alpine meadow of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, lignin, cellulose, and their relevant ratios of litters were analyzed to identify their decomposition features. A pot experiment was performed to determine the effects of litter addition on soil nutrition pool by comparison between the treated and control samples. Litter-bag method was used to verify decomposition rates. The flower litters of phanerophyte plants were comparable with non-flower litters. Biomass partitioning of other herbaceous species accounted for 10%–40% of the aboveground biomass. Flower litter possessed significantly higher N and P levels but less C/N, N/P, lignin/N, and lignin and cellulose concentrations than leaf litter. Flower litter fed soil nutrition pool more efficiently because of their faster decomposition rate and higher nutrient contents. Litter-bag experiment confirmed that the flower litters of Rhododendron przewalskii and Meconopsis integrifolia decomposes approximately three times faster than mixed litters within 50 days. Moreover, the findings of the pot experiment indicated that flower litter addition significantly increased the available nutrient pool. Flower litter influenced nutrition cycling in alpine ecosystems, as evident by its non-ignorable production and significantly faster decomposition. The underlying mechanism can enrich nutrients, which return to the soil, and non-structural carbohydrates, which feed and enhance the transitions of soil microorganisms.
Flower litters of alpine plants affect soil nitrogen and phosphorus rapidly in the eastern Tibetan Plateau
