[Nitrogen and phosphorus resorption and stoichiometric characteristics of different tree species in a mid-subtropical common-garden, China.].

To understand the nutrient use strategies of 11 tree species in a subtropical common-garden, we measured the specific leaf area, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) resorption and stoichiometric characteristics of leaves in August 2019. The results showed that the specific leaf area, N and P concentrations in mature and senescent leaves of evergreen broadleaved (, , , , and ) and coniferous species ( and ) were lower than those of deciduous broadleaved species (, and ). In contrast, C:N and C:P in mature leaves of evergreen broadleaved and coniferous species were significantly higher than those of deciduous broadleaved species. Except for , the N:P of all the species were lower than 14. Compared with other tree species, N and P resorption efficiencies of were higher than 50% based on both mass and leaf area. Although P resorption efficiency of , and were higher than 50%, N and P resorption efficiency of were the lowest with only 15%-30%. In addition, specific leaf area of mature leaves was significantly positively correlated with N and P concentrations, but negatively correlated with C:N and C:P. In the common-garden, evergreen broadleaved species such as and , and coniferous species such as might belong to the slow investment species with lower specific leaf area, N and P concentrations, displaying relatively efficient in N and P resorption and utilization in comparison with other species. In contrast, deciduous broadleaved species such as might be the fast investment species with low N and P use efficiency. Interestingly, tree species being restricted by N availability did not exhibit higher N resorption efficiency in the common-garden. Similarly, , the only P-restricted species here, did not exhibit higher P resorption efficiency. Our results provided scientific support for afforestation practice in the mid-subtropics.