Trait-mediated nutrient resorption reveals element-specific conservation strategies in mangroves

Description

The dataset contains measurements from 10 co-occurring mangrove species sampled in Dongzhaigang National Nature Reserve, Hainan, China, across dry and wet seasons. The species were classified by salt-regulation strategy as either salt-secretors or non-secretors. For each species and sampling plot, the dataset includes measurements of soil nutrients, green-leaf nutrient concentrations, nutrient resorption efficiencies, and leaf anatomical traits. This study tested the hypothesis that mangrove nutrient resorption efficiency is not only element-specific, but also shaped by salt-regulation strategy, seasonal variation, internal leaf nutrient status, and leaf anatomical traits. Specifically, we expected that species with different salt-regulation strategies, namely salt-secretors and non-secretors, would differ in their nutrient-conservation patterns, and that these differences would vary between dry and wet seasons. We also hypothesized that leaf anatomical traits and green-leaf nutrient concentrations would explain more variation in nutrient resorption than soil nutrient availability, because resorption is an internal nutrient-recycling process occurring during leaf senescence. The dataset includes nutrient data for 12 elements: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, sodium, and aluminium. Nutrient resorption efficiency, abbreviated as NuRE, was calculated by comparing nutrient concentrations in mature green leaves and senesced leaves, with correction for leaf mass loss during senescence. Positive NuRE values indicate that a nutrient was withdrawn from leaves before leaf fall, whereas negative NuRE values indicate net accumulation of that element in senescing leaves.The anatomical traits measured include palisade-to-spongy mesophyll ratio, epidermal thickness, guard cell length, stomatal density, vein diameter, and vein density. These traits describe leaf internal structure, epidermal investment, stomatal characteristics, and vascular architecture, all of which may influence nutrient storage, transport, and redistribution during senescence. This dataset can be used to examine how nutrient resorption efficiency varies among elements, seasons, species, and salt-regulation strategies in mangrove forests. It is suitable for testing relationships between nutrient resorption, green-leaf nutrient concentrations, soil nutrient availability, and leaf anatomical traits. Users should interpret NuRE values on an element-by-element basis, because positive values indicate nutrient withdrawal before leaf fall, whereas negative values indicate net accumulation in senescing leaves. Because the data were collected across co-occurring species and seasons, they can also be used to explore how mangrove nutrient-use strategies respond to environmental seasonality and species-level salt-regulation mechanisms.

Institutions

• Hainan Normal University

  Hainan, Haikou

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