Abstract
Plant biochemical reactions are dependent on the combined action of
multiple elements. However, it remains unclear how these elements
co-vary to adapt to environmental change. Here, we propose a novel
concept of the multi-element network (MEN) including the mutual effects
between elements to more effectively explore the alterations in response
to long-term nitrogen (N) deposition simulations. MENs were constructed
with 18 elements and were species specific. Macroelements were more
stable, but microelements were more susceptible to N deposition.
Interestingly, higher MEN plasticity determined increased relative
aboveground biomass (species importance) for different species in one
functional group under simulated N deposition. Furthermore, the
association between MEN plasticity and species importance was
consistently verified along a dry–wet transect. In summary, MENs
provide a novel approach for exploring the adaptation strategies of
plants and to better predict community composition under altering
nutrient availability or environmental stress associated with future
global climate change.