Increasing nitrogen (N) deposition significantly affects global forest ecosystems. It is
not clear how N deposition affects carbohydrate contents of different diameter fine roots,which
limits the understanding on the mechanism of plant physiology and growth affected by N deposi-
tion. We set up a N addition experiment with 2-year-old Pinus tabuliformis seedlings to examine
the effects of different N addition levels on nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) and structural car-
bohydrate (SC) contents in different diameter fine roots. Four N treatments were designed,inclu-
ding N0,N3,N6 and N9 (0,3,6 and 9 g N·m
-2
·a
-1
,respectively). The results showed
that: (1) the carbohydrate contents (512.97 mg·g
-1
) in fine roots with 0-0.5 mm diameter
were significantly lower than those (638.83 mg·g
-1
) in fine roots with 1-2 mm diameter. The
NSC,soluble sugar and starch contents in the fine roots with 0-0.5 mm diameter were signifi-
cantly lower than those in fine roots with 0.5-1 and 1-2 mm diameter; (2) The SC and the cel- lulose contents had an increasing trend with the increase of fine root diameter,while lignin con-
tent showed a decreasing trend. Different responses of carbohydrate components in different diam-
eter fine roots to N addition were observed in this study. N addition had no significant influence
on the NSC,soluble sugar and starch contents in the 0-0.5 and 0.5-1 mm fine roots,except that
N9 treatment significantly reduced the NSC and soluble sugar contents in 1-2 mm fine roots (by
16.20% and 29.90%,respectively) and N3 treatment significantly increased the soluble sugar
content in the 0-0.5 mm fine roots (69.65%); (3) Nitrogen addition had no significant influ-
ence on the SC and lignin contents. N3 treatment significantly increased the cellulose content in
0-0.5 and 0.5-1 mm fine roots (35.3% and 57.0%,respectively),while N9 treatment signifi-
cantly reduced the cellulose content in 1-2 mm fine roots (30.39%); (4) N3 treatment signifi-
cantly increased NSC/SC ratio in the fine roots with 0-0.5 mm diameter,but had no significant
effect on those with 0.5-1 and 1-2 mm fine roots. Our results indicated that N addition may in-
fluence fine root physiological function and growth via affecting NSC,soluble sugar contents and
NSC/SC ratio in the fine roots with 0-0.5 and 0.5-1 mm diameters.
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