生态化学计量学结合生物学、化学和物理学等基本原理,研究碳、氮、磷等化学元素在各种生态过程中的平衡。由于生态化学计量学研究可以把生态实体的各个层次在元素水平上统一起来,因此生态化学计量学已成为许多生态系统的新兴研究工具。目前,生态化学计量学研究已深入到生态学的各个层次(分子、细胞、个体、种群、群落、生态系统)及区域等不同尺度。由于C、N、P对有机体和生态系统的结构和功能的重要作用,C:N:P化学计量学成为各种生态过程研究中的核心内容,其基本理论(动态平衡理论、生长速率理论)围绕C : N : P化学计量比而展开阐述。将生态化学计量学理论应用于全球格局下的生态系统研究时,产生了许多崭新的成果(如植物营养全球格局等)。希望对生态化学计量学的概念、核心理论和全球格局下的应用以及该学说的完善与发展状况的简单介绍,能有助于推动我国在此领域的相关研究。
英文摘要:
Ecological stoichiometry is a new study about the balance of multiple chemical elements in ecological interactions, coupling with biology, chemistry and physics. Recognizing that ecological stoichiometry can be used to unify all ecological processes; the theory has become new method in the ecosystem research. Nowadays, the theory has penetrated into every ecological phase under different scales. Key principles (homeostasis and growth rate hypothesis) of the stoichiometry are based upon the C : N : P stoichiometry which is the core of ecological stoichiometry. A number of new achievements arise when using ecological stoichiometry to investigate the ecosystem under global scale. At present, the theory has been broadly applied to research on global variation in plant nutrient, litter decomposition, global change and so on. This review aims to introduce the concepts, core principles, applications under global scale, and improvements of ecological stoichiometry to the investigators in China.