Plant nitrogen retention in alpine grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau under multi-level nitrogen addition

Nitrogen (N) deposition might alleviate degradation of alpine grassland caused by N limitation on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). To determine such limitation and quantify the N-induced N retention in plant, a six-year fertilization experiment with six levels of N addition rates (0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 g N m(−2) yr(−1)) was conducted in the Namco alpine steppe and additional 89 experiments with multi-level N addition were also synthesized worldwide among which 27 sites were on the TP. In general, N addition promoted N retention in plants, and this increasing trend diminished at the critical N rate (N(cr)). The maximum N retention capacity (MNRC) of plants at N(cr) was strongly correlated with initial aboveground net primary productivity with a slope of 0.02, and the MNRC of grasslands globally ranged from 0.35 to 42.59 g N m(−2) yr(−1), approximately account for 39% of N(cr). Tibetan alpine grassland had a low average MNRC (2.24 g N m(−2) yr(−1)) with distinct regional characteristic, which was much lower in the western TP (0.80 g N m(−2) yr(−1)) than the eastern TP (4.10 g N m(−2) yr(−1)). Our results inferred 0.33–1.21 Tg N yr(−1) (0.22–0.79 g N m(−2) yr(−1)) can be retained and 5.65–20.11 Tg C yr(−1) (3.67–13.06 g C m(−2) yr(−1)) can be gained by Tibetan alpine grasslands under current N deposition level. With the aggravation of N deposition, the alpine steppe ecosystem might continuously absorb N and C until N deposition reaches N(cr).