[Effects of different phosphorus application rates on growth, ¹⁵N-urea absorption, and utilization characteristics of...

Three kinds of potted one-year-old pear rootstocks (Pyrus calleryana, P. pashia, and P. xerophila) and ¹⁵N trace technique were used to examine the effects of different phosphorus application rates (P₀, P₁, P₂, P₃ and P₄ equivalent to 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg·hm^-2 P₂O₅, respectively) on plant growth and the characteristics of ¹⁵N-urea absorption and utilization. The results showed that, with the increases of phosphorus levels, plant height, ground diameter, dry mass, root surface area, root length, number of root tips, root activity, root respiration rate, Ndff values, and nitrogen use efficiency of rootstocks first increased and then decreased. However, the range of rise and fall of different rootstocks were distinct, and each index reached the highest level at different phosphorus levels. The plant height, diameter, dry mass of P. xerophila were the highest under the same phosphorus level, followed by P. pashia, and P. calleryana was the lowest. The root architecture parameters and root respiration rate showed the same trend, but Ndff values and nitrogen use efficiency performed different. Under different phosphorus levels, each index of P. xerophila reached the highest level at P₃, but those of P. pashia and P. calleryana appeared at P₂ and P₁ rates, respectively. The Ndff values in stem were the highest among different organs of rootstocks at diffe-rent phosphorus levels, and the highest nitrogen use efficiency of P. xerophila, P. pashia and P. calleryana was 9.6%, 8.9% and 8.3%, respectively. The variations of plant growth and N absorption and utilization of different pear rootstocks across different phosphorus levels indicated that phosphorus fertilizer should be carry out reasonably in practice and give full consideration of phosphorus demands of plants.