Abstract:It is essential to understand the physiological and ecological responses and life-history strategies adjustment by investigating the stoichiometric characteristics of bamboos in different elevation and growth stages. The contents of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) of five bamboos leaf, branch, and culm, as well as the homeostatic index (H) were measured in two growth stages in Wuyi Mountain, respectively. The results show that although the N:P of bamboos branch does not change with different growth stages, the coefficient of variation of N and P content of each organ is significantly larger than that of C. The coefficient of variation of N and P content for culm is significantly larger than leaf and branch. The contents of branch N and P in April and leaf N and P in August of Phyllostachys edulis decrease with the increase of elevation. For Indocalamus tessellatus, the contents of leaves N and P show significantly increased with the elevation. The response of culm N content in bamboos increases considerably due to the interactions between elevation and growth stages. The homeostatic regulation mechanisms of N in leaf, N, and P in culm have been showing at different growth stages, but not for the bamboo branch. In a word, on the one hand, the results indicate that the five bamboos are preferring to maintain the stoichiometric homeostasis mechanism of leaf N. On the other hand, the bamboo adjusting by the content of N and P in culm to cope with the variations on nutrient utilization strategies during the elevation and growth stage changes.