Allocation of vegetation biomass across a climate-related gradient in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia

Fan, Jiangwen; Wang, K.; Harris, W.; Zhong, Hao; Hu, Zhongmin; Han, Bing; Zhang, W.Y.; Wang, J.B.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2008.12.004

Cited by 80 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…This traverses the Inner Mongolian and Qinghai-Tibet Plateaus extending through the provinces of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai and Tibet (Han et al 2006;Hu et al 2007Hu et al , 2010Fan et al 2008Fan et al , 2009). Approximately 5000 km long, the transect lies in a northeast to southwest direction from Hailar, Inner Mongolia (49°15¢N, 119°15¢E) in the east to Pulan (Burang Xian), Tibet (30°15¢ N, 81°10¢ E) in the west (Fig.…”

Section: Research Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Stoichiometry of leaf nitrogen and phosphorus of grasslands of the Inner Mongolian and Qinghai‐Tibet Plateaus in relation to climatic variables and vegetation organization levels

Fan

Harris

2016

Ecological Research

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Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are most commonly the limiting essential elements that affect the functioning of plants and ecosystems. However, their stoichiometry in relation to climatic variables and vegetation organization levels has not been comprehensively characterized. N and P concentrations were measured for 329 leaf samples collected at 132 sites along the 5000 km long China Grassland Transect that traverses the Inner Mongolian and Qinghai-Tibet Plateaus. The patterns of these measurements were analyzed with reference to climate factors, plant species, plant functional groups, grassland communities and grassland ecosystems. The aim was to explore whether geographical patterns of plant leaf elements are related to zonal climatic variables, and at which vegetation organization levels changes of plant leaf N and P stoichiometric characteristics and pattern occur. Results showed that interspecific differences of N and P concentrations were most significant for the three vegetation organization levels of species, community and ecosystem. Plant leaf N and P concentrations were higher, coefficients of variation of N and P lower, and N/P, C/N and C/P ratios were also lower for leaf samples from the cold high altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau than for those from the relatively lower altitude and warmer Inner Mongolian Plateau. Correlation of N and P for Inner Mongolian grassland was higher than that for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The study indicates plant species are the most basic unit influencing plant stoichiometric geographic patterns, and that climatic variables affect leaf element concentrations mainly through their effect on changes of plant species composition of vegetation.

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Section: Research Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Stoichiometry of leaf nitrogen and phosphorus of grasslands of the Inner Mongolian and Qinghai‐Tibet Plateaus in relation to climatic variables and vegetation organization levels

Fan

Harris

2016

Ecological Research

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“…3d), is a common feature of alpine vegetation (Körner 1989) and has been suggested to be an adaptation to low temperatures of high-altitude environments (Fan et al 2008(Fan et al , 2009). It has also been suggested that a large mass of below-ground biomass in low temperature environments maintains higher soil temperature increasing the efficiency of nutrient absorption by roots Fan et al 2009). Further, low temperature not only reduces the photosynthetic rate of plants, but can also reduce respiratory losses allowing the accumulation of biomass (Chapin et al 1987).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The relationship between plant species richness and biomass is also a topic of several studies of terrestrial ecosystems (Kassen et al 2000;Lomolino 2001;Mittelbach et al 2001;Whittaker and Heegaard 2003), but biomass measured in these studies is mostly that above-ground. Below-ground biomass affects subsurface biogeochemical processes and soil development to modify the habitat for vegetation, and consequently influences above-ground community structure and species richness in interaction with environmental factors (e.g., precipitation and temperature) (Fan et al 2009;Wang et al 2007Wang et al , 2008. Thus, there is a need for further studies of relationships between species richness and below-ground biomass.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive characteristics of grassland community structure and leaf traits along an altitudinal gradient on a subtropical mountain in Chongqing, China

et al. 2011

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Community structure and leaf traits are important elements of terrestrial ecosystems. Changes of community structure and leaf traits are of particular use in the study of the influence of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. Patterns of community structure (including species richness, above-and belowground biomass) and leaf traits (including leaf mass per area (LMA), nitrogen content both on mass and area bases (N mass and N area ), and foliar d 13 C) from 19 grassland plots along an altitudinal transect at Hongchiba in Chongqing, China, were analyzed. Species richness along the altitudinal transect had a humpshaped pattern. Above-ground biomass had a quadratic decrease along the altitudinal gradient whereas below-ground biomass had the opposite pattern. Change of above-ground biomass of various taxonomic groups with altitude was also studied. Poaceae showed strong negative relationships and Asteraceae showed a hump-shaped relationship with increase of altitude. Five common species of the grassland, Trifolium pratense, Geranium wilfordii, Aster tataricus, Leontopodium leontopodioides, and Spiraea prunifolia, were particularly studied for variation of leaf traits along the altitudinal gradient. Averaged for all species, LMA, N area and foliar d 13 C had positive correlations with altitude. N mass did not change significantly as altitude increased. LMA and N area showed significant positive relationships with foliar d 13 C. The adaptive features of leaf traits among different species were not consistent. The study highlights specific adaptation patterns in relation to altitude for different plant species, provides further insights into adaptive trends of community structure and leaf traits in a specific ecological region filling a gap in the definition of global patterns, and adds to the understanding of how adaptive patterns of plants may respond to global climate change.

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“…The ecosystems with higher biomass proportion in leaves would have a higher CUE than ecosystems with a greater belowground biomass or other non-photosynthetic proportion. Previous findings also indicated that Stipa grandis-dominant steppe had a higher biomass proportion in leaves [12,16]. Moreover, Reichstein et al [36,37] indicated that, compared with traditional biome differences, the differences of plant traits may better explain ecosystem functional variations, including CUE.…”

Section: Effect Of Different Land-use Patterns On Ecosystem Cuementioning

confidence: 98%

“…In particular, the area serves to protect Beijing from devastating sand storms. Arid and semi-arid ecosystems have also been shown to be easily damaged by overgrazing [12][13][14]. As a consequence, the government has invested great efforts in local ecological construction and restoration, and large areas of steppe in this region have been involved in related projects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Carbon-Use Efficiency Among Different Land-Use Patterns of the Temperate Steppe in the Northern China Pastoral Farming Ecotone

Fan

2018

Sustainability

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Carbon-use efficiency (CUE) is the proportion of gross primary production converted to net primary production. Changes to CUE strongly influence ecosystem carbon budgets and turnover. Little is known about the response of ecosystem CUE to human-induced land-use change, which limits the accurate evaluation of the environmental influence of large-scale steppe-use changes in northern China. We investigated the components of ecosystem carbon exchange and CUE under three typical steppe-use patterns in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia. The results showed that CUE in grazing and grazing-excluded steppe were not significantly different (both over 0.7) but were significantly higher than in cultivated steppe (0.57). Ecosystem respiration and its components, including autotrophic respiration (Ra), aboveground respiration, heterotrophic respiration and belowground respiration showed significant negative correlation with CUE. Ra is the most important factor explaining the variation of CUE between different steppe-use patterns (p < 0.001, 97%); Ra change may be the primary factor driving CUE variation between steppe-use patterns. Leaf area index of different grassland-use patterns also showed a significant negative correlation with CUE (p < 0.001, 91%). These findings may help to improve accurate prediction of the environmental and climatic consequences of large-scale land-use change.

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Allocation of vegetation biomass across a climate-related gradient in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia

Cited by 80 publications

References 40 publications

Stoichiometry of leaf nitrogen and phosphorus of grasslands of the Inner Mongolian and Qinghai‐Tibet Plateaus in relation to climatic variables and vegetation organization levels

Stoichiometry of leaf nitrogen and phosphorus of grasslands of the Inner Mongolian and Qinghai‐Tibet Plateaus in relation to climatic variables and vegetation organization levels

Adaptive characteristics of grassland community structure and leaf traits along an altitudinal gradient on a subtropical mountain in Chongqing, China

Comparison of Carbon-Use Efficiency Among Different Land-Use Patterns of the Temperate Steppe in the Northern China Pastoral Farming Ecotone

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