Contrasting Effects of Long-Term Grazing and Clipping on Plant Morphological Plasticity: Evidence from a Rhizomatous Grass

Li, Xiliang; Wu, Zinian; Liu, Zhiying; Hou, Xiangyang; Badgery, Warwick; H, Guo; Zhao, Qingshan; Hu, Ningning; Duan, Junjie; Ren, Weibo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141055

Cited by 36 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Our findings show that the majority of L. chinensis phenotypic traits tend to be reduced in response to long‐term mowing, which is consistent with the results from previous studies in many mowing experiments in semi‐arid grasslands (Li, Wu, et al., ; Spasojevic & Suding, ). We also found that the PI values of leaf and stem phenotypic traits were significantly positively correlated with mowing intensity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Plant sizes mediate mowing‐induced changes in nutrient stoichiometry and allocation of a perennial grass in semi‐arid grassland

Liu

Baoyin

Sun

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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While mowing‐induced changes in plant traits and their effects on ecosystem functioning in semi‐arid grassland are well studied, the relations between plant size and nutrient strategies are largely unknown. Mowing may drive the shifts of plant nutrient limitation and allocation. Here, we evaluated the changes in nutrient stoichiometry and allocation with variations in sizes of Leymus chinensis, the dominant plant species in Inner Mongolia grassland, to various mowing frequencies in a 17‐yr controlled experiment. Affected by mowing, the concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and carbon (C) in leaves and stems were significantly increased, negatively correlating with plant sizes. Moreover, we found significant trade‐offs between the concentrations and accumulation of N, P, and C in plant tissues. The N:P ratios of L. chinensis aboveground biomass, linearly correlating with plant size, significantly decreased with increased mowing frequencies. The ratios of C:N and C:P of L. chinensis individuals were positively correlated with plant size, showing an exponential pattern. With increased mowing frequencies, L. chinensis size was correlated with the allocation ratios of leaves to stems of N, P, and C by the tendencies of negative parabola, positive, and negative linear. The results of structure equation modeling showed that the N, P, and C allocations were co‐regulated by biomass allocation and nutrient concentration ratios of leaves to stems. In summary, we found a significant decoupling effect between plant traits and nutrient strategies along mowing frequencies. Our results reveal a mechanism for how long‐term mowing‐induced changes in concentrations, accumulations, ecological stoichiometry, and allocations of key elements are mediated by the variations in plant sizes of perennial rhizome grass.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Plant sizes mediate mowing‐induced changes in nutrient stoichiometry and allocation of a perennial grass in semi‐arid grassland

Liu

Baoyin

Sun

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Further evidence demonstrated that overgrazing-induced declines in photosynthesis were co-regulated by stomata size and chlorophyll content in field tests. Many studies that focused on the plant photosynthesis in response to biotic or abiotic disturbances support the results in this study to some extent (Zhao et al, 2009). Leaf photosynthetic plasticity, therefore, plays a key role in the adaptation of L. chinensis to long-term overgrazing through morphological plasticity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…It is likely that clonal transgenerational plasticity of plant photosynthetic capacity is subject to multiple photobiological processes in response to large herbivore grazing (Blankenship, 2002; Zhao et al, 2009). In addition to the role of photosynthetic organelles change, we propose that the observed phenomenon was also related to the changes in photosynthetic processes, such as light trapping and light energy transformation, and carbon assimilation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Overgrazing-Induced Memory Decreases Photosynthesis of Clonal Offspring in a Perennial Grassland Plant

Ren

Hou

et al. 2017

Front. Plant Sci.

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Previous studies of transgenerational plasticity have demonstrated that long-term overgrazing experienced by Leymus chinensis, an ecologically dominant, rhizomatous grass species in eastern Eurasian temperate grassland, significantly affects its clonal growth in subsequent generations. However, there is a dearth of information on the reasons underlying this overgrazing-induced memory effect in plant morphological plasticity. We characterized the relationship between a dwarf phenotype and photosynthesis function decline of L. chinensis from the perspective of leaf photosynthesis by using both field measurement and rhizome buds culture cultivated in a greenhouse. Leaf photosynthetic functions (net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular carbon dioxide concentration, and transpiration rate) were significantly decreased in smaller L. chinensis individuals that were induced to have a dwarf phenotype by being heavily grazed in the field. This decreased photosynthetic function was maintained a generation after greenhouse tests in which grazing was excluded. Both the response of L. chinensis morphological traits and photosynthetic functions in greenhouse were deceased relative to those in the field experiment. Further, there were significant decreases in leaf chlorophyll content and Rubisco enzyme activities of leaves between bud-cultured dwarf and non-dwarf L. chinensis in the greenhouse. Moreover, gene expression patterns showed that the bud-cultured dwarf L. chinensis significantly down-regulated (by 1.86- to 5.33-fold) a series of key genes that regulate photosynthetic efficiency, stomata opening, and chloroplast development compared with the non-dwarf L. chinensis. This is among the first studies revealing a linkage between long-term overgrazing affecting the transgenerational morphological plasticity of clonal plants and physiologically adaptive photosynthesis function. Overall, clonal transgenerational effects in L. chinensis phenotypic traits heavily involve photosynthetic plasticity.

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“…The changes in precipitation coincide with the changes in temperatures in June, July and August. The perennial plants grow from April/May to September/October, approximately 150 d (Li et al, 2015a). L. chinensis is a perennial rhizome grass that dominates in these steppe communities.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term effects of mowing on plasticity and allometry of Leymus chinensis in a temperate semi-arid grassland, China

Hou

Ren

et al. 2016

J. Arid Land

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Mowing is an important land management practice for natural semi-arid regions. A growing body of empirical evidence shows that different mowing regimes affect the functioning of grassland ecosystems. However, the responses of plant functional traits to long-term mowing and their allometric scaling under long-term mowing are poorly understood. For a better understanding of the effects of mowing on grassland ecosystems, we analyzed the allometric traits of leaves and stems of Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel., a dominant grass species in eastern Eurasian temperate grassland, at different mowing intensities (no clipping, clipping once every two years, once a year and twice a year). Experiments were conducted on plots established over a decade ago in a typical steppe of Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia, China. Results showed that most of the functional traits of L. chinensis decreased with the increased mowing intensity. The responses of leaves and stems to long-term mowing were asymmetric, in which leaf traits were more stable than stem traits. Also significant allometric relationships were found among most of the plant functional traits under the four mowing treatments. Sensitive traits of L. chinensis (e.g. leaf length and stem length) were primary indicators associated with aboveground biomass decline under high mowing intensity. In conclusion, the allometric growth of different functional traits of L. chinensis varies with different long-term mowing practices, which is likely to be a strategy used by the plant to adapt to the mowing disturbances.

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Contrasting Effects of Long-Term Grazing and Clipping on Plant Morphological Plasticity: Evidence from a Rhizomatous Grass

Cited by 36 publications

References 70 publications

Plant sizes mediate mowing‐induced changes in nutrient stoichiometry and allocation of a perennial grass in semi‐arid grassland

Plant sizes mediate mowing‐induced changes in nutrient stoichiometry and allocation of a perennial grass in semi‐arid grassland

Long-Term Overgrazing-Induced Memory Decreases Photosynthesis of Clonal Offspring in a Perennial Grassland Plant

Long-term effects of mowing on plasticity and allometry of Leymus chinensis in a temperate semi-arid grassland, China

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