Drought mildly reduces plant dominance in a temperate prairie ecosystem across years

Castillioni, Karen; Wilcox, Kevin R.; Jiang, Lifen; Luo, Yiqi; Jung, Chang Gyo; Souza, Lara

doi:10.1002/ece3.6400

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(81 reference statements)

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“…We found that responses were species-specific as hypothesized. Our previous study 43 on species-specific responses to precipitation and clipping showed a small number of significant interactive effects between these treatments. Here we found that most species performance metrics, but especially plant height, mainly were influenced by change in abiotic variables; if altered precipitation co-occurs with hay harvest, it negatively impacts plant performance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Permission to use this study site was obtained from KAEFS Steering Committee. The study site is dominated by C 4 and C 3 graminoids, and C 3 forbs 43 . Annual precipitation in 2017 was 992.12 mm (historical average in 1998–2016: 872.76 mm) and mean air temperature was 16.66 °C (historical average in 1998–2016: 16.15 °C) (Supplementary Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Functional traits that allow tolerance to drought may overlap with traits that provide tolerance to disturbance like vegetation clipping, thus traits can ultimately determine the response of functional types 39 , 40 . For example, C 4 plants use water more efficiently 41 , and some are adapted to disturbances such as grazing, which should give them higher competitive ability to handle water stress and defoliation relative to C 3 counterparts 42 , 43 . Research focusing on responses of C 3 and C 4 species must consider adaptations of these functional types to tease apart how performance of each is shaped by abiotic vs. biotic variables across an environmental gradient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Precipitation effects on grassland plant performance are lessened by hay harvest

Castillioni

Patten

Souza

2022

Sci Rep

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Climate and human management, such as hay harvest, shape grasslands. With both disturbances co-occurring, understanding how these ecosystems respond to these combined drivers may aid in projecting future changes in grasslands. We used an experimental precipitation gradient combined with mimicked acute hay harvest (clipping once a year) to examine (1) whether hay harvest influences precipitation effects on plant performance (cover and height) and (2) the role of inter-specific responses in influencing plant performance. We found that hay harvest reduced the strength of precipitation effects on plant performance through changes in bare-ground soil cover. Species performance were mainly influenced by change in abiotic factors, often responding negatively, as hay harvest increased bare-ground amount. Conversely, altered precipitation without hay harvest promoted plant species performance through abiotic factors change first, followed by biotic. Most species, including the dominant grass Schizachyrium scoparium, increased their performance with greater leaf area index (proxy for canopy structure). Our experiment demonstrates that plant performance responds directly to abiotic factors with hay harvest, but indirectly without hay harvest. Positive effects of increasing precipitation were likely due to microhabitat amelioration and resource acquisition, thus inclusion of hay harvest as a disturbance lessens positive impacts of biotic variables on species performance to climate change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Precipitation effects on grassland plant performance are lessened by hay harvest

Castillioni

Patten

Souza

2022

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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“…70 cm, and a moderately penetrable root zone (Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture). The site is dominated by C 4 graminoids, C 3 annuals, and C 3 perennial forbs (Buthod & Hoagland, 2016; Castillioni et al ., 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of drought on grassland phenology depend on functional types

et al. 2022

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Shifts in flowering phenology are important indicators of climate change. However, the role of precipitation in driving phenology is far less understood compared with other environmental cues, such as temperature.We use a precipitation reduction gradient to test the direction and magnitude of effects on reproductive phenology and reproduction across 11 plant species in a temperate grassland, a moisture-limited ecosystem. Our experiment was conducted in a single, relatively wet year. We examine the effects of precipitation for species, functional types, and the community.Our results provide evidence that reduced precipitation shifts phenology, alters flower and fruit production, and that the magnitude and direction of the responses depend on functional type and species. For example, early-blooming species shift toward earlier flowering, whereas later-blooming species shift toward later flowering. Because of opposing species-level shifts, there is no overall shift in community-level phenology.This study provides experimental evidence that changes in rainfall can drive phenological shifts. Our results additionally highlight the importance of understanding how plant functional types govern responses to changing climate conditions, which is relevant for forecasting phenology and community-level changes. Specifically, the implications of divergent phenological shifts between early-and late-flowering species include resource scarcity for pollinators and seed dispersers and new temporal windows for invasion.

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“…The greater the important value, the greater the dominance. [20,21]. Set 9 plots for each degradation degree.…”

Section: Measurement Of Species Dominancementioning

confidence: 99%

Seed Characteristics Determine Species Composition of Degraded Alpine Meadow Communities

Yang

2022

Preprint

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Climate change and human activities are increasing the disturbance to alpine meadows in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, these changes are reducing the abundance of previously-dominant Gramineae and sedges, with forbs establishing dominance through secondary succession. Forbs replaced native Gramineae and sedges as dominant species. To explain the formation mechanism of this succession, this paper studied the seed characteristics of 14 common plants in alpine meadow communities, including seed number, 1000-grain weight, germination rate, pappus characteristics, fall velocity. It is revealed that seed pappus characteristics are the key factors in determining the dominance of species on the secondary bare land of degraded alpine meadows. The results of the comprehensive evaluation method show that Asteraceae have higher diffuse ability than Gramineae, sedges, Apiaceae and Leguminosae due to lower falling speed of Asteraceae, caused by their pappus. The redundancy analysis results further explain the reasons for the emergence of corresponding dominant species in different degradation stages of alpine meadows. These results are helpful for understanding changes in plant communities in alpine meadows under grazing disturbance. They also provide a theoretical basis for the sustainable utilization and management of the alpine meadow ecosystem and restoration of degraded grassland.

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Drought mildly reduces plant dominance in a temperate prairie ecosystem across years

Cited by 12 publications

References 58 publications

Precipitation effects on grassland plant performance are lessened by hay harvest

Precipitation effects on grassland plant performance are lessened by hay harvest

Effects of drought on grassland phenology depend on functional types

Seed Characteristics Determine Species Composition of Degraded Alpine Meadow Communities

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