Effects of climate change on phenology and primary productivity in the desert steppe of Inner Mongolia

Han, Fang; Zhang, Qing; Buyantuev, Alexander; Niu, Jianming; Liu, Pengtao; Li, Xinghua; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jing; ChangMing, Chang; Liu, Yunpeng

doi:10.1007/s40333-014-0042-4

Cited by 33 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…The timing of phenological events is a major determinant of plant productivity and species distribution (Vitasse et al 2011). It is related to seasonal and inter-annual dynamics of vegetation and is highly sensitive to climate variability , Han et al 2015, Keenan and Richardson 2015. Therefore, phenological characteristics can be used as an integrated indicator of climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling phenological responses of Inner Mongolia grassland species to regional climate change

Pan

et al. 2016

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Plant phenology is an important indicator of ecosystem dynamics and services. However, little is understood of its responses to climate change, particularly in ecologically sensitive regions such as arid and semi-arid grasslands. In this study, we analyzed a long-term climate and plant phenology dataset of thirteen grassland species in the Inner Mongolia of China, collected during 1981-2011 time period, to understand temporal patterns of plant phenology and then developed a simple chilling-adjusted physiological model to simulate phenological responses of each plant species to climate change. The results of regional climate analysis suggested that the minimum temperature was increasing at a greater rate than mean and maximum temperatures in the region and the climate variability had significant impacts on vegetation phenology. Chilling from an early stage in spring in general slowed down the phenological development in most plant species, although there were some inconsistencies among sites and years. Specifically, we found lower precipitation during green-up resulted in delayed flowering, which may attribute to plant self-adjustment strategy to respond changes in climate. These climate dependent phenologies were characterized by a simple physiological model. Scenario analysis suggested that by 2071-2100 significant shifts in plant phenology are expected in Inner Mongolia, including as much as 6-11 days earlier in green-up time and 8-11 days shorter in growing season due to earlier senescence.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling phenological responses of Inner Mongolia grassland species to regional climate change

Pan

et al. 2016

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Furthermore, precipitation was coupled to a shift in maximum NDVI [28]. The restrictive role of minimum temperatures in the growth of subalpine plants requires further study as it is expected to be closely associated with the frequency of frost risk in spring and autumn [35,36].…”

Section: Effects Of Temperature On Shrub Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenology of Five Shrub Communities along an Elevation Gradient in the Qilian Mountains, China

Zhao

Liu

et al. 2018

Forests

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Abstract:Phenology indicates the response of ecosystem dynamics to climate change. Shrubs are an important component of alpine forests, and play a key role in forest ecosystem function, especially in semiarid alpine regions. In 2015, we observed the dynamics of phenology in five shrub communities along an elevation gradient (2600-3300 m) in the Qilian Mountains. Our results showed that the length of the growing season decreased from 153 days for Caragana tangutica to 150 days for Berberis diaphana, 149 days for Potentilla fruticosa L., 144 days for Caragana jubata (Pall.) Poir., and 134 days for Salix gilashanica C. Wang et P. Y. Fu. The accumulated temperature of the five shrub communities during the growing season varied from 1735.4 • C for C. tangutica to 1051.3 • C for C. jubata. The beginning of the growing season was earlier at lower, than at higher, elevations, while the end of the growing season was later at lower, than at higher, elevations. Elevation and aspect were two important environmental factors that affected shrub phenology. In our study, low temperature, coinciding with the occurrence of early frost, particularly in higher elevations, was the key factor in promoting end-of-season shrub growth cessation.

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“…Therefore, species of the LSS grassland need to consume smaller amounts of water per unit of photosynthetic products relative to species of the ESS grassland. Consequently, species of the LSS grassland present more efficient ecophysiological adaptations under drought conditions, and achieve a favorable water balance (Han et al, 2015). Higher water use efficiency at late successional stages is directly connected with higher net production.…”

Section: Figure 4 Relationship Between Leaf Water Potential (ψ) and mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Odum (1985) demonstrated that in stressed ecosystems the expected trends include changes in energetic, nutrient cycling, and community structure and function. In arid and semiarid regions, annual changes in productivity due to changes in precipitation are often much larger than those due to small changes in the composition of vegetation as a result of the improvement or deterioration of the ecosystem (Laycock, 1989;Han et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In such cases, it would be desirable to maintain the grassland in a successional stage where the optimum composition of vegetation for grazing animals, coexists with high productivity while ensuring the balance of the ecosystem (Sharma, 2009;Han et al, 2015). In the Mediterranean basin, the productivity of grasslands depends directly on water availability and species richness, productivity and plant cover are expected to decrease with increasing aridity (Bartha et al, 2011;Meiners et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Water Use Efficiency and Net Production of Two Semi Arid Grasslands in Different Successional Stages

Karatassiou¹

2016

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract. The productivity of Mediterranean grasslands, which depends on successional stage, climatic factors and human interventions, cannot fulfil forage demands of ruminants during the dry summer period. The current paper investigates whether the successional stage of vegetation could alter the water use efficiency during the semiarid period of summer and whether the productivity of low elevation Greek grasslands may be approached by the traditional concept of succession. Seasonal trends in physiological parameters, such as net photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate as well as net productivity was recorded in the most dominant species of two grasslands at an early and late successional stage (ESS and LSS respectively). The results reveal significant differences in net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and water use efficiency of the most dominant species between the two grasslands throughout the season. Net production was significantly higher in the LSS grassland especially during the drier parts of the season (middle summer). The higher water use efficiency and higher net production in late successional stages of the lowland Mediterranean grasslands that we have examined in the current study suggests a rather substantial divergence from the traditional view of the succession theory regarding productivity.

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Effects of climate change on phenology and primary productivity in the desert steppe of Inner Mongolia

Cited by 33 publications

References 32 publications

Modeling phenological responses of Inner Mongolia grassland species to regional climate change

Modeling phenological responses of Inner Mongolia grassland species to regional climate change

Phenology of Five Shrub Communities along an Elevation Gradient in the Qilian Mountains, China

Water Use Efficiency and Net Production of Two Semi Arid Grasslands in Different Successional Stages

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