Effects of litter quality and climate change along an elevation gradient on litter mass loss in an alpine meadow ecosystem on the Tibetan plateau

Xu, Guangping; Hu, Yigang; Wang, Shiping; Zhang, Zhenhua; Chang, Xiaofeng; Duan, Jichuang; Luo, Caiyun; Chao, Zengguo; Su, Ailing; Lin, Qiaoyan; Li, Yingnian; Du, Mingyuan

doi:10.1007/s11258-009-9714-0

Cited by 31 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The mass loss and rate of decomposition varied among the studied land uses, across and within the elevation gradient, which might be due to the litter quality, the presence of varying amounts of water-soluble compounds, physicochemical properties of the litter, and the presence of thick waxy cuticles (pine) [47,48]. A study by Xu et al [49] showed a significant decrease of mass loss with increased elevation, which is comparable with our result. The lowest rate in the forest was attributed to the surface area of pine needles and the cuticles inhibiting the supply of metabolites to the microbial community, which was expected to be the accelerating factor for cropland, shrubland, and grassland.…”

Section: Litter Decomposition In Different Land Use Types Along the Esupporting

confidence: 90%

“…A strong positive correlation between changing C and N concentrations of the decomposing litter in this study suggests that C mass loss was promoted by increasing N concentration. Besides decomposition dynamics, C/N, N/P, and C/P ratios are the factors controlling C loss [49]. A change in the potassium concentration was consistent throughout the decomposition period.…”

Section: Nutrient Dynamics During Decompositionmentioning

confidence: 85%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Nutrient and Isotopic Dynamics of Litter Decomposition from Different Land Uses in Naturally Restoring Taihang Mountain, North China

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Litter decomposition is a prominent pathway for nutrient availability and management in terrestrial ecosystems. An in-situ litter decomposition experiment was carried out for different land use types along an elevation gradient in the Taihang Mountain area restored after heavy forest degradation in the past. Four land use types, i.e., cropland, shrubland, grassland, and forest, selected randomly from a 300–700 m elevation were investigated for the experiment using the litter bag technique. Litter mass loss ranged from 26.9% (forest) to 44.3% (cropland) varying significantly among land use types. The initial litter quality, mainly N and C/N, had a significant effect on the litter loss rate. The interaction of elevation × land use types × time was significant (p < 0.001). Litter nutrient mobility (K > P ≈ N > C) of the decomposing litter was sporadic with substantial stoichiometric effects of C/N, N/P, and C/P. The residual litters were enriched in δ15N and depleted in 13C as compared to the initial litter. Increment of N, P, and 15N values in residual litter indicates that, even in the highly weathered substrate, plant litter plays a crucial role in conserving nutrients. This study is a strong baseline for monitoring the functioning of the Taihang Mountain ecosystem restored after the complete destruction in the early 1990s.

show abstract

Section: Litter Decomposition In Different Land Use Types Along the Esupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Nutrient Dynamics During Decompositionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Nutrient and Isotopic Dynamics of Litter Decomposition from Different Land Uses in Naturally Restoring Taihang Mountain, North China

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Litter quality, defined by C and nitrogen (N) concentrations (Yavitt & Fahey, 1986), C:N ratio (Edmonds, 1980), lignin concentrations (Gholz, Fisher & Prichett, 1985) and lignin:N ratio (Waring & Schlesinger, 1985;Aerts, 1997), also has important implications for the rates of mass loss. However, there is still no universally accepted litter-quality variable for aquatic ecosystems (Kuehn et al, 2011;Su, Kuehn & Phipps, 2015) because the process of litter mass loss depends on complex interactions between soil properties, water properties, climatic factors and litter types (Meentemeyer, 1978;Fierer et al, 2005;Xu et al, 2010;Handa et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term responses of leaf litter decomposition to temperature, litter quality and litter mixing in plateau wetlands

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Decomposition of plant litter is a key process in the flow of energy and nutrients in ecosystems. The extent and mechanisms towards which climate warming will affect litter decomposition in plateau wetlands remains largely unknown. We conducted a two‐year litter decomposition experiment along an elevation gradient from 1891 to 3260 m in China using litter from two dominant species of plateau wetland plants to determine the influences of temperature, litter quality and litter mixing on decomposition. The decomposition rate was significantly correlated with water temperature during the plant growing seasons and with litter quality during the winters. The temperature sensitivity of litter decomposition (Q10) was c. 3.02 along the elevation gradient, but mixed litter was more sensitive to temperature than the litter of either Scirpus tabernaemontani (grey club‐rush: Cyperaceae) or Zizania caduciflora (wild rice: Gramineae) alone. The concentration of nitrogen (N) and the ratio of N:P (phosphorus) had positive effects but the concentration of carbon (C) and the ratios of C:N and lignin:N had negative effects on the decomposition rate, especially during the winter. In addition, N concentration and the ratio of C:N were more significantly correlated with decomposition rate during the first winter, while the ratio of lignin:N was more significantly correlated with decomposition during the second winter. Consequently, climate warming may significantly impact biogeochemical cycling of plateau wetlands, notably C storage.

show abstract

“…The model has been used widely in more than 20 countries to obtain accurate calibration and verification results in various ecosystems (Abdalla et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2015;Li et al, 1996Li et al, , 2017Xu et al, 2003;Kariyapperuma et al, 2011;Zhao et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2006;Zhang and Niu, 2016).…”

Section: Dndc Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling impacts of climate change and grazing effects on plant biomass and soil organic carbon in the Qinghai–Tibetan grasslands

Zhang

et al. 2017

Biogeosciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The Qinghai Province supports over 40 % of the human population of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) but occupies about 29 % of its land area, and thus it plays an important role in the plateau. The dominant land cover is grassland, which has been severely degraded over the last decade due to a combination of increased human activities and climate change. Numerous studies indicate that the plateau is sensitive to recent global climate change, but the drivers and consequences of grassland ecosystem change are controversial, especially the effects of climate change and grazing patterns on the grassland biomass and soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in this region. In this study, we used the DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) model and two climate change scenarios (representative concentration pathways: RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) to understand how the grassland biomass and SOC pools might respond to different grazing intensities under future climate change scenarios. More than 1400 grassland biomass sampling points and 46 SOC points were used to validate the simulated results. The simulated above-ground biomass and SOC concentrations were in good agreement with the measured data (R 2 0.71 and 0.73 for above-ground biomass and SOC, respectively). The results showed that climate change may be the major factor that leads to fluctuations in the grassland biomass and SOC, and it explained 26.4 and 47.7 % of biomass and SOC variation, respectively. Meanwhile, the grazing intensity explained 6.4 and 2.3 % variation in biomass and SOC, respectively. The project average biomass and SOC between 2015 and 2044 was significantly smaller than past 30 years , and it was 191.17 g C m −2 , 63.44 g C kg −1 and 183.62 g C m −2 , 63.37 g C kg −1 for biomass and SOC under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. The RCP8.5 showed the more negative effect on the biomass and SOC compared with RCP4.5. Grazing intensity had a negative relationship with biomass and positive relationship with SOC. Compared with the baseline, the biomass and SOC changed by 12.56 and −0.19 % for G 0 , 7.23 and 0.23 for G −50 , and −5.17 and 1.19 % for G +50 . In the future, more human activity and management practices should be coupled into the model simulation.

show abstract

Effects of litter quality and climate change along an elevation gradient on litter mass loss in an alpine meadow ecosystem on the Tibetan plateau

Cited by 31 publications

References 37 publications

Nutrient and Isotopic Dynamics of Litter Decomposition from Different Land Uses in Naturally Restoring Taihang Mountain, North China

Nutrient and Isotopic Dynamics of Litter Decomposition from Different Land Uses in Naturally Restoring Taihang Mountain, North China

Long‐term responses of leaf litter decomposition to temperature, litter quality and litter mixing in plateau wetlands

Modeling impacts of climate change and grazing effects on plant biomass and soil organic carbon in the Qinghai–Tibetan grasslands

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About