Sand dune stabilization changes the vegetation characteristics and soil seed bank and their correlations with environmental factors

Abstract

Currently the amount of data available on the effect of sand dune stabilization on species conservation in inter-dune lowland is very limited, especially for the sand dune systems in semi-arid regions. In this study, we determined whether the characteristics of above-ground vegetation, soil seed bank and their relationships with environmental factors changed with sand dune stabilization in the inter-dune lowlands in Horqin Sandy Land, China. Species composition, abundance and coverage of aboveground vegetation as well as soil seed bank composition and density were surveyed and their correlations with environmental factors (pH, organic matter content, total nitrogen and total phosphorus) were determined. The results showed that changes in the relationship between aboveground vegetation, soil seed bank and soil quality followed the changes in aboveground vegetation and soil seed banks. Aboveground vegetation species richness increased with sand dune stabilization, but soil seed bank species richness declined. The inter-dune lowland of active sand dunes could provide specific habitats for some endemic species and pioneer psammophyte species as indicated by data on aboveground vegetation and soil seed bank. Our results suggested that both active and stabilized sand dunes should be maintained since active sand dunes are essential for the survival of endemic or pioneer species and stabilized sand dunes are important for sustaining species richness.

Near‐optimal control of a stochastic vegetation‐water system with reaction diffusion

“…Additional details can be found in Klausmeier. 24 Taking into account stochastic factors such as drought and reduced rain may change the vegetation mortality rate and the water evaporation rate in model (1), and inspired by previous studies [14][15][16] above, we assume that the death coefficients M and L are affected by random noise. Then, system (1) becomes…”

“…Lemma 2.2. For model (1), we know that (a) it admits a unique positive solution (P(x, t), W(x, t)) for all t ≥ 0 almost surely (a.s.); Furthermore,…”

Stability and micro‐topographic effects of Sophora moorcroftiana population on a restored alluvial fan, Southern Tibetan Plateau

“…The Southern Tibetan Plateau, often called the “Third Pole” of the Earth, is one of the most ecologically vulnerable regions in terms of grassland degradation (Liao et al, 2019; Li et al, 2019). In many dune habitats, shrub species are the crucial element for rehabilitating a degraded grassland ecosystem, because they promote greater substrate stability and decrease sand movement (Liu and Zhang, 2018; Wang et al, 2019). Shrub species are distributed widely across almost the whole Southern Tibetan Plateau and withstand the harsh environment of low oxygen, drought, salinity, and cold temperatures (Zhang et al, 2016; Li et al, 2017).…”

The influence of the agricultural management systems in the maintenance of the biodiversity in benefit of the Phyto sanity control

“…Several coastal dune systems have become increasingly vegetated in recent decades, for example in Africa [28], United Kingdom [43], Europe [12], China [56], Australia [7] and in Brazil [35] is not different. Santa Catarina Island is located in southern Brazil.…”