Shrub patches capture tumble plants: potential evidence for a self-reinforcing pattern in a semiarid shrub encroached grassland

Yu, Yan Zhen; Xu, Donghui; Xu, Xingliang; Wang, Deli; Wang, Xu; Cai, Yurong; Chen, Jinqiang; Xin, Xiaoping; Eldridge, David J.

doi:10.1007/s11104-019-04189-5

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Till 1990, the C . microphylla shrub‐encroached grassland in these regions had been more than 5.1 × 10 6 ha (Peng et al, 2013; Yan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Cai et al, 2020;He, Han, Yu, & Chen, 2011). However, due to different intensities of overgrazing, most of the vegetation degraded, with a resulting decrease in species richness and diversity and a resulting increase in bare ground (Cai et al, 2020;Yan et al, 2019). Especially, inseverely degraded areas, C. microphylla shrubs invade and expand rapidly, showing a positive relationship between shrub cover of C. microphylla and degradation.…”

Section: Study Area and Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Especially, inseverely degraded areas, C. microphylla shrubs invade and expand rapidly, showing a positive relationship between shrub cover of C. microphylla and degradation. Till 1990, the C. microphylla shrub-encroached grassland in these regions had been more than 5.1 Â 10 6 ha (Peng et al, 2013;Yan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Study Area and Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shrub‐encroached grassland as an alternative stable state in semiarid steppe regions: Evidence from community stability and assembly

Hao

Yang

et al. 2021

Land Degrad Dev

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Understanding community restoration state and assembly mechanisms is helpful to assess restoration measures and predict community dynamics. In order to explore the effects of fencing duration and shrub cover on community stability and assembly, we investigated the community information and assessed the assembly mechanisms in plots using shrub cover of Caragana microphylla within each of the three sites fenced since 1979, 1983, and 2003 in a semiarid steppe region of China. Community composition was different among various fencing duration or shrub cover treatments. Shrub cover had a positive effect, and fencing duration had a negative effect on community stability, and both had indirect effects via regulating vegetation cover. Both shrub cover and fencing duration influenced phylogenetic structure directly and negatively, and indirectly via regulating Simpson's diversity and vegetation cover. Considering that the functional traits were phylogenetically convergent, community assembly mechanisms assessed by the values of phylogenetic structure shifted from stochasticity to competitive exclusion with the increase of shrub cover and fencing duration, and competitive exclusion dominated community assembly in the plots of low or high shrub cover in the site of fencing since 1979. The responses of community stability and community assembly to the changes of shrub cover and fencing duration suggest that the shrub‐encroached grassland is an alternative stable community state in semiarid steppe regions. Therefore, it is essential to distinguish shrub‐encroached grasslands from non‐encroached degraded grasslands when formulating relevant conservation and management measures in similar regions.

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“…Till 1990, the C . microphylla shrub‐encroached grassland in these regions had been more than 5.1 × 10 6 ha (Peng et al, 2013; Yan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Area and Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shrub‐encroached grassland as an alternative stable state in semiarid steppe regions: Evidence from community stability and assembly

Hao

Yang

et al. 2021

Land Degrad Dev

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“…Allington and Valone (2014) showed that grazing may be the cause of the fertile island effect associated with shrubs [11]. In grasslands of Inner Mongolia, overgrazing leads to the invasion of unpalatable shrubs, such as Caragana microphylla, resulting in a significant decline in grassland productivity [12]. Shrubs, however, change vegetation characteristics under the canopy through seed capture, promote seed production and protect topsoil, which can promote the growth and development of other plants under the canopy and provide them with an environment to growth more than the surrounding environment (the environment after shrub seeds enter the soil is more favourable for the growth of plants) [13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy grazing reduced the spatial heterogeneity of Artemisia frigida in desert steppe

Wang

Han

et al. 2022

BMC Plant Biol

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Background Grazing disturbance plays an important role in the desert steppe ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China. Previous studies found that grazing affected the spatial distribution of species in a community, and showed patchiness characteristics of species under different grazing treatments. Artemisia frigida is the dominant species and semi-shrub in desert steppe, and whether grazing interference will affect the spatial distribution of A. frigida is studied. In this study, geo-statistical methods were mainly used to study the spatial distribution characteristics of A. frigida population in desert steppe of Inner Mongolia at two scales (quadrat size 2.5 m × 2.5 m, 5 m × 5 m) and four stocking rates (control, CK, 0 sheep·ha–1·month–1; light grazing, LG, 0.15 sheep·ha–1·month–1, moderate grazing, MG, 0.30 sheep·ha–1·month–1, heavy grazing, HG, 0.45 sheep·ha–1·month–1). Results The results showed that the spatial distribution of A. frigida tended to be simplified with the increase of stocking rate, and tended to be banded with increased spatial scale. The density and height of A. frigida increased with increasing scale. With increased stocking rate, the density of A. frigida population decreased linearly, while its height decreased in a step-wise fashion. The spatial distribution of A. frigida was mainly affected by structural factors at different scales and stocking rate. The density of A. frigida was more sensitive to change in stocking rate, and the patchiness distribution of A. frigida was more obvious with increase in scale. Conclusions Stocking rate has a strong regulatory effect on the spatial pattern of A. frigida population in the desert steppe. Heavy grazing reduced the spatial heterogeneity of A. frigida in the desert steppe. The smaller dominant populations are unfavourable for its survival in heavy grazing condition, and affects the stability and productivity of the grassland ecosystem.

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“…Nebkhas, also called coppice or shrub‐coppice dunes (Hesp & Smyth, 2017), form in any region where there is a strong wind regime, available aeolian sediment capable of being entrained by these winds, and vegetation that can trap the transported sediment. Because of the vast regions they occupy worldwide, their formation and development have been extensively studied (Hasi et al , 2013; Zhang et al , 2013; Gillies et al , 2014; Hesp & Smyth, 2017; Mayaud et al , 2017; Zuo et al , 2018), along with their morphological properties (Yang et al , 2015) and environmental implications (Wang et al , 2006, 2010; Zou et al , 2016; Yan et al , 2019). However, there has been little research on the nebkhas that develop in areas of gobi desert (where the surface is covered with closely packed, interlocking angular or rounded rock fragments of gravel and cobble size).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nebkha dune morphology in the gobi deserts of northern China and potential implications for dust emission

et al. 2020

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Nebkhas (coppice dunes) have formed throughout the gobi desert regions of China in response to the decreased near-surface wind speed caused by vegetation, combined with deposition of aeolian sediment in and around the vegetation. Although nebkhas have been extensively studied on several land surfaces, they have not yet been fully described where they form in areas of gobi desert. Based on field investigations of nebkha morphology and adjacent land surface sediment content on and inside the surface of these dunes, the following were found: (i) the nebkhas that develop in gobi deserts consist of two typesdunes with or without a depositional tail (a shadow dune); (ii) the nebkhas in the area of gobi desert were smaller than those found in sandy deserts, oases, or other areas with a rich sediment source, with a mean height of 0.28 m, mean width 1.63 m and mean length 1.34 m; and (iii) the dune height, length and width were significantly positively linearly related to the vegetation height, length and width. These patterns were similar at all four of the study sites, but the relationships with dune width differed among the sites. The average particle-size distributions on and inside the vegetation did not differ between the four sites. However, significant spatial differences in the sediments on and inside the dunes indicate that nebkhas can capture both local and distant sediments driven by the wind. These findings suggest a potential role of nebkhas in dust emission, although this role must be confirmed in future research.

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Shrub patches capture tumble plants: potential evidence for a self-reinforcing pattern in a semiarid shrub encroached grassland

Cited by 10 publications

References 37 publications

Shrub‐encroached grassland as an alternative stable state in semiarid steppe regions: Evidence from community stability and assembly

Shrub‐encroached grassland as an alternative stable state in semiarid steppe regions: Evidence from community stability and assembly

Heavy grazing reduced the spatial heterogeneity of Artemisia frigida in desert steppe

Nebkha dune morphology in the gobi deserts of northern China and potential implications for dust emission

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