Asymmetric warming significantly affects net primary production, but not ecosystem carbon balances of forest and grassland ecosystems in northern China

Su, Haijun; Feng, Jinchao; Axmacher, Jan C.; Sang, Weiguo

doi:10.1038/srep09115

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Precipitation and temperature effects on grassland productivity have been reasonably well studied [ 50 , 51 ], with the former being especially significant in arid regions [ 9 , 52 ]. It is particularly important to understand the potential influence of climate change on ecosystems within this area, given its large population [ 53 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical and model-based estimates of spatial and temporal variations in net primary productivity in semi-arid grasslands of Northern China

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatiotemporal variations in net primary productivity (NPP) reflect the dynamics of water and carbon in the biosphere, and are often closely related to temperature and precipitation. We used the ecosystem model known as the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) to estimate NPP of semiarid grassland in northern China counties between 2001 and 2013. Model estimates were strongly linearly correlated with observed values from different counties (slope = 0.76 (p < 0.001), intercept = 34.7 (p < 0.01), R2 = 0.67, RMSE = 35 g C·m-2·year-1, bias = -0.11 g C·m-2·year-1). We also quantified inter-annual changes in NPP over the 13-year study period. NPP varied between 141 and 313 g C·m-2·year-1, with a mean of 240 g C·m-2·year-1. NPP increased from west to east each year, and mean precipitation in each county was significantly positively correlated with NPP—annually, and in summer and autumn. Mean precipitation was positively related to NPP in spring, but not significantly so. Annual and summer temperatures were mostly negatively correlated with NPP, but temperature was positively correlated with spring and autumn NPP. Spatial correlation and partial correlation analyses at the pixel scale confirmed precipitation is a major driver of NPP. Temperature was negatively correlated with NPP in 99% of the regions at the annual scale, but after removing the effect of precipitation, temperature was positively correlated with the NPP in 77% of the regions. Our data show that temperature effects on production depend heavily on recent precipitation. Results reported here have significant and far-reaching implications for natural resource management, given the enormous size of these grasslands and the numbers of people dependent on them.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical and model-based estimates of spatial and temporal variations in net primary productivity in semi-arid grasslands of Northern China

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This warming process was consistent with the climate change prediction that global surface temperature is expected to elevate by 0.3–4.8 °C by the end of 2100 2 , with greater nocturnal warming in terrestrial environments 58 . This asymmetric warming produces different effects on terrestrial ecosystem functions 59 , such as limited plant growth of a steppe grass 60 , decreased grassland ANPP in North China 61 , less response in terms of phenological bud break of Picea mariana seedlings 62 , and no significant effect on wheat growth and yield in North China 63 . Our warming manipulation in a natural field can also mimic the effects of the predicted climate change scenario.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem responses to warming and watering in typical and desert steppes

Hou

Zhang

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Global warming is projected to continue, leading to intense fluctuations in precipitation and heat waves and thereby affecting the productivity and the relevant biological processes of grassland ecosystems. Here, we determined the functional responses to warming and altered precipitation in both typical and desert steppes. The results showed that watering markedly increased the aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) in a typical steppe during a drier year and in a desert steppe over two years, whereas warming manipulation had no significant effect. The soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and the soil respiration (SR) were increased by watering in both steppes, but the SR was significantly decreased by warming in the desert steppe only. The inorganic nitrogen components varied irregularly, with generally lower levels in the desert steppe. The belowground traits of soil total organic carbon (TOC) and the MBC were more closely associated with the ANPP in the desert than in the typical steppes. The results showed that the desert steppe with lower productivity may respond strongly to precipitation changes, particularly with warming, highlighting the positive effect of adding water with warming. Our study implies that the habitat- and year-specific responses to warming and watering should be considered when predicting an ecosystem’s functional responses under climate change scenarios.

show abstract

“…This is surprising given the fact that significant differences in specific desert soil processes have been recorded over the diel (24 hrs) cycle (e.g., CO 2 flux refs 26, 27, 28). In addition, asymmetrical diel warming; i.e., the increase in daily minimum temperature (T min ), is widely observed and set to continue in terrestrial ecosystems2930 and is likely to impact negatively on microbial communities and their processes31.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Diel-scale temporal dynamics recorded for bacterial groups in Namib Desert soil

Gunnigle

Frossard

Ramond

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microbes in hot desert soil partake in core ecosystem processes e.g., biogeochemical cycling of carbon. Nevertheless, there is still a fundamental lack of insights regarding short-term (i.e., over a 24-hour [diel] cycle) microbial responses to highly fluctuating microenvironmental parameters like temperature and humidity. To address this, we employed T-RFLP fingerprinting and 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA-derived cDNA to characterize potentially active bacteria in Namib Desert soil over multiple diel cycles. Strikingly, we found that significant shifts in active bacterial groups could occur over a single 24-hour period. For instance, members of the predominant Actinobacteria phyla exhibited a significant reduction in relative activity from morning to night, whereas many Proteobacterial groups displayed an opposite trend. Contrary to our leading hypothesis, environmental parameters could only account for 10.5% of the recorded total variation. Potential biotic associations shown through co-occurrence networks indicated that non-random inter- and intra-phyla associations were ‘time-of-day-dependent’ which may constitute a key feature of this system. Notably, many cyanobacterial groups were positioned outside and/or between highly interconnected bacterial associations (modules); possibly acting as inter-module ‘hubs’ orchestrating interactions between important functional consortia. Overall, these results provide empirical evidence that bacterial communities in hot desert soils exhibit complex and diel-dependent inter-community associations.

show abstract

Asymmetric warming significantly affects net primary production, but not ecosystem carbon balances of forest and grassland ecosystems in northern China

Cited by 20 publications

References 48 publications

Empirical and model-based estimates of spatial and temporal variations in net primary productivity in semi-arid grasslands of Northern China

Empirical and model-based estimates of spatial and temporal variations in net primary productivity in semi-arid grasslands of Northern China

Ecosystem responses to warming and watering in typical and desert steppes

Diel-scale temporal dynamics recorded for bacterial groups in Namib Desert soil

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About