Elevated precipitation alters the community structure of spring ephemerals by changing dominant species density in Central Asia

Jia, Yangyang; Sun, Yu; Zhang, Tao; Shi, Zhengxiang; Maimaitiaili, Baidengsha; Chen, Tian; Feng, Gu

doi:10.1002/ece3.6057

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 63 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…Furthermore, because the dominant species is a perennial herb whose root system is primarily distributed in the soil surface layer (Sims et al, 1978), the dominant species responds more clearly to drought (Wraith et al, 1995). In addition, another study has found that increased precipitation significantly promotes the density of dominant species in semi‐arid ecosystems (Jia et al, 2020), which was inconsistent with our results. We found that increased precipitation did not significantly promote the growth of the dominant species.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Extreme drought alters plant community structure by changing dominant species growth in desert grassland

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2023

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Interannual precipitation changes, both in amount and frequency, are expected to increase due to climate change, and these changes could dramatically affect the structure and function of ecosystems. However, how plant life‐forms and dominant species regulate the plant community structure after precipitation changes remains unclear. Location Gaolan Experiment Station for Ecology and Agriculture Research of the Northwest Eco‐Environment and Resources Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, located in the desert grassland of the western Loess Plateau, China. Methods To investigate the effect of precipitation changes on the growth of communities, life‐forms, and species, we used rain shelters and irrigation to create a variety of precipitation gradients (i.e., −40%, −20%, 0% [= CK, i.e., control treatment], +20%, +40% of ambient precipitation) in desert grasslands from 2014 to 2015. Results The plant community density, coverage, and height were significantly decreased in the −40% treatment compared to CK. In contrast, species richness, Shannon–Wiener index, and Pielous' evenness did not respond significantly to the precipitation treatment. In addition, at the level of life‐forms, the density of perennial herbaceous plants was significantly increased by the +40% treatment in 2015, while the richness and density of annual herb were significantly inhibited by extreme drought. The effect on the shrub growth index of increasing and decreasing precipitation compared to the CK was insignificant. Furthermore, at the level of species, the growth of dominant species was obviously suppressed by the −40% and +40% treatment in 2015. However, the positive effect of the +40% treatment on the growth of rare species reached significant levels in 2015. Also, the change in precipitation did not have a significant effect on the growth of companion species. Dominant species primarily drove the response of community‐level plant growth to precipitation changes over the three‐year study period. Conclusion The response of plant community composition to changes in precipitation in desert grassland is largely regulated by changes in the composition of the dominant species. This finding could also provide a better prediction of the effects of extreme drought on desert grassland plant communities in the scenarios of future global climate change.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Extreme drought alters plant community structure by changing dominant species growth in desert grassland

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2023

J Vegetation Science

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“…In dryland, there are a special group of herbs called “ephemeral plants” that tend to grow fast, thereby completing their life cycles faster than other herbaceous plants [ 23 , 24 , 27 ]. In temperate desert ecosystems, spring ephemerals play an important role in the community structure [ 28 , 29 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, ephemeral plants were referred to as spring ephemeral plants, which germinate in early spring and generally complete their life cycle in 60–70 days (before the arrival of summer drought, dying before or in July) [ 27 , 28 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Therefore, according to their life history, these special plants were distinguished from the other long-lived herbaceous plants, following the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae ( , accessed on 5 December 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Water and Energy on Plant Diversity along the Aridity Gradient across Dryland in China

Yao

Akram

et al. 2021

Plants

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Plants need water and energy for their growth and reproduction. However, how water and energy availability influence dryland plant diversity along the aridity gradient in water-limited regions is still lacking. Hence, quantitative analyses were conducted to evaluate the relative importance of water and energy to dryland plant diversity based on 1039 quadrats across 184 sites in China’s dryland. The results indicated that water availability and the water–energy interaction were pivotal to plant diversity in the entire dryland and consistent with the predictions of the water–energy dynamic hypothesis. The predominance of water limitation on dryland plant diversity showed a weak trend with decreasing aridity, while the effects of energy on plants were found to be significant in mesic regions. Moreover, the responses of different plant lifeforms to water and energy were found to vary along the aridity gradient. In conclusion, the study will enrich the limited knowledge about the effects of water and energy on plant diversity (overall plants and different lifeforms) in the dryland of China along the aridity gradient.

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“…The relationship between precipitation and spring ephemeral growth seems to be incomplete in the literature. Matthews and Mazer (2016) reported delays in flowering with higher precipitation levels in Western North America, but most other spring ephemeral precipitation research has focused on desert climates ( Chen et al 2019 ; Jia et al 2019 ; Rominger et al 2019 ; Mu et al 2021 ). Despite the depth of research into the effects of temperature on spring ephemeral reproductive responses, no studies to our knowledge have examined how weather conditions of past seasons, including both temperature and precipitation, influence a change in aboveground cover for the following year.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interannual variation in spring weather conditions as a driver of spring wildflower coverage: a 15-year perspective from an old-growth temperate forest

Jahn,

Carrino-Kyker,

Burke

2023

AoB PLANTS

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Spring ephemerals are wildflowers found in temperate deciduous forests that typically display aboveground shoots for a period of two months or less. Early spring, before canopy leaf-out, marks the beginning of the aboveground growth period where ephemerals acquire nutrients and resources via aboveground tissues. Several studies have shown that spring ephemeral reproduction is affected by spring temperature, but few have looked at how weather conditions of the current and previous season, including precipitation and temperature, influence aboveground growth. Here we examine the response of a spring ephemeral community in a temperate hardwood forest to weather conditions during their current and previous growing seasons. For 15 years we estimated percent cover of each species within our community. We highlighted five dominant spring ephemerals within this community: wild leek (Allium tricoccum), cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata), spring beauty (Claytonia virginica), squirrel corn (Dicentra canadensis), and trout lily (Erythronium americanum). We compared changes in cover on both a community and species level from one year to the next with average precipitation and temperature of the year of measurement as well as the year prior. We found precipitation and temperature influence a change in cover at the community and species level, but the strength of that influence varies by species. There were few significant correlations between plant cover in the current year and temperature and precipitation in the 30 days preceding measurement. However, we found significant correlations between plant cover and precipitation and temperature during the previous spring; precipitation and cover change were positively correlated, while temperature and cover change were negatively correlated. Overall, cooler, wetter springs lead to an increase in aboveground cover the next year. Learning how individual species within a forest plant community respond to weather conditions is a crucial part of understanding how plant communities will respond to climate change.

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Elevated precipitation alters the community structure of spring ephemerals by changing dominant species density in Central Asia

Cited by 11 publications

References 63 publications

Extreme drought alters plant community structure by changing dominant species growth in desert grassland

Extreme drought alters plant community structure by changing dominant species growth in desert grassland

Effects of Water and Energy on Plant Diversity along the Aridity Gradient across Dryland in China

Interannual variation in spring weather conditions as a driver of spring wildflower coverage: a 15-year perspective from an old-growth temperate forest

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