Predicting parameters of degradation succession processes of Tibetan &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Kobresia&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; grasslands

Lin, Li; Li, Y. K.; Xu, Xingliang; Zhang, F. W.; Du, Yangong; Liu, S. L.; Guo, Xiaowei; Cao, Guangmin

doi:10.5194/se-6-1237-2015

Cited by 69 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This finding is in agreement with a previous study in fenced alpine meadow (Wu et al, 2009). It is also consistent with the result of Lin et al (2015), which showed that plant functional group shifted from rhizome bunch grasses to rhizome plexus and dense plexus grasses during the degradation process in alpine meadow. It is worthwhile emphasizing that the importance of establishing and maintaining grassland communities with high diversity of dominant species and functional groups for grassland restoration has been previously recognized (Bai et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Diversity–Productivity Trade‐off During Converting Cropland to Perennial Grassland in the Semi‐arid Areas of China

Liu

Ding

et al. 2016

Land Degrad Dev

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The trade‐off between plant community structure and function is an important issue during grassland restoration. It is essential to assess changes of structure and function after converting farmland to grassland. Three restoration stages (5, 15, and 30 years) were studied to determine the optimum time when the trade‐off between diversity and productivity occurs. The results showed that the vegetation coverage, height, and productivity significantly increased, but the species richness, diversity, and density significantly decreased along the restoration time. Grassland community presented a succession from small individuals and high density to larger individuals and lower density. The community changed from being dominated by grass and forb functional groups to being dominated only by the grass functional group. The dominant grass functional group plays a decisive role on community structure and function (productivity, diversity, and density) during grassland succession. Our results suggest that community structure and function were mainly driven by the dominant grass functional group during the long‐term succession. Grassland should be utilized to suppress the leading role of the dominant functional groups in the 20th year for keeping the trade‐off of diversity and productivity. We suggest that the restoration grassland should be considered to use appropriately in the 20th year. Our study could provide a key guidance for maintaining the community structure and function trade‐off for cropland‐converted grassland management in the semi‐arid areas. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Diversity–Productivity Trade‐off During Converting Cropland to Perennial Grassland in the Semi‐arid Areas of China

Liu

Ding

et al. 2016

Land Degrad Dev

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“…Generally, grassland desertification is considered as the loss of the ability of a landscape to provide ecosystem services due to a change in soil properties, vegetation, or climate (D'Odorico et al 2013). The process of grassland degradation and desertification is complex in view of the diversity of factors influencing grassland degradation and desertification, including natural factors (e.g., climate, fire, and species invasion) and anthropogenic factors (e.g., overgrazing and reclamation; Gong et al 2015, Lin et al 2015, Hu et al 2016, Pereira et al 2016. It could involve a decrease of greenness and productivity, along with biodiversity loss; but it also could relate to an increase of greenness due to shrub encroachment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exacerbated grassland degradation and desertification in Central Asia during 2000–2014

Zhang

Biradar²,

Xiao

et al. 2018

Ecological Applications

106

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Grassland degradation and desertification is a complex process, including both state conversion (e.g., grasslands to deserts) and gradual within-state change (e.g., greenness dynamics). Existing studies hardly separated the two components and analyzed it as a whole based on time series vegetation index data, which cannot provide a clear and comprehensive picture for grassland degradation and desertification. Here we propose an integrated assessment strategy, by considering both state conversion and within-state change of grasslands, to investigate grassland degradation and desertification process in Central Asia. First, annual maps of grasslands and sparsely vegetated land were generated to track the state conversions between them. The results showed increasing grasslands were converted to sparsely vegetated lands from 2000 to 2014, with the desertification region concentrating in the latitude range of 43-48° N. A frequency analysis of grassland vs. sparsely vegetated land classification in the last 15 yr allowed a recognition of persistent desert zone (PDZ), persistent grassland zone (PGZ), and transitional zone (TZ). The TZ was identified in southern Kazakhstan as one hotspot that was unstable and vulnerable to desertification. Furthermore, the trend analysis of Enhanced Vegetation Index during thermal growing season (EVI ) was investigated in individual zones using linear regression and Mann-Kendall approaches. An overall degradation across the area was found; moreover, the second desertification hotspot was identified in northern Kazakhstan with significant decreasing in EVI , which was located in PGZ. Finally, attribution analyses of grassland degradation and desertification were conducted by considering precipitation, temperature, and three different drought indices. We found persistent droughts were the main factor for grassland degradation and desertification in Central Asia. Considering both state conversion and gradual within-state change processes, this study provided reference information for identification of desertification hotspots to support further grassland degradation and desertification treatment, and the method could be useful to be extended to other regions.

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“…Previous studies have suggested that there may be a secondary successional change from swamp to swamp meadow and mature meadow and that soil water availability may be the main driver of this successional process (Ma et al, 2014;He and Richards, 2015;Lin et al, 2015). At the same time, plant functional traits play an important role in predicting the patterns of species composition, community structure, and their responses to environment change, which has drawn substantial ecological interest (e.g., Wright et al, 2004;McGill et al, 2006;Pérez et al, 2014;Li et al, 2015a); however, it is not clear whether functional traits and functional diversity (i.e., the identity, abundance, and range of species in a given community) can reflect the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau.…”

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confidence: 99%

Community-weighted mean traits but not functional diversity determine the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau

Epstein

Wen

et al. 2017

Solid Earth

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Abstract. Climate change and human activities have caused a shift in vegetation composition and soil biogeochemical cycles of alpine wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau. The primary goal of this study was to test for associations between community-weighted mean (CWM) traits, functional diversity, and soil properties during wetland drying. We collected soil samples and investigated the aboveground vegetation in swamp, swamp meadow, and typical meadow environments. Four CWM trait values (specific leaf area is SLA, leaf dry matter content is LDMC, leaf area is LA, and mature plant height is MPH) for 42 common species were measured across the three habitats; three components of functional diversity (functional richness, functional evenness, and functional divergence) were also quantified at these sites. Our results showed that the drying of the wetland dramatically altered plant community and soil properties. There was a significant correlation between CWM of traits and soil properties, but not a significant correlation between functional diversity and soil properties. Our results further showed that CWM-LA, CWM-SLA, and CWM-LDMC had positive correlations with soil readily available nutrients (available nitrogen, AN; available phosphorus, AP), but negative correlations with total soil nutrients (soil organic carbon is SOC, total nitrogen is TN, and total phosphorus is TP). Our study demonstrated that simple, quantitative plant functional traits, but not functional diversity, are directly related to soil C and N properties, and they likely play an important role in plant-soil interactions. Our results also suggest that functional identity of species may be more important than functional diversity in influencing ecosystem processes during wetland drying.

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Predicting parameters of degradation succession processes of Tibetan <i>Kobresia</i> grasslands

Cited by 69 publications

References 36 publications

Diversity–Productivity Trade‐off During Converting Cropland to Perennial Grassland in the Semi‐arid Areas of China

Diversity–Productivity Trade‐off During Converting Cropland to Perennial Grassland in the Semi‐arid Areas of China

Exacerbated grassland degradation and desertification in Central Asia during 2000–2014

Community-weighted mean traits but not functional diversity determine the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau

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