The effect of winter impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam: The degradation and convergence of pre-upland vegetation

Revegetation in the water level fluctuation zone of a reservoir: An ideal measure to reduce the input of nutrients and sediment

“…These fluctuations destroy the herbaceous vegetation each year, this makes it impossible for the vegetation community structure to achieve a higher community structure level (Su et al, 2013). In terrestrial environments, the diversity and distribution of plant species is influenced by factors such as latitude, altitude, water, soil, and human activities (Chesson, 2000;Jansson et al, 2000;Lyon and Gross, 2005).…”

Spatio-temporal variations of GHG emissions from surface water of Xiangxi River in Three Gorges Reservoir region, China

“…The Three Gorges Dam (TGD) is the world's largest hydroelectric power plant and the most important water control project built in China on the Yangtze River located in subtropical region (Su et al, 2013). The Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) has become a typical channel-type reservoir from a natural river since the huge project was impounded in June 2003.…”

Effects of reverse seasonal submersion on the germination and persistence of soil seed banks in hydro‐fluctuation belts

“…Under the influence of water‐level fluctuations, due to increased submersion time in the riparian soil with lower altitudes, many riparian plants are unable to withstand long‐term submersion, thereby making it difficult to establish and survive in the lower parts of the fluctuation belt. Thus, species diversity and vegetation coverage of the upper and middle plant communities are often higher than those of lower parts (Lu, Li, Huang, et al, ; Su et al, ). Because plant communities are direct sources of soil seeds and soil seed banks, their spatial variation may inevitably lead to spatial heterogeneity in seed rain (Warwick & Brock, ; Wu et al, ), and consequently in the initial soil seed bank (Calçada et al, ; Weiterová, ).…”

“…Significant reverse seasonal water-level fluctuation has resulted in the disappearance of shrubs and other plants that cannot adapt to the new waterlevel fluctuation pattern (Chen, Wang, & Jia, 2013). Furthermore, riparian plant communities have been drastically degraded, subsequently changing into grass slopes that are predominated by annual and perennial herbaceous plants (Lu, Li, Jiang, Huang, & Bao, 2010;Su et al, 2013). The riparian plant communities show significant spatial heterogeneity due to extensive variations in submersion cycles across altitudes (Ye, Zhang, Deng, & Zhang, 2013).…”