Biomass partitioning and its relationship with the environmental factors at the alpine steppe in Northern Tibet

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 12;8(12):e81986. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081986. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Alpine steppe is considered to be the largest grassland type on the Tibetan Plateau. This grassland contributes to the global carbon cycle and is sensitive to climate changes. The allocation of biomass in an ecosystem affects plant growth and the overall functioning of the ecosystem. However, the mechanism by which plant biomass is allocated on the alpine steppe remains unclear. In this study, biomass allocation and its relationship to environmental factors on the alpine grassland were studied by a meta-analysis of 32 field sites across the alpine steppe of the northern Tibetan Plateau. We found that there is less above-ground biomass (M A ) and below-ground biomass (M B ) in the alpine steppe than there is in alpine meadows and temperate grasslands. By contrast, the root-to-shoot ratio (R:S) in the alpine steppe is higher than it is in alpine meadows and temperate grasslands. Although temperature maintained the biomass in the alpine steppe, precipitation was found to considerably influence M A , M B , and R:S, as shown by ordination space partitioning. After standardized major axis (SMA) analysis, we found that allocation of biomass on the alpine steppe is supported by the allometric biomass partitioning hypothesis rather than the isometric allocation hypothesis. Based on these results, we believe that M A and M B will decrease as a result of the increased aridity expected to occur in the future, which will reduce the landscape's capacity for carbon storage.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Altitude
  • Biomass
  • Carbon / chemistry*
  • Carbon Cycle*
  • Climate
  • Ecosystem
  • Plant Roots / physiology*
  • Plant Shoots / physiology*
  • Poaceae / physiology*
  • Temperature
  • Tibet

Substances

  • Carbon

Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by the Strategic leading science and technology projects, CAS (XDB03030505), the National science and technology support project (2011BAC09B03), Program of the IMDE, CAS (SDS-135-1203-01), and the Science Foundation for Young Scientists of IMDE, CAS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.