Plant community of alpine steppe shows stronger association with soil properties than alpine meadow alongside degradation

Fei Peng; Xian Xue; Chengyang Li; Chimin Lai; Jian Sun; Mitsuru Tsubo; Atsushi Tsunekawa; Tao Wang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139048

Plant community of alpine steppe shows stronger association with soil properties than alpine meadow alongside degradation

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Sep 1:733:139048. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139048. Epub 2020 May 6.

Authors

Fei Peng¹, Xian Xue², Chengyang Li³, Chimin Lai³, Jian Sun⁴, Mitsuru Tsubo⁵, Atsushi Tsunekawa⁵, Tao Wang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; International Platform for Dryland Research and Education, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan; Beiluhe Observation and Research Station on Frozen Soil Engineering and Environment in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Electronic address: pengfei@lzb.ac.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; Beiluhe Observation and Research Station on Frozen Soil Engineering and Environment in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴ Synthesis Research Centre of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modelling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
⁵ Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.

PMID: 32446054
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139048

Abstract

The interaction between soil properties and plant community determines the efficacy to restore the degraded grassland via improving soil properties. We conducted a field survey to investigate the relationship between plant community composition and soil physical and chemical properties alongside different degradation stages of alpine grassland. Results showed that with the increasing severity of degradation, the dominant plants shifted from sedge and graminoid species, respectively, to forbs species in alpine meadow (AM) and alpine steppe (AS). Species richness and diversity indices were unchanged until the severely degraded stage in both AM and AS. Forward selection showed bulk density (BD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺) at 10-20 cm, pH and the ratio of soil organic carbon to total nitrogen (C/N) at 0-10 cm were the four important variables being responsible for the species community variation alongside degradation of AS, which explained 18.7% of the total variance. Soil nitrate nitrogen (NO₃^-) and C/N at 20-30 cm, NH₄⁺ at 10-20, and BD at 0-10 cm were the important variables in driving the community variance alongside degradation stages, which only explained 9.5% of the total variance of AM. The loss of dense root layer and the species community change induced change in BD, and difference in plant competition for available resources would lead to the stronger association between vegetation community and soil properties in AS than that in AM. Our results indicate that though improving soil nutrients and soil texture to restore the degraded AS may be more effective than to restore degraded AM.

Keywords: Alpine grassland; Arid land; Grassland degradation; Ordination analysis; Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau; Vegetation community composition.

MeSH terms

Carbon / analysis
Grassland*
Nitrogen / analysis
Plants
Soil*
Tibet

Substances

Soil
Carbon
Nitrogen