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Wu J, Hou X, Xu L, Zhou Q, Wang Y, Guo Z, Adomako MO, Ma Q. Belowground bud banks and land use change: roles of vegetation and soil properties in mediating the composition of bud banks in different ecosystems. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024; 14:1330664. [PMID: 38250452 PMCID: PMC10796614 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1330664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Introduction Belowground bud banks play integral roles in vegetation regeneration and ecological succession of plant communities; however, human-caused changes in land use severely threaten their resilience and regrowth. Although vegetation attributes and soil properties mediate such anthropogenic effects, their influence on bud bank size and composition and its regulatory mechanisms under land use change have not been explored. Methods We conducted a field investigation to examine impacts of land use change on bud bank size and composition, vegetation attributes, and soil properties in wetlands (WL), farmlands (FL), and alpine meadow (AM) ecosystems in Zhejiang Province, China. Results Overall, 63 soil samples in close proximity to the vegetation quadrats were excavated using a shovel, and samples of the excavated soil were placed in plastic bags for onward laboratory soil analysis. The total bud density (1514.727 ± 296.666) and tiller bud density (1229.090 ± 279.002) in wetland ecosystems were significantly higher than in farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems [i.e., total (149.333 ± 21.490 and 573.647 ± 91.518) and tiller bud density (24.666 ± 8.504 and 204.235 ± 50.550), respectively]. While vegetation attributes critically affected bud banks in WL ecosystems, soil properties strongly influenced bud banks in farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems. In wetland ecosystems, total and tiller buds were predominantly dependent on soil properties, but vegetation density played a significant role in farmlands and alpine meadow ecosystems. Root sprouting and rhizome buds significantly correlated with total C in the top 0 - 10 cm layer of farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems, respectively, and depended mainly on soil properties. Discussion Our results demonstrate that land use change alters bud bank size and composition; however, such responses differed among bud types in wetland, farmland, and alpine meadow ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wu
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Xianzhang Hou
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Lan Xu
- Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, United States
| | - Quanlai Zhou
- Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
| | - Yongcui Wang
- Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
| | - Ziwu Guo
- Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hanzhou, China
| | - Michael Opoku Adomako
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
- Institute of Wetland Ecology and Clone Ecology, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
| | - Qun Ma
- Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
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Heckman RW, Rueda A, Bonnette JE, Aspinwall MJ, Khasanova A, Hawkes CV, Juenger TE, Fay PA. Legacies of precipitation influence primary production in Panicum virgatum. Oecologia 2023; 201:269-278. [PMID: 36372830 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05281-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Precipitation is a key driver of primary production worldwide, but primary production does not always track year-to-year variation in precipitation linearly. Instead, plant responses to changes in precipitation may exhibit time lags, or legacies of past precipitation. Legacies can be driven by multiple mechanisms, including persistent changes in plant physiological and morphological traits and changes to the physical environment, such as plant access to soil water. We used three precipitation manipulation experiments in central Texas, USA to evaluate the magnitude, duration, and potential mechanisms driving precipitation legacies on aboveground primary production of the perennial C4 grass, Panicum virgatum. Specifically, we performed a rainout shelter study, where eight genotypes grew under different precipitation regimes; a transplant study, where plants that had previously grown in a rainout shelter under different precipitation regimes were moved to a common environment; and a mesocosm study, where the effect of swapping precipitation regime was examined with a single genotype. Across these experiments, plants previously grown under wet conditions generally performed better than expected when exposed to drought. Panicum virgatum exhibited stronger productivity legacies of past wet years on current-year responses to drought than of past dry years on current-year responses to wet conditions. Additionally, previous year tiller counts, a proxy for meristem availability, were important in determining legacy effects on aboveground production. As climate changes and precipitation extremes-both dry and wet-become more common, these results suggest that populations of P. virgatum may become less resilient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert W Heckman
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
- USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Cedar City, UT, 84721, USA.
| | - Austin Rueda
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
- PathogenDx, Tucson, AZ, 85714, USA
| | - Jason E Bonnette
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Michael J Aspinwall
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
- College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA
| | - Albina Khasanova
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 74720, USA
| | - Christine V Hawkes
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Thomas E Juenger
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Philip A Fay
- Grassland Soil and Water Research Lab, USDA-ARS, Temple, TX, 76502, USA
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Responses of grassland productivity to mowing intensity and precipitation variability in a temperate steppe. Oecologia 2023; 201:259-268. [PMID: 36507970 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05305-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Mowing for hay is an important land use in grasslands that is affected by precipitation variability, due to the water-limited nature of these ecosystems. Past land use and precipitation conditions can have legacy effects on ecosystem functions, potentially altering responses to both mowing and precipitation. Nonetheless, it is still unclear how natural variation in precipitation will affect plant responses to changes in mowing intensity. We conducted a seven-year field experiment with three mowing intensity treatments compared to the traditional mowing intensity (5 cm stubble height) as a control: increased mowing (2 cm stubble), decreased mowing (8 cm stubble) and ceased mowing. Decreased mowing increased both plant aboveground net primary productivity [ANPP] and forage yield across the whole community, driven by increases in graminoids, mainly owing to the positive response of plants to precipitation. Both mowing disturbance and precipitation variability had legacy effects on plant ANPP; however, these responses differed among the whole community, graminoid, and forb levels. Current-year community-wide ANPP [ANPPn] was positively associated with current-year precipitation [PPTn] in all mowing treatments, driven by positive precipitation responses of the dominant graminoids. For forbs, however, ANPPn was negatively associated with prior-year growing season precipitation [PPTn-1] across mowing treatments, potentially due to lagged competition with the dominant graminoids. Our results suggest that the response of the dominant graminoids is the primary factor determining the response of ANPP to mowing and precipitation variability in these grassland ecosystems, and highlight that decreasing mowing intensity may maximize both herder's income and grassland sustainability.
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Müller LM, Bahn M. Drought legacies and ecosystem responses to subsequent drought. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:5086-5103. [PMID: 35607942 PMCID: PMC9542112 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Revised: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of droughts. These events, which can cause significant perturbations of terrestrial ecosystems and potentially long-term impacts on ecosystem structure and functioning after the drought has subsided are often called 'drought legacies'. While the immediate effects of drought on ecosystems have been comparatively well characterized, our broader understanding of drought legacies is just emerging. Drought legacies can relate to all aspects of ecosystem structure and functioning, involving changes at the species and the community scale as well as alterations of soil properties. This has consequences for ecosystem responses to subsequent drought. Here, we synthesize current knowledge on drought legacies and the underlying mechanisms. We highlight the relevance of legacy duration to different ecosystem processes using examples of carbon cycling and community composition. We present hypotheses characterizing how intrinsic (i.e. biotic and abiotic properties and processes) and extrinsic (i.e. drought timing, severity, and frequency) factors could alter resilience trajectories under scenarios of recurrent drought events. We propose ways for improving our understanding of drought legacies and their implications for subsequent drought events, needed to assess the longer-term consequences of droughts on ecosystem structure and functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena M. Müller
- Department of EcologyUniversity of InnsbruckInnsbruckAustria
| | - Michael Bahn
- Department of EcologyUniversity of InnsbruckInnsbruckAustria
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