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Zhang F, Wu W, Li L, Liu X, Zhou G, Xu Z. Predicting community traits along an alpine grassland transect using field imaging spectroscopy. JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY 2023; 65:2604-2618. [PMID: 37837189 DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
Assessing plant community traits is important for understanding how terrestrial ecosystems respond and adapt to global climate change. Field hyperspectral remote sensing is effective for quantitatively estimating vegetation properties in most terrestrial ecosystems, although it remains to be tested in areas with dwarf and sparse vegetation, such as the Tibetan Plateau. We measured canopy reflectance in the Tibetan Plateau using a handheld imaging spectrometer and conducted plant community investigations along an alpine grassland transect. We estimated community structural and functional traits, as well as community function based on a field survey and laboratory analysis using 14 spectral vegetation indices (VIs) derived from hyperspectral images. We quantified the contributions of environmental drivers, VIs, and community traits to community function by structural equation modelling (SEM). Univariate linear regression analysis showed that plant community traits are best predicted by the normalized difference vegetation index, enhanced vegetation index, and simple ratio. Structural equation modelling showed that VIs and community traits positively affected community function, whereas environmental drivers and specific leaf area had the opposite effect. Additionally, VIs integrated with environmental drivers were indirectly linked to community function by characterizing the variations in community structural and functional traits. This study demonstrates that community-level spectral reflectance will help scale plant trait information measured at the leaf level to larger-scale ecological processes. Field imaging spectroscopy represents a promising tool to predict the responses of alpine grassland communities to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Wenjuan Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Lang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xiaodi Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Guangsheng Zhou
- Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Zhenzhu Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
- China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China
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Belovsky GE, Slade JB. Climate change and primary production: Forty years in a bunchgrass prairie. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243496. [PMID: 33362217 PMCID: PMC7757809 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2020] [Accepted: 11/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the past 109 years, a Montana intermountain bunchgrass prairie annually became warmer (0.7°C) and drier (27%). The temperature and precipitation trends continued since 1978, as we studied nitrogen availability, annual aboveground primary production (ANPP), plant phenology and species composition. Given the annual increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation, ANPP might be expected to decline; however, it increased by 110%, as the period of greatest production (late-May-June) became wetter and cooler, counter to the annual pattern, and this was strongest at lower elevations. Grass production increased by 251%, while dicot production declined by 65%, which increased grass relative abundance by 54%. Summer temperatures increased 12.5% which increased plant senescence by 119% and decreased fall plant regrowth by 68%. More intense summer senescence changed plant species composition in favor of more drought tolerant species. The greater ANPP and summer senescence may increase susceptibility for fire, but fire tolerance of the plant species composition did not change. Invasive plant species increased 108% over the study with annual grasses accounting for >50% of this increase, which further increased summer plant senescence. Therefore, seasonal climate changes at a smaller geographical scale (local), rather than average annual climate changes over a larger geographical scale (regional), may better reflect plant community responses, and this makes ecological forecasting of climate change more difficult.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary E. Belovsky
- Environmental Research Center and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States of America
- * E-mail: ,
| | - Jennifer B. Slade
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States of America
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Xu K, He L, Hu H, Wang Z, Lin M, Liu S, Du Y, Li Y, Wang G. Indirect effects of water availability in driving and predicting productivity in the Gobi desert. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 697:133952. [PMID: 31487587 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Revised: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Climate is the fundamental determinant of plant metabolism and net primary productivity (NPP). However, whether climate drives NPP directly or indirectly is not well understand. The Gobi desert across a precipitation gradient in the arid zone provides an ideal naturally-controlled platform for studying the precipitation-productivity relationships. We conducted 3-year experiments in four Gobi desert shrublands across an aridity gradient in Gansu Province of China to test the relationship between water availability and shrub productivity as well as the relative importance of the possible factors driving productivity (using piecewise structural equation modeling) and to explore the appropriate variables for predicting productivity (using three spatial models). The results showed that water availability indirectly affected the NPP via stand biomass, while stand biomass had a significant direct effect on NPP regardless of whether the leaf water content and stand height were considered. The model based on stand size (71.6%) and the model that contained both stand size and water availability (72.3%) explained more of the variation in the water-NPP relationships than the model based on water availability (37.3%). Our findings suggest that even in extremely water-limited areas, the effects of water availability on plant growth and the kinetics of plant metabolism could be indirect via plant size, demonstrating the importance of plant size as an indicator of shrub productivity. This study explains the mechanisms underlying the NPP driving pattern and proposes a practical NPP model for arid ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kang Xu
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Lingchao He
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Hanjian Hu
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Zhiwei Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Maozi Lin
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Key Laboratory of Measurement and Control System for Coastal Basin Environment, Fujian Province University (Fuqing Branch of Fujian Normal University), Fuqing 350300, China
| | - Shun Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yuanyuan Du
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yan Li
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou 311300, China
| | - Genxuan Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
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Ye JS, Bradford MA, Dacal M, Maestre FT, García-Palacios P. Increasing microbial carbon use efficiency with warming predicts soil heterotrophic respiration globally. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:3354-3364. [PMID: 31216082 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Revised: 05/23/2019] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The degree to which climate warming will stimulate soil organic carbon (SOC) losses via heterotrophic respiration remains uncertain, in part because different or even opposite microbial physiology and temperature relationships have been proposed in SOC models. We incorporated competing microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE)-mean annual temperature (MAT) and enzyme kinetic-MAT relationships into SOC models, and compared the simulated mass-specific soil heterotrophic respiration rates with multiple published datasets of measured respiration. The measured data included 110 dryland soils globally distributed and two continental to global-scale cross-biome datasets. Model-data comparisons suggested that a positive CUE-MAT relationship best predicts the measured mass-specific soil heterotrophic respiration rates in soils distributed globally. These results are robust when considering models of increasing complexity and competing mechanisms driving soil heterotrophic respiration-MAT relationships (e.g., carbon substrate availability). Our findings suggest that a warmer climate selects for microbial communities with higher CUE, as opposed to the often hypothesized reductions in CUE by warming based on soil laboratory assays. Our results help to build the impetus for, and confidence in, including microbial mechanisms in soil biogeochemical models used to forecast changes in global soil carbon stocks in response to warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian-Sheng Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Mark A Bradford
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Marina Dacal
- Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain
| | - Fernando T Maestre
- Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain
- Departamento de Ecología and Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio "Ramon Margalef", Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
| | - Pablo García-Palacios
- Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain
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Ye JS, Pei JY, Fang C. Under which climate and soil conditions the plant productivity-precipitation relationship is linear or nonlinear? THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 616-617:1174-1180. [PMID: 29107367 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Revised: 10/19/2017] [Accepted: 10/20/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Understanding under which climate and soil conditions the plant productivity-precipitation relationship is linear or nonlinear is useful for accurately predicting the response of ecosystem function to global environmental change. Using long-term (2000-2016) net primary productivity (NPP)-precipitation datasets derived from satellite observations, we identify >5600pixels in the North Hemisphere landmass that fit either linear or nonlinear temporal NPP-precipitation relationships. Differences in climate (precipitation, radiation, ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration, temperature) and soil factors (nitrogen, phosphorous, organic carbon, field capacity) between the linear and nonlinear types are evaluated. Our analysis shows that both linear and nonlinear types exhibit similar interannual precipitation variabilities and occurrences of extreme precipitation. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance suggests that linear and nonlinear types differ significantly regarding to radiation, ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration, and soil factors. The nonlinear type possesses lower radiation and/or less soil nutrients than the linear type, thereby suggesting that nonlinear type features higher degree of limitation from resources other than precipitation. This study suggests several factors limiting the responses of plant productivity to changes in precipitation, thus causing nonlinear NPP-precipitation pattern. Precipitation manipulation and modeling experiments should combine with changes in other climate and soil factors to better predict the response of plant productivity under future climate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian-Sheng Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, No. 222, South Tianshui Road, Lanzhou 730000, China.
| | - Jiu-Ying Pei
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, No. 222, South Tianshui Road, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Chao Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, No. 222, South Tianshui Road, Lanzhou 730000, China
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Liu Y, Priscu JC, Yao T, Vick-Majors TJ, Xu B, Jiao N, Santibáñez P, Huang S, Wang N, Greenwood M, Michaud AB, Kang S, Wang J, Gao Q, Yang Y. Bacterial responses to environmental change on the Tibetan Plateau over the past half century. Environ Microbiol 2015; 18:1930-41. [PMID: 26530871 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2015] [Revised: 10/29/2015] [Accepted: 10/29/2015] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Climate change and anthropogenic factors can alter biodiversity and can lead to changes in community structure and function. Despite the potential impacts, no long-term records of climatic influences on microbial communities exist. The Tibetan Plateau is a highly sensitive region that is currently undergoing significant alteration resulting from both climate change and increased human activity. Ice cores from glaciers in this region serve as unique natural archives of bacterial abundance and community composition, and contain concomitant records of climate and environmental change. We report high-resolution profiles of bacterial density and community composition over the past half century in ice cores from three glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau. Statistical analysis showed that the bacterial community composition in the three ice cores converged starting in the 1990s. Changes in bacterial community composition were related to changing precipitation, increasing air temperature and anthropogenic activities in the vicinity of the plateau. Collectively, our ice core data on bacteria in concert with environmental and anthropogenic proxies indicate that the convergence of bacterial communities deposited on glaciers across a wide geographical area and situated in diverse habitat types was likely induced by climatic and anthropogenic drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongqin Liu
- Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - John C Priscu
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA
| | - Tandong Yao
- Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Trista J Vick-Majors
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA
| | - Baiqing Xu
- Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Nianzhi Jiao
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
| | - Pamela Santibáñez
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA
| | - Sijun Huang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Bio-resources Sustainable Utilization, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China
| | - Ninglian Wang
- Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Mark Greenwood
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, 59717, USA
| | - Alexander B Michaud
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA
| | - Shichang Kang
- CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.,Key Laboratory of Marine Bio-resources Sustainable Utilization, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China
| | - Jianjun Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China
| | - Qun Gao
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Yunfeng Yang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
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