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Wang Y, Xiao B, Wang W, Kidron GJ. Interactions between biocrusts and herbaceous communities are divergent in dry and wet semiarid ecosystems. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 941:173759. [PMID: 38844240 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2024] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024]
Abstract
Biocrusts are a prevalent form of living cover in worldwide drylands, and their presence are intimately associated with herbaceous community, forming a spatially mosaic distribution pattern in dryland ecosystems. The role of biocrusts as modulators of herbaceous community assembly is extensively studied, whereas, less is known whether their interactions are permanent or changeable with various environmental conditions. This study conducted a field survey of herbaceous community accompanied by three types of biocrusts (cyanobacterial, cyanobacterial-moss mixed, and moss crusts) in two contrasting (dry and wet) semiarid climate regions in the Chinese Loess Plateau, to explore whether or not climatic aridity gradient affects the interactions between biocrusts and herbaceous community. Our results showed that in dry semiarid climate, the biomass, species richness, and diversity of herbaceous community from biocrust plots were 89 %, 179 %, and 52 % higher than that from the uncrusted plots, respectively, while in wet semiarid climate, those herbaceous community indices from biocrust plots were 68 %, 43 %, and 23 % lower than that from the uncrusted plots, respectively. The impacts of biocrusts on herbaceous community were highly dependent on the types and coverage of biocrusts. Regardless of aridity gradient, the richness and diversity of herbaceous community were the lowest in the moss-covered plots, followed by the cyanobacteria-covered plots and the plots with a mixed cyanobacteria and moss population. Along with increasing biocrust coverage, the species richness and diversity of herbaceous plants initially increased and then decreased in dry semiarid climate, while in wet semiarid climate they decreased linearly with biocrust coverage. Structural equation modeling revealed that the factors of biocrust types and coverage affected herbaceous community indirectly through soil properties in dry semiarid climate, whereas in wet semiarid climate they directly affected herbaceous community through biotic interactions. Together, our findings indicated that cyanobacterial and moss biocrusts facilitate the development of herbaceous community in dry semiarid climate by increasing soil stability and nutrient levels, but in wet semiarid climate they restrict herbaceous plant growth through competing niche space. These results highlight the divergent relationships between biocrusts and herbaceous community across aridity gradient in dryland ecosystems, and this knowledge may be critically important in light of the projected global climate change which is going to change the aridity of global drylands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanfeng Wang
- Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Bo Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Wanfu Wang
- 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 100049, China
| | - Giora J Kidron
- Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram Campus, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
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Song G, Hui R, Yang H, Wang B, Li X. Biocrusts mediate the plant community composition of dryland restoration ecosystems. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 844:157135. [PMID: 35809721 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2022] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Degradation and expansion are current threats associated with drylands. During natural or artificial restoration, dryland ecosystems tend to contain a unique community, namely, biocrusts. Studies have shown that biocrusts serve multiple functions and have the potential to accelerate or inhibit degradation. However, the mechanisms by which biocrusts mediate dryland plant community structure and composition remain largely unknown. In this study, we performed a series of pot experiments under greenhouse conditions at three disturbance levels (strong, moderate and no disturbance) and at three rainfall gradients (- 50 %, normal, + 50 %) for different biocrust types. Our objective was to examine how biocrusts influence the introduction and establishment of different functional forms of plant species during the different succession stages of dryland recovery. Our results showed that biocrusts have significantly different effects on the seed germination and survival of the tested plant species. Although strong disturbances to the biocrusts and increasing rainfall alleviated the inhibitory effects of biocrusts on the perennial herb (S. glareosa) and subshrub (C. latens) species, these factors could only promote the temporary survival of these two plants in the revegetated area. These results indicate that biocrusts in revegetated systems play important sieving functions during plant species establishment. Additionally, the survival of S. viridis, a plant species with small seeds adapted to the current habitat, was promoted in the community, but two plant species that are currently unsuitable, S. glareosa and C. latens, were filtered out by the biocrusts. Our conclusions suggest that biocrusts play an ecological filtering role in plant species introduction and establishment in revegetated ecosystems and demonstrate the scientific significance of biocrusts in maintaining the health and stability of dryland ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guang Song
- Shapotou Desert Research and Experimental Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Key Laboratory of Stress Physiology and Ecology in Cold and Arid Regions of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
| | - Rong Hui
- Shapotou Desert Research and Experimental Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Key Laboratory of Stress Physiology and Ecology in Cold and Arid Regions of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
| | - Haotian Yang
- Shapotou Desert Research and Experimental Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Key Laboratory of Stress Physiology and Ecology in Cold and Arid Regions of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
| | - Bingyao Wang
- Shapotou Desert Research and Experimental Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Key Laboratory of Stress Physiology and Ecology in Cold and Arid Regions of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
| | - Xinrong Li
- Shapotou Desert Research and Experimental Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China; Key Laboratory of Stress Physiology and Ecology in Cold and Arid Regions of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
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