TY - JOUR
T1 - Scale effects on spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation in desert steppe depend on plant community type
AU - Zuo, Xiaoan
AU - Mao, Wei
AU - Qu, Hao
AU - Chen, Min
AU - Zhao, Shenglong
AU - Liu, Lianxu
AU - Wang, Shaokun
AU - Yue, Ping
AU - Ma, Xujun
AU - Zhao, Xueyong
AU - Medina-Roldán, Eduardo
AU - Allington, Ginger R.H.
N1 - Funding Information:
We appreciate the field help of the members in Urat Desert-grassland Research Station. This study was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research program (2019QZKK0305), National Natural Science Foundation of China (42071140 and 41622103) and Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (1100000036).
Funding Information:
We appreciate the field help of the members in Urat Desert-grassland Research Station. This study was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research program (2019QZKK0305), National Natural Science Foundation of China (42071140 and 41622103) and Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (1100000036).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Spatial heterogeneity plays a crucial role in affecting the ecologial processes in natural ecosystems, yet how spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation in desert-grassland transitional zone varies with increased spatial scale are still poorly known. We measured plant height, density, species richness and aboveground plant biomass (AGB) at the small (0.25 × 0.5 km), medium (0.5 × 0.5 km) and large (0.5 × 1 km) spatial scales in two adjacent plant communities (shrub- and grass-dominated) in desert steppe, Inner Mongolia. We used the geostatistical methods to examine the magnitude and degree of spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation characteristics with the increasing scale in both two plant communities. We found that compared to grass-dominated community, shrub-dominated community had the lower plant height and density at the large scale, the higher AGB at the small or medium scale, and the lower species richness at all three scales. Plant height, density and AGB in grass-dominated community were higher at the large scale than at the small scale, but they did not differ across three scales in shrub-dominated community. Species richness in both two communities were higher at the small scale than at the medium or large scale. All vegetation characteristics at three scales had the higher spatial heterogeneity in shrub- than in grass-dominated community. Spatial heterogeneity of all vegetation characteristics in shrub-dominated community decreased from the small to the large scale, while their spatial heterogeneity of plant height, density and species richness in grass-dominated community increased with the increasing scale. Our study highlights that shrub encroachment can simplify community composition and amplify spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation at multiple scales. Scale effects on spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation in desert steppe are dependent on plant community dominated by shrub or grass.
AB - Spatial heterogeneity plays a crucial role in affecting the ecologial processes in natural ecosystems, yet how spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation in desert-grassland transitional zone varies with increased spatial scale are still poorly known. We measured plant height, density, species richness and aboveground plant biomass (AGB) at the small (0.25 × 0.5 km), medium (0.5 × 0.5 km) and large (0.5 × 1 km) spatial scales in two adjacent plant communities (shrub- and grass-dominated) in desert steppe, Inner Mongolia. We used the geostatistical methods to examine the magnitude and degree of spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation characteristics with the increasing scale in both two plant communities. We found that compared to grass-dominated community, shrub-dominated community had the lower plant height and density at the large scale, the higher AGB at the small or medium scale, and the lower species richness at all three scales. Plant height, density and AGB in grass-dominated community were higher at the large scale than at the small scale, but they did not differ across three scales in shrub-dominated community. Species richness in both two communities were higher at the small scale than at the medium or large scale. All vegetation characteristics at three scales had the higher spatial heterogeneity in shrub- than in grass-dominated community. Spatial heterogeneity of all vegetation characteristics in shrub-dominated community decreased from the small to the large scale, while their spatial heterogeneity of plant height, density and species richness in grass-dominated community increased with the increasing scale. Our study highlights that shrub encroachment can simplify community composition and amplify spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation at multiple scales. Scale effects on spatial heterogeneity of herbaceous vegetation in desert steppe are dependent on plant community dominated by shrub or grass.
KW - Conceptual model
KW - Geostatistical analysis
KW - Grassland
KW - Multiple spatial-scale
KW - Shrub community
KW - Spatial dependence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105266179&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107769
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107769
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85105266179
SN - 1470-160X
VL - 127
JO - Ecological Indicators
JF - Ecological Indicators
M1 - 107769
ER -