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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2021, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4): 100-108.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2021.00027

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Niche characteristics and interspecific associations of main biocrust- forming organisms during the succession of artificially sand-binding vegetation in Shapotou, Ningxia, China

Tian Zhang1,2(), Rongliang Jia1(), Yanhong Gao1, Jingyao Sun1, Yun Zhao1, Lichao Liu1   

  1. 1.Shapotou Desert Research and Experiment Station,Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
    2.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China
  • Received:2021-01-12 Revised:2021-03-09 Online:2021-07-27 Published:2021-07-27
  • Contact: Rongliang Jia

Abstract:

Based on the method of space-for-time substitution, we investigated the coverage and frequentness of six typical biocrust-forming organisms, CyanobacteriaCollema coccophorumEndocarpon pusillumBryum argenteumDidymodon vinealis and Syntrichia caninervis, in four artificial sand-binding vegetation zones established separately in 1956, 1964, 1981 and 1987 (representing four succession stages of 64, 56, 39 and 33 years after sand-binding vegetation establishment, respectively), and calculated their niche widths and overlap values using different squares as resource states. Then we analyzed the patterns of interspecific relationships among biocrust-forming organisms during the succession of artificially sand-binding vegetation in Shapotou area by employing variance ratio method, chi-square test and interspecific correlation coefficient. The results showed that: (1) Along with the succession of sand-binding vegetation, the niche widths and overlap indices of the biocrust-forming organisms varied greatly, the niche widths of cyanobacteria rapidly narrowed (from 3.865 after 33 years to 0 after 64 years), and the niche overlap values between cyanobacteria and other biocrust-forming organisms gradually decreased; the niche widths of B. argenteum and C. coccophorum remained almost constant and both were higher than that of other types, as well as their niche overlap values were also higher; the niche widths of D. vinealisS. caninervis and E. pusillum was relatively small during early succession of the vegetation, but increased significantly with succession processing (from 1.607, 0 and 0.693 in 33 years to 3.699, 3.227 and 3.373 in 64 years, respectively), and the niche overlap values among them increased simutenousely. (2) The overall interspecific correlations of biocrust-forming organisms changed from negative to positive accompanied with the succession of the sand-binding vegetation, and reached a maximum value (VR =1.15) at the oldest 64 years of the succession. With the succession of sand-binding vegetation, the association between different biocrust-forming organisms was gradually strengthened, and the community structure and species composition of surface cryptogms tended to be stable. This study not only provides a basis for revealing the symbiotic coexistence, interaction and evolution mechanism of biocrust-forming organisms in arid sandy areas, but also serves as an important reference for the theoretic research and application techniques using biocrust-forming organisms as the new sand-fixation materials.

Key words: biocrust-forming organisms, artificial sand-binding vegetation, succession, niche, interspecific association

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