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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2022, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (1): 96-107.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2021.00123

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Biomass allocation patterns of herbaceous plants in the Gurbantunggut Desert

Huanhuan Meng1,2(), Yuanyuan Zhang1,2, Xiaobing Zhou2, Benfeng Yin2, Duoqi Zhou1, Ye Tao2()   

  1. 1.College of Life Sciences / Anhui Province Key Laboratory of the Biodiversity Study and Ecology Conservation in Southwest Anhui,Anqing Normal University,Anqing 246133,Anhui,China
    2.State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology,Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Urumqi 830011,China
  • Received:2021-06-24 Revised:2021-10-08 Online:2022-01-20 Published:2022-01-28
  • Contact: Ye Tao

Abstract:

Herbaceous plant layer are the main contributors to early spring productivity in the Gurbantunggut Desert. In order to understand the overall adaptability of desert herbaceous plants to the desert environment at community level, the herbaceous plant layer in the 1 hm2 large plot in the middle of the desert was analyzed. The relationship between aboveground and belowground biomass distribution, and the relationship between herbaceous plant layer biomass and root-shoot ratio, species richness and plant density were verified. The results showed as follows: (1) The ephemeral plant Carex physodes was the dominant species with a density of 137.68 (plant·m-2), a relative density of 72.16%, a relative frequency of 39.29%. The aboveground biomass accounted for nearly 50% of the total biomass, while the belowground biomass accounted for 99%. (2) The root-to-shoot ratio of herbaceous plants at the community level was individual size-dependent. (3) There was no significant allometric growth relationship between the aboveground and belowground biomass of herbaceous plants, and the above-ground biomass had a significant density-constraining relationship. There was a linear positive correlation between root-shoot ratio and plant density. The relationship between species richness and belowground biomass and total biomass was an inverted U-shaped relationship, while the relationship between aboveground biomass and abundance was a unimodal relationship. (4) After removing the ephemeral plant C. physodes in the community, the herbaceous plants had a constant growth relationship between the aboveground and belowground biomass. The belowground biomass had a significant density-constraining relationship, and the root-to-shoot ratio and plant density were significantly negative correlation, and there was a significant unimodal relationship between species richness and biomass. The results of the study clarified the biomass distribution relationship and internal laws of desert herbaceous plants at the community/layer level.

Key words: desert, herbaceous plants, biomass allocation, allometric relationship, root to shoot ratio

CLC Number: