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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 314-323.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00067

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Responces of plant community construction in semi-arid sandy grassland to precipitation changes

Jiaqi Jing1,2,4(), Xinping Liu1,2,4(), Yuhui He3, Jie Feng5, Hongjiao Hu1,2,4, Yuanzhi Xu1,2,4   

  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands /, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
    2.Naiman Desertification Research Station /, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
    3.Lanzhou Ecological Agriculture Experimental Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
    4.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China
    5.Tongliao Forestry and Grassland Science Research Institute,Tongliao 028000,Inner Mongolia,China
  • Received:2024-12-19 Revised:2025-03-27 Online:2025-07-20 Published:2025-08-18
  • Contact: Xinping Liu

Abstract:

Precipitation directly affects the growth and development of vegetation, as well as the maintenance of system stability, in semi-arid sandy grasslands. To undersdand how changes in precipitation iinfluence the construction and productivity of sand-fixing plant communities, this study analyzes long-term monitoring data of precipitation and vegetation in semi-arid sandy grasslands from 2014 to 2023. It explores the impacts of precipitation changes on plant community structure, species diversity, and productivity. The results show that: (1) Within a 40% variation in annual precipitation, the perennial herbs Cleistogenes squarrosa and Potentilla bifurca, the panicum miliaceum Setaria viridis and Chenopodium acuminatum, as well as the subshrub Lespedeza bicolor were all constructive species over the 10-years. Within a 50% variation in annual precipitation, herbs Pennisetum centrasiaticum and Artemisia scoparia became the dominant species in the community for five consecutive years, while the remaining species fluctuated with the precipitation variation. (2) The diversity index of plant communities in sandy grasslands decreased with increasing precipitation. In contrast, community richness, dominance, and evenness were relatively stable. However, functional group evenness was highly dispersed and generally increased. (3) The biomass of Panicum miliaceum and perennial herbs in sandy grasslands was significantly positively correlated with the precipitation in July of that year and the growing season. Their aboveground biomass exhibited a complementary trend of increase and decrease, which seves as a trade-off mechanism to maintain the stability of system productivity, especially in 2018 and 2022. This study demonstrates that changes in precipitation directly determine the plant community construction and functional group diversity in semi-arid sandy grasslands. It provides theoretical support for predicting the succession of sand-fixing vegetation communities under future precipitation change scenarios, as well as for maintaining vegetation stability and utilizing vegetation resources in sandy ecosystems.

Key words: precipitation changes, community construction, biodiversity, above-ground biomass

CLC Number: