Restoring characteristics of plant diversity and productivity in desert steppe after a 5-year precipitation reduction treatment

doi:10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2024.00095

Journal of Desert Research ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (1): 112-120.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2024.00095

Restoring characteristics of plant diversity and productivity in desert steppe after a 5-year precipitation reduction treatment

Fangwei Hao¹^,²^,³(), Zhaobin Song¹^,³, Xiangyun Li¹^,³, Ping Yue¹, Xiaoxue Zhang¹^,³, Huaihai Wang¹^,³, Xinghua Zhao², Xiaoan Zuo¹()

^1.Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands / Urat Desert-Grassland Research Station，Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources，Chinese Academy of Sciences，Lanzhou 730000，China
^2.College of Desert Control Science and Engineering，Inner Mongolia Agricultural University，Hohhot 010018，China
^3.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences，Beijing 100049，China

Received:2024-05-28 Revised:2024-10-14 Online:2025-01-20 Published:2025-01-13
Contact: Xiaoan Zuo

Abstract

Abstract:

Precipitation change is an important regulatory factor for the restoration and functional maintenance of degraded vegetation in arid desert steppe. It is of great significance to study the responses of plant diversity and above-ground net primary productivity （ANPP） to precipitation changes during the restoration of degraded desert steppe ecosystems. Therefore， the research object was the herbage community in the Urat desert steppe in Inner Mongolia， which was drought-treated for 5 years （2017-2021）（control， rain reduction of 20%， 40% and 60%） and then restored for 2 years （2022 and 2023）. We measured species diversity， plant functional traits and ANPP during the restoration process， and studied the legacy effects of different drought intensities and the effects of growing season precipitation changes on the resilience of desert steppe plant communities， providing theoretical basis for ecological restoration of degraded desert steppe. The results showed that：（1） Two years after the drought ended， there was no significant difference in species richness for other treatments and density， plant functional traits and ANPP for all treatments， except that the species richness of 40% treatment was significantly lower than that of the control， indicating that the desert steppe had strong resilience. （2） During recovery， growing season precipitation has significant effects on vegetation restoration： restore 1 year （2022）， the growing season has relatively high， the leaf nitrogen content of 40% treatment was significantly greater than the control， meanwhile， the species richness， density， plant height， specific leaf area， leaf dry matter content， leaf thickness and ANPP for all treatments were not significantly different from the control. However， in the second year of restoration （2023）， the growing season drought significantly reduced the species richness， density， ANPP， SLA and LT， while the leaf carbon and nitrogen content was the opposite. （3） The structural equation model showed that during the restoration process， the change of growing season precipitation indirectly affected species richness and ANPP by influencing LT， and LT was an important factor affecting species richness and productivity during the restoration process. Arid desert steppe has a certain recovery ability after drought relief. The change of growing season precipitation determines the recovery of plant community diversity and productivity in arid desert steppe， and the increase of plants with thicker leaves can promote the recovery process of plant community after drought in arid desert steppe.

Key words: growing season precipitation, vegetation restoration, species diversity, aboveground net primary productivity, functional traits

CLC Number:

Q948.11

Fangwei Hao, Zhaobin Song, Xiangyun Li, Ping Yue, Xiaoxue Zhang, Huaihai Wang, Xinghua Zhao, Xiaoan Zuo. Restoring characteristics of plant diversity and productivity in desert steppe after a 5-year precipitation reduction treatment[J]. Journal of Desert Research, 2025, 45(1): 112-120.

Figures/Tables 5

Table 1 Variance analysis of the effects of growing season precipitation on plant diversity and productivity during the restoration of degraded vegetation

指标	干旱处理	年份
物种丰富度	2.62	33.17^***
密度	8.13^**	12.55^***
株高	7.18^*	0.91
比叶面积	0.00	51.25^***
叶干物质含量	2.32	1.41
叶片厚度	1.00	300.22^***
叶片碳含量	3.84	11.08^**
叶片氮含量	16.36^***	86.15^***
地上净初级生产力	3.26	22.07^***

Fig.1 Changes of plant functional traits during restoration of degraded vegetation

Fig.2 Changes in species diversity and productivity during restoration of degraded vegetation

Fig.3 Correlation analysis of growing season precipitation with plant diversity and productivity during restoration of degraded vegetation

Fig.4 Structural equation model of the effects of growing season precipitation on plant diversity and productivity during the restoration of degraded vegetation and effect size

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Restoring characteristics of plant diversity and productivity in desert steppe after a 5-year precipitation reduction treatment

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