Plant functional groups mediate effects of climate and soil factors on species richness and community biomass in grasslands of Mongolian Plateau

Zijing Li; Maowei Liang; Zhiyong Li; Pierre Mariotte; Xuze Tong; Jinghui Zhang; Lei Dong; Ying Zheng; Wenhong Ma; Liqing Zhao; Lixin Wang; Lu Wen; Indree Tuvshintogtokh; Elise S. Gornish; Zhenhua Dang; Cunzhu Liang; Frank Yonghong Li

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtab021

Plant functional groups mediate effects of climate and soil factors on species richness and community biomass in grasslands of Mongolian Plateau

Zijing Li, Maowei Liang, Zhiyong Li, Pierre Mariotte, Xuze Tong, Jinghui Zhang, Lei Dong, Ying Zheng, Wenhong Ma, Liqing Zhao, Lixin Wang, Lu Wen, Indree Tuvshintogtokh, Elise S. Gornish, Zhenhua Dang, Cunzhu Liang, Frank Yonghong Li

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14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aims: Functional group composition of a plant community is mainly driven by environmental factors and is one of the main determinants of grassland biodiversity and productivity. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of plant functional groups (PFGs) in mediating the impact of environmental conditions on ecosystem functions and biodiversity. Methods: We measured plant biomass and species richness (SR) of grasslands in 65 sites on the Mongolian Plateau and classified 157 perennial herbaceous plants into two main PFGs (namely grasses and forbs). Using the random forest model and ordinary least squares regression, we identified that environmental factors (i.e. aridity index, soil total nitrogen [STN] and pH) were significantly related to the SR and aboveground biomass (AGB) of PFGs. We then used structural equation modeling to explore the relationship between the identified environmental factors and community SR and biomass, and the role of PFGs in driving this relationship. Important Findings: We found that aridity index had unimodal relationships with both AGB and SR of the PFGs and the whole community. All SR and biomass metrics were significantly related to STN and pH. The relationship between aridity index and community biomass was mediated by an increase in the AGB of grasses. The influence of STN and pH on community SR was mainly due to their regulation in the SR of forbs. Our results indicate that community composition and the identity of the PFGs play a key role in linking environmental factors to ecosystem functioning.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	679-691
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Plant Ecology
Volume	14
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtab021
State	Published - Aug 1 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0500503 and 2016YFC0500501) and by the Department of Science and Technology of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for studying steppe ecosystems on the Mongolian Plateau (20140409 and 201503001).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s).

Keywords

climate
community composition
Mongolian Plateau
plant functional groups
soil properties

Publisher link

10.1093/jpe/rtab021

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Li, Z., Liang, M., Li, Z., Mariotte, P., Tong, X., Zhang, J., Dong, L., Zheng, Y., Ma, W., Zhao, L., Wang, L., Wen, L., Tuvshintogtokh, I., Gornish, E. S., Dang, Z., Liang, C., & Li, F. Y. (2021). Plant functional groups mediate effects of climate and soil factors on species richness and community biomass in grasslands of Mongolian Plateau. Journal of Plant Ecology, 14(4), 679-691. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtab021

Li, Z, Liang, M, Li, Z, Mariotte, P, Tong, X, Zhang, J, Dong, L, Zheng, Y, Ma, W, Zhao, L, Wang, L, Wen, L, Tuvshintogtokh, I, Gornish, ES, Dang, Z, Liang, C & Li, FY 2021, 'Plant functional groups mediate effects of climate and soil factors on species richness and community biomass in grasslands of Mongolian Plateau', Journal of Plant Ecology, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 679-691. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtab021

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title = "Plant functional groups mediate effects of climate and soil factors on species richness and community biomass in grasslands of Mongolian Plateau",

abstract = "Aims: Functional group composition of a plant community is mainly driven by environmental factors and is one of the main determinants of grassland biodiversity and productivity. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of plant functional groups (PFGs) in mediating the impact of environmental conditions on ecosystem functions and biodiversity. Methods: We measured plant biomass and species richness (SR) of grasslands in 65 sites on the Mongolian Plateau and classified 157 perennial herbaceous plants into two main PFGs (namely grasses and forbs). Using the random forest model and ordinary least squares regression, we identified that environmental factors (i.e. aridity index, soil total nitrogen [STN] and pH) were significantly related to the SR and aboveground biomass (AGB) of PFGs. We then used structural equation modeling to explore the relationship between the identified environmental factors and community SR and biomass, and the role of PFGs in driving this relationship. Important Findings: We found that aridity index had unimodal relationships with both AGB and SR of the PFGs and the whole community. All SR and biomass metrics were significantly related to STN and pH. The relationship between aridity index and community biomass was mediated by an increase in the AGB of grasses. The influence of STN and pH on community SR was mainly due to their regulation in the SR of forbs. Our results indicate that community composition and the identity of the PFGs play a key role in linking environmental factors to ecosystem functioning.",

keywords = "climate, community composition, Mongolian Plateau, plant functional groups, soil properties",

author = "Zijing Li and Maowei Liang and Zhiyong Li and Pierre Mariotte and Xuze Tong and Jinghui Zhang and Lei Dong and Ying Zheng and Wenhong Ma and Liqing Zhao and Lixin Wang and Lu Wen and Indree Tuvshintogtokh and Gornish, {Elise S.} and Zhenhua Dang and Cunzhu Liang and Li, {Frank Yonghong}",

note = "Funding Information: This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0500503 and 2016YFC0500501) and by the Department of Science and Technology of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for studying steppe ecosystems on the Mongolian Plateau (20140409 and 201503001). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s).",

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doi = "10.1093/jpe/rtab021",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "14",

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T1 - Plant functional groups mediate effects of climate and soil factors on species richness and community biomass in grasslands of Mongolian Plateau

AU - Li, Zijing

AU - Liang, Maowei

AU - Li, Zhiyong

AU - Mariotte, Pierre

AU - Tong, Xuze

AU - Zhang, Jinghui

AU - Dong, Lei

AU - Zheng, Ying

AU - Ma, Wenhong

AU - Zhao, Liqing

AU - Wang, Lixin

AU - Wen, Lu

AU - Tuvshintogtokh, Indree

AU - Gornish, Elise S.

AU - Dang, Zhenhua

AU - Liang, Cunzhu

AU - Li, Frank Yonghong

N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0500503 and 2016YFC0500501) and by the Department of Science and Technology of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for studying steppe ecosystems on the Mongolian Plateau (20140409 and 201503001). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s).

PY - 2021/8/1

Y1 - 2021/8/1

N2 - Aims: Functional group composition of a plant community is mainly driven by environmental factors and is one of the main determinants of grassland biodiversity and productivity. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of plant functional groups (PFGs) in mediating the impact of environmental conditions on ecosystem functions and biodiversity. Methods: We measured plant biomass and species richness (SR) of grasslands in 65 sites on the Mongolian Plateau and classified 157 perennial herbaceous plants into two main PFGs (namely grasses and forbs). Using the random forest model and ordinary least squares regression, we identified that environmental factors (i.e. aridity index, soil total nitrogen [STN] and pH) were significantly related to the SR and aboveground biomass (AGB) of PFGs. We then used structural equation modeling to explore the relationship between the identified environmental factors and community SR and biomass, and the role of PFGs in driving this relationship. Important Findings: We found that aridity index had unimodal relationships with both AGB and SR of the PFGs and the whole community. All SR and biomass metrics were significantly related to STN and pH. The relationship between aridity index and community biomass was mediated by an increase in the AGB of grasses. The influence of STN and pH on community SR was mainly due to their regulation in the SR of forbs. Our results indicate that community composition and the identity of the PFGs play a key role in linking environmental factors to ecosystem functioning.

AB - Aims: Functional group composition of a plant community is mainly driven by environmental factors and is one of the main determinants of grassland biodiversity and productivity. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of plant functional groups (PFGs) in mediating the impact of environmental conditions on ecosystem functions and biodiversity. Methods: We measured plant biomass and species richness (SR) of grasslands in 65 sites on the Mongolian Plateau and classified 157 perennial herbaceous plants into two main PFGs (namely grasses and forbs). Using the random forest model and ordinary least squares regression, we identified that environmental factors (i.e. aridity index, soil total nitrogen [STN] and pH) were significantly related to the SR and aboveground biomass (AGB) of PFGs. We then used structural equation modeling to explore the relationship between the identified environmental factors and community SR and biomass, and the role of PFGs in driving this relationship. Important Findings: We found that aridity index had unimodal relationships with both AGB and SR of the PFGs and the whole community. All SR and biomass metrics were significantly related to STN and pH. The relationship between aridity index and community biomass was mediated by an increase in the AGB of grasses. The influence of STN and pH on community SR was mainly due to their regulation in the SR of forbs. Our results indicate that community composition and the identity of the PFGs play a key role in linking environmental factors to ecosystem functioning.

KW - climate

KW - community composition

KW - Mongolian Plateau

KW - plant functional groups

KW - soil properties

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DO - 10.1093/jpe/rtab021

M3 - Article

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VL - 14

SP - 679

EP - 691

JO - Journal of Plant Ecology

JF - Journal of Plant Ecology

IS - 4

ER -

Plant functional groups mediate effects of climate and soil factors on species richness and community biomass in grasslands of Mongolian Plateau

Abstract

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