Temporal changes in precipitation altered aboveground biomass in a typical steppe in Nei Mongol, China

Bai Ling Miao, Cun Zhu Liang, Ya Bo Shi, Mao Wei Liang, Zhong Ling Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aims Precipitation and its spatiotemporal changes are crucial for determining the effects of climate on plant community assembly and functioning of ecosystem (CAFE) in arid and semi-arid regions. Plant functional groups (PFGs)-an effective representation of CAFE-have been widely reported for their identity-dependent response to the changing climate. Here, we examine the responses of different PFGs to the temporal changes in precipitation by using aboveground biomass (AGB) as the dependent variable. Methods We conducted a long-term ecological research of AGB since 1982 in a typical steppe grassland of Nei Mongol, China. We used the monthly-observation dataset from 1982 through 2015 to quantify the empirical relationships between AGB of different PDFs and precipitation. Important findings We found that: 1) the decline in precipitation-concentration degree (PCD) was coupled with an increase in small rainfall events (≤5 mm) during the 35-year study period; 2) temporal changes in precipitation resulted in AGB decreases of annuals and biennials (AB), perennial forbs (PF) and perennial rhizome grass (PR), whereas AGB increased for perennial bunchgrasses (PB); 3) AGB, PF and semi-shrubs (SS) were positively correlated with growing season rainfall with AGB positively correlated with PCD while AGB of the shrubs (S) was negatively correlated with PCD; 4) AGB showed no significant correlation with precipitation frequency, but a significant negative correlation for type I to II precipitation 0.1-10 mm; 5) AGB had negative correlations with frequency and amount of type I (0.1-5.0 mm) and type VI (20-25 mm) precipitation. We concluded that the increase in small precipitation events will significantly reduce the AGB. These small precipitation events should be further explored for their ecological significances in the arid and semi-arid regions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)557-565
Number of pages9
JournalChinese Journal of Plant Ecology
Volume43
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Aboveground biomass
  • Plant functional groups
  • Precipitation dynamics
  • Precipitation-concentration degree
  • Typical steppe

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