Growth and physiological responses of Agriophyllum squarrosum to sand burial stress

Agriophyllum squarrosum is an annual desert plant widely distributed on mobile and semi-mobile dunes in all the sandy deserts of China. We studied the growth and physiological properties of A. squarrosum seedlings under different sand burial depths in 2010 and 2011 at Horqin Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia to understand the ability and mechanism that A. squarrosum withstands sand burial. The results showed that A. squarrosum had a strong ability to withstand sand burial. Its survival rate, plant height and biomass increased significantly at a burial depth 25% of seedling height and decreased significantly only when the burial depth exceeded the height of the seedlings; some plants still survived even if the burial depth reached 266% of a seedling height. The malondialdehyde （MDA） content and membrane permeability of the plant did not change significantly as long as the burial depth was not greater than the seedling height; lipid peroxidation increased and cell membranes were damaged if the burial depth was increased further. When subjected to sand burial stress, superoxide dismutase （SOD） and peroxidase （POD） activities and free proline content increased in the seedlings, while the catalase （CAT） activity and soluble sugar content decreased. Sand burial did not lead to water stress. Reductions in photosynthetic area and cell membrane damage caused by sand burial may be the major mechanisms increasing mortality and inhibiting growth of the seedling. But the increases in SOD and POD activities and proline content must play a certain role in reducing sand burial damage.

Reproduction of Hedysarum scoparium (Fabaceae) in patched habitat is pollen limited,but not just pollinator limited

Pollen limitation of plant reproduction occurs across Angiosperms, particularly those in patched habitats We investigated the, relationship between pollen limitation and patch variables （patch size, visitation frequency） in the desert plant Hedysarum scoparium （Fabaceae）, which is an important xerophyte in the arid and semi-arid regions of Northwest China and can grow well as a pioneer plant in shifting sand dunes. We observed insect visitation to H. scoparium over two flowering seasons and estimated pollen limitation using fruit set and seed production. Our results indicate that fruit set and seed production increased significantly with pollen supplementation compared with open pollination. Hedysarum scoparium was pollinated by over 8 species of bees, with 88.4% of visits made by introduced honeybees （Apis mellifera）. Bee visitation varied significantly among the patches of habitats, but not associated with patch size of habitat. In general, pollen limitation occurred more strongly during fruit set than during seed production. The patches that received higher rates of pollinator visits were less pollen limited for fruit set. Pollen limitation for seed production, however, was not associated with pollinator visitation frequency. We conclude that pollen limitation in H. scoparium was caused by more than one reason, not just pollinator visits.

Effects of sand burial on growth and antioxidant enzyme activities of wheat(Triticum aestivum L.) in northern China

Growth and physiological responses of wheat to sand burial were studied in Horqin Sandy Land, to determine the impact on productivity and survival as well as antioxidant enzymes responses. This study consisted of one control （no sand） and four sand burial treatments： 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of seedling height, respectively. Minor burial （25%） had no effect on wheat growth and survival; deep burial （100%） was fatal, and the others had an intermediate effect. Thus, the survival limit to sand burial was equal to seedling height. Sand burial mainly decreased shoot biomass and crop yield, but had small effects on belowground biomass. Superoxide dismutase （SOD） activity increased with time after burial in all treatments with surviving plants. Peroxidase （POD） activity increased after six days under burial, and catalase （CAT） activity de- creased after burial, but recovered after 12 days. The concentration of malondialdehyde （MDA）, a marker for oxidative stress, was low on the sixth day, but increased thereafter with burial depth. Thus, sand burial 〉25% should be avoided due to growth rate reduction leading to reduced crop yield, and even 25% burial showed physiological indicators of stress.

Climate and salinity drive soil bacterial richness and diversity in sandy grasslands in China

Bacteria constitute a large proportion of the biodiversity in soils and control many important processes in terrestrial ecosystems.However,our understanding of the interactions between soil bacteria and environmental factors remains limited,especially in sensitive and fragile ecosystems.In this study,geographic patterns of bacterial diversity across four sandy grasslands along a 1,600 km north-south transect in northern China were characterized by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing.Then,we analyzed the driving factors behind the patterns in bacterial diversity.The results show that of the 21 phyla detected,the most abundant were Proteobacteria,Actinobacteria,Acidobacteria and Fir‐micutes(average relative abundance>5%).Soil bacterial operational taxonomic unit(OTU)numbers(richness)and Faith's phylogenetic diversity(diversity)were highest in the Otindag Sandy Land and lowest in the Mu Us Sandy Land.Soil electrical conductivity(EC)was the most influential factor driving bacterial richness and diversity.The bacterial communities differed significantly among the four sandy grasslands,and the bacterial community structure was signifi‐cantly affected by environmental factors and geographic distance.Of the environmental variables examined,climatic factors(mean annual temperature and precipitation)and edaphic properties(pH and EC)explained the highest propor‐tion of the variation in bacterial community structure.Biotic factors such as plant species richness and aboveground bio‐mass exhibited weak but significant associations with bacterial richness and diversity.Our findings revealed the impor‐tant role of climate and salinity factors in controlling bacterial richness and diversity;understanding these roles is critical for predicting the impacts of climate change and promoting sustainable management strategies for ecosystem services in these sandy lands.

Seasonal change mediates the shift between resource and pollen limitation in Hedysarum scoparium(Fabaceae)

Theory suggests that with sufficient environmental variation, pollen limitation might be observed at some places or times, and resource limitation at others, but there are no empirical data about the effect of seasonal change on the variation of pollen limitation and resource limitation within a flowering season. In this study, we examined pollen and resource limi- tation by comparing fruit set and seed production in natural- and hand-pollinated Hedysarum scoparium flowers in the middle reaches of the Hexi Corridor region, China, in 2010. We also described a role for the first substantial autumn rainfall in mediating a shift between pollen and resource limitation in H. scoparium, but did not analyze this experimentally Our results indicated that H. scoparium was resource limited at peak flowering during the summer, and was pollen limited at peak flowering during the autumn. The seasonal change （summer to autumn） mediated the shift between pollen and resource limitations in H. scoparium. The shift timing depended on the date of the first autumn rainfall in 2010. Changes in the first substantial rainfall in autumn may affect fruiting of H. scoparium, thus affecting population persistence of this species and development/structure of the local ecosystem if such conditions persist.