Water Sources of Dominant Species in Three Alpine Ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau,China

Plant water sources were estimated by two or three compartment linear mixing models using hydrogen and oxygen isotope （δD and δ^18O） values of different components such as plant xylem water, precipitation and river water as well as soil water on the Tibetan Plateau in the summer of 2005. Four dominant species （Quercus aquifolioides, Pinus tabulaeformis, Salix rehderiana and Nitraria tangutorum） in three typical ecosystems （forest, shrub and desert） were investigated in this study. Stable isotope ratios of the summer precipitations and the soil water presented variations in spatial and temporal scales. δ^18O values of N. tangutorum xylem water were constant in the whole growth season and very similar to those of deep soil water. Water sources for all of the plants came from both precipitations and soil water. Plants switched rapidly among different water sources when environmental water conditions changed. Rainwater had different contributions to the plants, which was influenced by amounts of precipitation. The percentage of plant xylem water derived from rainwater rose with an increase in precipitation. Water sources for broad-leaved and coniferous species were different although they grew in the same environmental conditions. For example, the broad-leaved species Q. aquifolioides used mainly the water from deep soil, while 92.5% of xylem water of the coniferous species P. tabulaeformis was derived from rainwater during the growth season. The study will be helpful for us to fully understand responses of species on the Tibetan Plateau to changes in precipitation patterns, and to assess accurately changes of vegetation distribution in the future.

Growing Season Ecosystem Respirations and Associated Component Fluxes in Two Alpine Meadows on the Tibetan Plateau

From 30 June to 24 September in 2003 ecosystem respiration （Re） in two alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau were measured using static chamber- and gas chromatography- （GC） based techniques. Simultaneously, plant removal treatments were set to partition Re into plant autotrophic respiration （Ra） and microbial heterotrophic respiration （Rh）. Results indicated that Re had clear diurnal and seasonal variation patterns in both of the meadows. The seasonal variability of Re at both meadow sites was caused mainly by changes in Ra, rather than Rh. Moreover, atthe Kobresia humilis meadow site （K_site）, Ra and Rh accounted for 54% and 46% of Re, respectively. While at the Potentilla fruticosa scrub meadow （P_site）, the counterparts accounted for 61% and 39%, respectively. T test showed that there was significant difference in Re rates between the two meadows （t = 2.387, P = 0.022）. However, no significant difference was found in Rh rates, whereas a significant difference was observed in Ra rates between the two meadows. Thus, the difference in Re rate between the two meadows was mainly attributed to plant autotrophic respirations. During the growing season, the two meadows showed relatively low Q10 values, suggesting that Re, especially Rh was not sensitive to temperature variation in the growing season. Additionally, Re and Rh at the K_site, as well as Rh at the Psite was negatively correlated with soil moisture, indicating that soil moisture would also play an important role in respirations.