Responses of gross primary productivity to different sizes of precipitation events in a temperate grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China

Changes in the sizes of precipitation events in the context of global climate change may have profound impacts on ecosystem productivity in arid and semiarid grasslands. However, we still have little knowledge about to what extent grassland productivity will respond to an individual precipitation event. In this study, we quantified the duration, the maximum, and the time-integrated amount of the response of daily gross primary productivity (GPP) to an individual precipitation event and their variations with different sizes of precipitation events in a typical temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia, China. Results showed that the duration of GPP-response (τR) and the maximum absolute GPP-response (GPPmax) increased linearly with the sizes of precipitation events (Pes), driving a corresponding increase in time-integrated amount of the GPP-response (GPPtotal) because variations of GPPtotal were largely explained by τR and GPPmax. The relative contributions of these two parameters to GPPtotal were strongly Pes-dependent. The GPPmax contributed more to the variations of GPPtotal when Pes was relatively small (<20 mm), whereas τR was the main driver to the variations of GPPtotal when Pes was relatively large. In addition, a threshold size of at least 5 mm of precipitation was required to induce a GPP-response for the temperate steppe in this study. Our work has important implications for the modeling community to obtain an advanced understanding of productivity-response of grassland ecosystems to altered precipitation regimes.

Response of soil CO_2 efflux to precipitation manipulation in a semiarid grassland

Soil CO_2efflux（SCE） is an important component of ecosystem CO_2 exchange and is largely temperature and moisture dependent, providing feedback between C cycling and the climate system. We used a precipitation manipulation experiment to examine the effects of precipitation treatment on SCE and its dependences on soil temperature and moisture in a semiarid grassland. Precipitation manipulation included ambient precipitation, decreased precipitation（- 43%）, or increased precipitation（＋ 17%）. The SCE was measured from July2013 to December 2014, and CO_2 emission during the experimental period was assessed.The response curves of SCE to soil temperature and moisture were analyzed to determine whether the dependence of SCE on soil temperature or moisture varied with precipitation manipulation. The SCE significantly varied seasonally but was not affected by precipitation treatments regardless of season. Increasing precipitation resulted in an upward shift of SCE–temperature response curves and rightward shift of SCE–moisture response curves,while decreasing precipitation resulted in opposite shifts of such response curves. These shifts in the SCE response curves suggested that increasing precipitation strengthened the dependence of SCE on temperature or moisture, and decreasing precipitation weakened such dependences. Such shifts affected the predictions in soil CO_2 emissions for different precipitation treatments. When considering such shifts, decreasing or increasing precipitation resulted in 43 or 75% less change, respectively, in CO_2 emission compared with changes in emissions predicted without considering such shifts. Furthermore, the effects of shifts in SCE response curves on CO_2 emission prediction were greater during the growing than the non-growing season.

Variations of Winter Precipitation over Southeastern China in Association with the North Atlantic Oscillation

The synoptic-scale winter precipitation variations over southeastem China （22°-32°N, 105°-125°E） and their asso- ciation with the North Atlantic Oscillation （NAO） during 1951-2007 are investigated in this paper. The variability of wintertime precipitation is characterized by meridional displacement of its maximum center. Two precipitation re- gimes, with maximum centers located over the Yangtze and Pearl River basins, are identified via cluster analysis. Time-lagged analyses suggest that the two precipitation regimes are connected with the decaying phases of positive NAO （NAO＋） events of different amplitudes. A strong （medium） NAO＋ event is defined as one when the maximum amplitude of the NAO index exceeds 1.0 （in the range of 0.7-1.0） for at least 4 consecutive days and drops to less than 0.3 within 7 days following the peak index. After the peak of a strong NAO＋, southerly winds expand north- ward to the Yangtze River （about 30°N）, a northeast-southwest-tilted trough migrates to east of Lake Baikal, and cold air intrudes into central eastern China; thus, precipitation is strengthened over the Yangtze River basin where warm and cold air masses converge. In comparison, during the decaying phase of medium NAO＋ events, the south- erly winds are relatively weak, and precipitation tends to be enhanced at lower latitudes （around 25°N）. Further ana- lysis indicates that downstream Rossby-wave propagation may account for the latitudinal expansion of the southerly wind anomalies over the eastern coastal area of China during the decaying phase of NAO＋ events of different strengths.

Seasonal distribution of increased precipitation in maternal environments influences offspring performance of Potentilla tanacetifolia in a temperate steppe ecosystem

Aims Precipitation is predicted to increase in arid and semiarid regions under climate change,with greater changes in intra-and interannual distribution in the future.As a major limiting factor in these regions,changes in precipitation undoubtedly influence plant growth and productivity.However,how the temporal shifts in pre-cipitation will impact plant populations are uncertain.Methods A 3-year field experiment and a greenhouse experiment were conducted in a temperate grassland in northern China to examine the impacts of seasonal(spring and summer)increased precipitation on offspring performance of a common species,Potentilla tanacetifolia.Important Findings Our results showed that the amounts and timing of increased precipitation both played important roles in regulating offspring performance of P.tanacetifolia in the temperate steppe ecosystem.Increased precipitation in spring at maternal stage stimulated seed production,germination percentage and seedling biomass,whereas increased precipitation in summer at maternal stage stimulated seedling biomass.The timing of increased precipitation influenced seed attributes,whereas the amount of increased precipitation influenced offspring seedling biomass.Our results indicate that population development of P.tanacetifolia may be underestimated under future increased precipitation regime,if the transgenerational effect is not taken into account.

Evaluating the applicability of the water erosion prediction project(WEPP)model to runoff and soil loss of sandstone reliefs in the Loess Plateau,China

Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental issues,especially in vulnerable areas such as the Pisha sandstone regions located in the Loess Plateau(China).In these types of reliefs,long-term studies monitoring runoff and soil loss are scarce,and even more considering the efficiency of different soil management techniques applied to reduce land degradation.In this study,seven years(2014-2020)of in-situ measurements of surface runoff and soil loss for different land uses(forestland,shrubland,grassland,farmland,and bare land)in a Pisha Sandstone environment at the Loess Plateau were con-ducted.We applied the Water Erosion Prediction Project(WEPP)model combining the large database with the precipitation regimes.Our results showed that runoff volume coming from observed and simulated data exhibited significant differences among them depending on the different vegetation types.Runoff and soil loss were different among diverse land use types as follows:farmland>grassland>shrubland>forestland.After conducting a calibration,we found satisfactorily simulated surface runoff and sediment yield based on precipitation regimes and land uses at sandstone reliefs.Simulation performance of surface runoff was better than sediment yield.The range of standard error of the model simulation for event and annual values of runoff were 4.71 mm and 12.19 mm,respectively.The standard error for event and annual values of soil loss were 4.19 t/hm^(2)and 21.86 t/hm^(2).In the calibration group,R2 of runoff and soil loss were 0.92 and 0.86 respectively,while Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient(E)reached 0.90 and 0.85,respectively.In the validation group,the R2 for both runoff and soil loss were 0.82 and 0.56,respectively.Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient(E)were 0.77 and 0.54 for the runoff and sediment yield.We concluded that using a detailed monitoring dataset,the WEPP model could accu-rately simulate and predict water erosion in the hillslopes of Pisha sandstone area.

Cultivable Microfungal Communities Inhabiting Biological Soil Crusts in the Tengger Desert, China

Biological soil crusts are essential components of arid ecosystems. We examined the variations in microfungal communities inhabiting different biological crust types in the vicinity of the Shapotou Research Station in the Tengger Desert, China. A total of 134 species from 66 genera were isolated using the soil dilution plate method. The mycobiota of the crusts from the Tengger Desert, similar to that of the Negev Desert in Israel, was dominated by melanin-containing species with large multicellular spores. Abundance of these xeric species increased spatially with increasing xeric conditions from moss-dominated to cyanobacterial crusts. Density of microfungal isolates displayed the opposite trend and was positively correlated with chlorophyll content, indicating the possible significant influence of organic matter content and wetness duration on fungal biomass. Within a chronosequence of the localities of different periods after sand stabilization with revegetation, little variations were revealed in species composition and isolate density of the crust microfungal communities, while a tendency towards a decrease in the community diversity level with the crust age was noted Microfungal communities from stabilized localities differed from those of the natural localities in abundance of the dominant and some frequent species, and in the fluctuations of diversity characteristics between the cyanobacterial and moss-dominated crusts. The variations in mycobiotie parameters in the soil crusts of the Tengger Desert were apparently associated with the topographically induced variations in abiotic conditions, while the differences in microfungal community of soil crusts between the Tengger and Negev deserts, such as the significantly higher abundance of thermotolerant species in the crusts of the Tengger Deserts, were caused by the principal differences in their precipitation regimes, associated with different rainy seasons, winter and summer in the Negev and Tengger deserts, respectively.