VOR and CVOR Index for Health Evaluation of Typical Steppe in Inner Mongolia

[Objective] The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of livestock exclusion on the health of grassland ecosystem accurately and quantitatively. [Method] One open grazing site and five seasonal exclusion sites, which had the same vegetation composition （taking Leymus chinensis and Stipa krylovii as main species） and soil type, were chosen as research objects for the VOR and CVOR evaluation of the effect of open grazing and livestock exclusion on the health of typical steppes, and for building the calculation model for VOR and CVOR indices to evaluate the health of typical steppes with different exclusion periods. [ Result] The VOR and CVOR composite indices both could accurately evaluate the health of typical steppes, and the evaluation results from the both indices were quite consistent. Although the condition （C）, vigor（V）, organization （O） and resilience（ R ） indices changed differently in different exclusion periods, the VOR and CVOR composite indices increased gradually with the peri- od of exclusion prolonged, and the health condition of typical steppe changed from ＂alert＂ level （in the open grazing and earlier exclusion period） to ＂healthy＂ level （after 13 to 20 years＇exclusion）. [ Conclusion] The application of exclusion was beneficial to the recovery of degraded grassland ecosystem.

Long-term grazing exclusion influences arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and their association with vegetation in typical steppe of Inner Mongolia,China

It is not certain that long-term grazing exclusion influences arbuscular mycorrhizal （AM） fungi and their association with steppe vegetation. In this study, soil and plant samples were collected from two sites of grazing exclusion since 1983 （E83） and 1996 （E96）, and one site of free-grazing （FG） in the typical steppe of Xilinguole League, Inner Mongolia, China, and assayed for soil basic physicochemical properties, AM fungal parameters, aboveground biomass and shoot phosphorus （P） uptake as well. The results showed that long-term grazing exclusion of E83 and E96 led to less drastic seasonal changes and significant increases in spore density, hyphal length density and root colonization intensity of AM fungi and even soil alkaline phosphatase activity, by up to 300, 168, 110 and 102％, respectively, compared with those of FG site. In addition, the total aboveground biomass and shoot P uptake of E83 and E96 were 75-992％ and 58-645％, respectively, higher than those of FG. Generally, the root colonization intensity, spore density, and hyphal length density of AM fungi were all positively correlated with the aboveground biomass and even shoot P uptake of plant. These results may imply that grazing exclusion play a critical role in increasing the growth of AM fungi, and subsequently, may increase plant P uptake and aboveground biomass production. Moreover, the spore density could sensitively reflect the impacts of long-term grazing exclusion on AM fungi since survival strategy of spores in soil.

Infiltration pattern beneath shrub canopy and interspace grass patches in typical steppe ecosystems of Inner Mongolia, China

Water is the most critical factor for controlling die vegetation pattern in arid and semiarid regions.Using a dye-tracing experiment,we analyzed the infiltration pattern beneath shrub canopy and interspace grass patches in typical steppe ecosystems.The dye coverage,uniform infiltration depth,maximum infiltration depth,total stained area and heterogeneous infiltration stained area were measured by two indices,the maximum infiltration depth index(MIDI)and heterogeneous infiltration index(HII),which were calculated by processing dye-stained photos.The MIDI and HII of soil under shrubs were 1.41±0.14 and 0.29±0.068,respectively,and larger than those of grass soil,1.26±0.14 and0.20±0.076.Using the MIDI,HII,field soil moisture and rainfall data,the infiltration depth and heterogeneous infiltration amount for 26 nature rainfall events were calculated.The results imply that water can infiltrate to a deeper layer beneath shrub canopy than beneath grass patches and that more water infiltration occurs beneath shrub canopy than beneath grass patches.These results are of prime importance for arid and semiarid ecosystems with a limited water supply due to high evaporation and low precipitation.

Relationship between structure and aboveground biomass of typical steppe and climate in Inner Mongolia

Typical steppe in Inner Mongolia belongs to a part of Central Asia sub-region in Eurasian temperate steppe region. In climate distinct wet and dry season, coherence of water and heat result in single peak type of seasonal dynamic of steppe biomass. Community biomass has linear regressional equation with community height, its correlation coefficient (R) is 0.959***. Growth rate of biomass in June, July and August is usually at 1.5-3.0 g/m2. d-1. Community standing dead occurs in June and equates green living biomass by mid-September. Community biomass is only standing dead biomass in the mid-October. Biomass, green production and standing dead have linear regressional relation with days of plant growing, their correlation coefficient (R) are 0.9919***, 0.9878*** and 0.9923***, respectively. Yearly dynamic of typical steppe biomass is variable, the maximum value is 2.4 times as much as the minimum. The peak biomass of Stipa grandis steppe was 87g/m2 in dry 1980 and 210g/m2 in rainy 1981, and their height and coverage were 60cm and 30% in 1980, 95cm and 40% in 1981. Major population biomass and individual plant dry weight at the peak time in 1980 is 50-70% lower than in 1981. In 1980, grass over the layer of 40 cm high became dead and community standing dead biomass amounted to 32.07% of the total production, 2.5 times as much as that in 1981 (13.08%). In addition, growth rate of biomass before the peak time in 1980 were negative value for 2 times. Seasonal dynamic curve of dry matter content is in negative proportion to biomass increase and dry matter content is higher in dry 1980 than in rainy 1981.

The Characteristics of Plant Communities Along East Eurasian Steppe Transect

The East Eurasian Steppe Transect （EEST） is the ifrst international transect across regions of middle and high latitudes in the eastern Eurasian steppe. The EEST is an ideal platform for researching the response of Eurasian temperate steppe to global change, because of its integrated gradients of temperature and human activities on a large-scale. In this study, basic characteristics of plant communities along the EEST across a latitudinal gradient was analyzed. According to the survey of 58 sampling sites, there are 140 species belonging to 34 families and 94 genera. Of particular note was the ifnding of Astragalus dalaiensis which has disappeared in the grasslands of China. On the whole, Gramineae plants are dominant with Liliaceae plants in the communities signiifcantly decreasing along the latitudinal gradient from south to north. The Shannon-Wiener index and biomass of communities all decreased along the latitudinal gradient with signiifcant negative linear regressions. The SDR2 （summed dominance ratio based on two factors） of dominant plants in the upper layers of communities, such as Stipa and Leymus chinensis, decreased along the latitudinal gradient from south to north. Especially, the SDR2 of L. chinensis decreased signiifcantly. The SDR2 of Cleistogenes squarrosa, Agropyron cristatum in the lower layers of communities and the indicator species for degradation were not affected. Potentilla acaulis was found mainly in the southern and northern areas. Stellera chamaejasme was found just in a few sites in the southern area of the EEST. In communities of Stipa grandis and Stipa krylovii, annual and biennial species are dominant. The ratio of annual and biennial species in the community is signiifcantly related to the latitudinal gradient. Perennial herbaceous plants and shrubs were not affected. According to the principal component analysis （PCA）, with the data from 58＆#215;140 dimensions, the ifrst and second components had the lowest proportion, thus indicating that the species compositions and community structures are homogeneous along the EEST. There is a certain degree of spatial differentiation along the EEST due to degradation’s differences resulting from the different land uses.

Spatial variation of net radiation and its contribution to energy balance closures in grassland ecosystems

Introduction:Low energy balance closure(EBC)at a particular eddy-covariance flux site has increased the uncertainties of carbon,water,and energy measurements and has thus hampered the urgent research of scaling up and modeling analyses through site combinations in regional or global flux networks.Methods:A series of manipulative experiments were conducted in this study to explore the role of net radiation(Rn)in the EBC in relation to spatial variability of vegetation characteristics,source area,and sensor type in three sites of the Inner Mongolian grassland of northern China.Results:At all three sites,the residual fluxes of EBC peaked consistently at 110 W m^(-2).The spatial variability in net radiation was 19 W m^(-2)(5%of R_(n))during the day and 7 W m^(-2)(16%)at night,with an average of 13 W m^(-2)(11%)from eight plot measurements across the three sites.Large area measurements of Rn significantly increased by 9 W m^(-2)during the day and decreased by 4 W m^(-2)at night in the unclipped treatments.Net radiation decreased by 25 W m^(-2)(6%of Rn)at midday and 81 MJ m^(-2)(6%)during a growing season with heavier regular clipping than that in unclipped treatments.The Rn was lower by 11–21 W m^(-2)(~20–40%of Rn)measured by CNR1 than by Q7.1 at night,while there was only 6 W m^(-2)(~1–2%of Rn)difference during the daytime between these two types of commonly used net radiometers.Conclusions:Overall,the inclusion of the uncertainty in available energy accounted for 65%of the~110 W m^(-2)shortfalls in the lack of closure.Clearly,the unclosed energy balance at these three grassland sites remains significant,with unexplored mechanisms for future research.