Influence of climate warming and nitrogen deposition on soil phosphorus composition and phosphorus availability in a temperate grassland,China

Climate warming and nitrogen （N） deposition change ecosystem processes, structure, and functioning whereas the phosphorus （P） composition and availability directly influence the ecosystem structure under condi- tions of N deposition. In our study, four treatments were designed, including a control, diurnal warming （DW）, N deposition （ND）, and combined warming and N deposition （WN）. The effects of DW, ND, and WN on P composition were studied by 3~p nuclear magnetic resonance （3~p NMR） spectroscopy in a temperate grassland region of China. The results showed that the N deposition decreased the soil pH and total N （TN） concentration but increased the soil OIsen-P concentration. The solution-state 31p NMR analysis showed that the DW, ND and WN treatments slightly decreased the proportion of orthophosphate and increased that of the monoesters. An absence of myo-inositol phosphate in the DW, ND and WN treatments was observed compared with the control. Furthermore, the DW, ND and WN treatments significantly decreased the recovery of soil P in the NaOH-EDTA solution by 17%-20%. The principal component analysis found that the soil pH was positively correlated with the P recovery in the NaOH-EDTA solution. Therefore, the decreased soil P recovery in the DW and ND treatments might be caused by an indirect influence on the soil pH. Additionally, the soil moisture content was the key factor limiting the available P. The positive correlation of total carbon （TC） and TN with the soil P composition indicated the influence of climate warming and N deposition on the biological processes in the soil P cycling.

Responses in gross primary production of Stipa krylovii and Allium polyrhizum to a temporal rainfall in a temperate grassland of Inner Mongolia, China

In the arid and semi-arid areas of China, rainfall and drought affect the growth and photosynthetic activities of plants.Gross primary productivity(GPP) is one of the most important indices that measure the photosynthetic ability of plants.This paper focused on the GPP of two representative grassland species(Stipa krylovii Roshev.and Allium polyrhizum Turcz.ex Regel) to demonstrate the effect of a temporal rainfall on the two species.Our research was conducted in a temperate grassland in New Barag Right Banner, Hulun Buir City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, in a dry year 2015.We measured net ecosystem productivity(NEP) and ecosystem respiration flux(ER) using a transparent chamber system and monitored the photosynthetically active radiation(PAR), air and soil temperature and humidity simultaneously.Based on the measured values of NEP and ER, we calculated the GPP of the two species before and after the rainfall.The saturated GPP per aboveground biomass(GPPAGB) of A.polyrhizum remarkably increased from 0.033(±0.018) to 0.185(±0.055) μmol CO2/(gdw·s) by 5.6-fold and that of S.krylovii decreased from 0.068(±0.021) to 0.034(±0.011) μmol CO2/(gdw·s) by 0.5-fold on the 1st and 2nd d after a 9.1 mm rainfall event compared to the values before the rainfall at low temperatures below 35℃.However, on the 1st and 2nd d after the rainfall, both of the saturated GPPAGB values of S.krylovii and A.polyrhizum were significantly lower at high temperatures above 35℃(0.018(±0.007) and 0.110(±0.061) μmol CO2/(gdw·s), respectively) than at low temperatures below 35℃(0.034(±0.011) and 0.185(±0.055) μmol CO2/(gdw·s), respectively).The results showed that the GPP responses to the temporal rainfall differed between S.krylovii and A.polyrhizum and strongly negative influenced by temperature.The temporal rainfall seems to be more effective on the GPP of A.polyrhizum than S.krylovii.These differences might be related to the different physiological and structural features, the coexistence of the species and their species-specific survival strategies.

Response of CO2 Emissions to the Change of Major Environmental Factors in a Temperate Grassland Ecosystem

Using dark enclosed chamber technique, CO2 fluxes from meadow, Leymus chinensis grasslandand Stipa grandis grassland and major environmental factors were measured in Xilin RiverBasin of Inner Mongolia under abnormally dry circumstances during June to September2001, when rainfall was less than 1/6 of that in normal years. Results showed the diurnalvariation of CO2 flux was significantly positively correlated with the earths surfacetemperature and air temperature. As to the response of the fluxes of CO2 to annualprecipitation, the average CO2 emission decreased from 268.7, 211.6 to 181.4 mg m-2 h-1 inmeadow, Leymus chinensis grassland and Stipa grandis grassland, respectively, with adecrease in annual precipitation. Therefore precipitation was an important environmentalfactor influencing CO2 flux from grassland. We also found close positively correlationbetween CO2 emissions and soil water content, organic content and total nitrogen contentin different soil layers. However, there was little correlation between the monthlyfluctuation of CO2 emissions with air temperature, topsoil temperature and soil temperaturesat 5 and 10cm soil depth.

Root production, mortality and turnover in soil profiles as affected by clipping in a temperate grassland on the Loess Plateau

Aims Clipping or mowing for hay,as a prevalent land-use practice,is considered to be an important component of global change.Root production and turnover in response to clipping have great implications for the plant survival strategy and grassland ecosystem carbon processes.However,our knowledge about the clipping effect on root dynamics is mainly based on root living biomass,and limited by the lack of spatial and temporal observations.The study aim was to investigate the effect of clipping on seasonal variations in root length production and mortality and their distribution patterns in different soil layers in semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau.Methods Clipping was performed once a year in June to mimic the local spring livestock grazing beginning from 2014.The minirhizotron technique was used to monitor the root production,mortality and turnover rate at various soil depths(0–10,10–20,20–30 and 30–50 cm)in 2014(from 30 May to 29 October)and 2015(from 22 April to 25 October).Soil temperature and moisture in different soil layers were also measured during the study period.Important Findings Our results showed that:(i)Clipping significantly decreased the cumulative root production(P<0.05)and increased the cumulative root mortality and turnover rates of the 0–50 cm soil profile for both years.(ii)Clipping induced an immediate and sharp decrease in root length production and an increase in root length mortality in all soil layers.However,with plant regrowth,root production increased and root mortality decreased gradually,with the root production at a depth of 30–50 cm even exceeding the control in September–October 2014 and April–May 2015.(iii)Clipping mainly reduced root length production and increased root length mortality in the upper 0–20 cm soil profile with rapid root turnover.However,roots at deeper soil layers were either little influenced by clipping or exhibited an opposite trend with slower turnover rate compared with the upper soil profile,leading to the downward transport of root production and living root biomass.These findings indicate that roots in deeper soil layers tend to favour higher root biomass and longer fine root life spans to maximize the water absorption efficiency under environmental stress,and also suggest that short-term clipping would reduce the amount of carbon through fine root litter into the soil,especially in the shallow soil profile.

Litter decomposition and C and N dynamics as affected by N additions in a semi-arid temperate steppe, Inner Mongolia of China

Litter decomposition is the fundamental process in nutrient cycling and soil carbon（C） sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems. The global-wide increase in nitrogen（N） inputs is expected to alter litter decomposition and,ultimately, affect ecosystem C storage and nutrient status. Temperate grassland ecosystems in China are usually N-deficient and particularly sensitive to the changes in exogenous N additions. In this paper, we conducted a 1,200-day in situ experiment in a typical semi-arid temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia to investigate the litter decomposition as well as the dynamics of litter C and N concentrations under three N addition levels（low N with 50 kg N/（hm2？a）（LN）, medium N with 100 kg N/（hm2？a）（MN）, and high N with 200 kg N/（hm2？a）（HN）） and three N addition forms（ammonium-N-based with 100 kg N/（hm2？a） as ammonium sulfate（AS）, nitrate-N-based with 100 kg N/（hm2？a） as sodium nitrate（SN）, and mixed-N-based with 100 kg N/（hm2？a） as calcium ammonium nitrate（CAN）） compared to control with no N addition（CK）. The results indicated that the litter mass remaining in all N treatments exhibited a similar decomposition pattern： fast decomposition within the initial 120 days, followed by a relatively slow decomposition in the remaining observation period（120–1,200 days）. The decomposition pattern in each treatment was fitted well in two split-phase models, namely, a single exponential decay model in phase I（〈398 days） and a linear decay function in phase II（≥398 days）. The three N addition levels exerted insignificant effects on litter decomposition in the early stages（〈398 days, phase I; P〉0.05）. However, MN and HN treatments inhibited litter mass loss after 398 and 746 days, respectively（P〈0.05）. AS and SN treatments exerted similar effects on litter mass remaining during the entire decomposition period（P〉0.05）. The effects of these two N addition forms differed greatly from those of CAN after 746 and 1,053 days, respectively（P〈0.05）. During the decomposition period, N concentrations in the decomposing litter increased whereas C concentrations decreased, which also led to an exponential decrease in litter C：N ratios in all treatments. No significant effects were induced by N addition levels and forms on litter C and N concentrations（P〉0.05）. Our results indicated that exogenous N additions could exhibit neutral or inhibitory effects on litter decomposition, and the inhibitory effects of N additions on litter decomposition in the final decay stages are not caused by the changes in the chemical qualities of the litter, such as endogenous N and C concentrations. These results will provide an important data basis for the simulation and prediction of C cycle processes in future N-deposition scenarios.

Managed grassland alters soil N dynamics and N2O emissions in temperate steppe

Reclamation of degraded grasslands as managed grasslands has been increasingly accelerated in recent years in China. Land use change affects soil nitrogen（N） dynamics and nitrous oxide（N2O） emissions. However, it remains unclear how large-scale grassland reclamation will impact the grassland ecosystem as a whole. Here, we investigated the effects of the conversion from native to managed grasslands on soil N dynamics and N2O emissions by field experiments in Hulunber in northern China. Soil（0-10 cm）, nitrate（NO3-）,ammonium（NH4＋）, and microbial N were measured in plots in a temperate steppe（Leymus chinensis grassland） and two managed grasslands（Medicago sativa and Bromus inermis grasslands） in 2011 and 2012. The results showed conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M.sativa or B. inermis grasslands decreased concentrations of NO3--N, but did not change NH4-N . Soil microbial N was slightly decreased by the conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M.sativa, but increased by the conversion to B. inermis. The conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M. sativa（i.e., a legume grass） increased N2O emissions by 26.2%, while the conversion to the B. inermis（i.e., a non-legume grass） reduced N2O emissions by 33.1%. The conversion from native to managed grasslands caused large created variations in soil NO3-＋-N and NH4-N concentrations. Net N mineralization rates did not change significantly in growing season or vegetation type, but to net nitrification rate. These results provide evidence on how reclamation may impact the grassland ecosystem in terms of N dynamics and N2O emissions.

Patterns of above-and belowground biomass allocation in China's grasslands:Evidence from individual-level observations

Above-and belowground biomass allocation not only influences growth of individual plants,but also influences vegetation structures and functions,and consequently impacts soil carbon input as well as terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling.However,due to sampling difficulties,a considerable amount of uncertainty remains about the root:shoot ratio(R/S),a key parameter for models of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling.We investigated biomass allocation patterns across a broad spatial scale.We collected data on individual plant biomass and systematically sampled along a transect across the temperate grasslands in Inner Mongolia as well as in the alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau.Our results indicated that the median of R/S for herbaceous species was 0.78 in China's grasslands as a whole.R/S was significantly higher in temperate grasslands than in alpine grasslands(0.84 vs.0.65).The slope of the allometric relationship between above-and belowground biomass was steeper for temperate grasslands than for alpine.Our results did not support the hypothesis that aboveground biomass scales isometrically with belowground biomass.The R/S in China's grasslands was not significantly correlated with mean annual temperature(MAT) or mean annual precipitation(MAP).Moreover,comparisons of our results with previous findings indicated a large difference between R/S data from individual plants and communities.This might be mainly caused by the underestimation of R/S at the individual level as a result of an inevitable loss of fine roots and the overestimation of R/S in community-level surveys due to grazing and difficulties in identifying dead roots.Our findings suggest that root biomass in grasslands tended to have been overestimated in previous reports of R/S.

Effects of a conversion from grassland to cropland on the different soil organic carbon fractions in Inner Mongolia, China

Cultivation is one of the most important human activities affecting the grassland ecosystem besides grazing, but its impacts on soil total organic carbon （C）, especially on the liable organic C fractions have not been fully understood yet. In this paper, the role of cropping in soil organic C pool of different fractions was investigated in a meadow steppe region in Inner Mongolia of China, and the relationships between different C fractions were also discussed. The results indicated that the concentrations of different C fractions at steppe and cultivated land all decreased progressively with soil depth. After the conversion from steppe to spring wheat field for 36 years, total organic carbon （TOC） concentration at the 0 to 100 cm soil depth has decreased by 12.3% to 28.2%, and TOC of the surface soil horizon, especially those of 0-30 cm decreased more significantly （p〈0.01）. The dissolved organic carbon （DOC） and microbial biomass carbon （MBC） at the depth of 0-40 cm were found to have decreased by 66.7% to 77.1% and 36.5% to 42.4%, respectively. In the S.baicalensis steppe, the ratios of soil DOC to TOC varied between 0.52% and 0.60%, and those in the spring wheat field were only in the range of 0.18%-0.20%. The microbial quotients （qMBs） in the spring wheat field, varying from 1.11% to 1.40%, were also lower than those in the S. baicalensis steppe, which were in the range of 1.50%-1.63%. The change of DOC was much more sensitive to cultivation disturbance. Soil TOC, DOC, and MBC were significantly positive correlated with each other in the S. baicalensis steppe, but in the spring wheat field, the correlativity between DOC and TOC and that between DOC and MBC did not reach the significance level of 0.05.

Enhanced aboveground biomass by increased precipitation in a central European grassland

Background:Global climate change is projected to increase temperature and alter precipitation pattern,which could affect grassland ecosystem.Long-term observation at a field experiment can be a powerful approach to explore the impacts of climate change on biomass productivity in grassland.In attempting to understand how climatic variability regulates biomass productivity,we analyzed long-term records of temperature and precipitation to examine how variation of temperature and precipitation across 19 years affect biomass productivity.Methods:We established the experiment with 64 plots in two blocks and planted 31 species in 30 different mixtures.We harvested aboveground biomass twice a year,sorted biomass by functional groups,and weighed dry biomass.The site was mown after each harvest.We did not apply any fertilizer and water.Using linear regression model,we examined the influences of growing season temperature and precipitation on biomass productivity.Results:The results showed that aboveground biomass productivity in September and annual were significantly increased in post-drought(2003–2015).The relationships of aboveground biomass productivity with growing season precipitation were significantly positive.The results showed that aboveground biomass productivity in June and annual were sensitive to growing season temperature.The relationships of aboveground biomass productivity of the functional group of grasses with early growing season temperature were significantly negative.Early growing season precipitation had a significant positive effect on aboveground biomass productivity of the functional groups of grasses and legumes.Post-drought aboveground biomass productivity of the functional groups of grasses in June and September were declined,whereas legumes significantly increased,which suggests that the role of dominant grasses may shift by legumes with global climate change.Conclusions:Our results highlight that early and late growing temperature and precipitation variability may reduce the aboveground biomass productivity in grassland.Our study implies that the combination of several functional groups is essential for the maintenance of stable productivity in temperate grassland ecosystem.

Forest-grassland biodiversity hotspot under siege:land conversion counteracts nature conservation

We report extent and rate of land use/land cover change in a forest-grassland mosaic of Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil,during a recent period of increasing conflicts between native habitat protection and conversion.The area is part of the Atlantic rain forest biome,a Global Biodiversity Hotspot.Analyzing Landsat and Google Earth imagery,and calculating an effective conservation risk index(ECRI)as ratio of converted to remnant area,we specifically compared the effectiveness of designated fully protected areas(FP-PAs)and Sustainable Use areas(SU-PAs)in preventing conversion of native forest and grassland hab-itats for agri-and silviculture,relative to areas outside.Grassland area decreased by 17%,corresponding to a net loss of 59,671 ha,in the entire area.Forest gains exceeded losses,and ECRI was zero inside Full Protection PAs.Non-native tree plantation area increased by 94%over the entire study area;cropland increased by 7%.Conversion for silviculture predominated outside the designated PAs and conversion for agriculture predominated inside the designated PAs.ECRI was generally higher for grassland than forest,and in SU-PAs,grassland ECRI was several times higher than in areas without any protection status.These developments are in stark contrast to the high standards of the Brazilian protected area system and corre-sponding International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources categories.They are due to protracted regularization of land conversion and establishment of designated protection areas.Further-more,they reveal the dilemma of previously managed grasslands in strictly protected areas being eventually succeeded by forest,and the hazards of broad interpretation of the term“sustainable development”.

基于多尺度地理加权回归模型的宁夏温性草原产草量及其影响因素空间非平稳性特征

Spatial models are effective in obtaining local details on grassland biomass,and their accuracy has important practical significance for the stable management of grasses and livestock.To this end,the present study utilized measured quadrat data of grass yield across different regions in the main growing season of temperate grasslands in Ningxia of China(August 2020),combined with hydrometeorology,elevation,net primary productivity(NPP),and other auxiliary data over the same period.Accordingly,non-stationary characteristics of the spatial scale,and the effects of influencing factors on grass yield were analyzed using a mixed geographically weighted regression(MGWR)model.The results showed that the model was suitable for correlation analysis.The spatial scale of ratio resident-area index(PRI)was the largest,followed by the digital elevation model,NPP,distance from gully,distance from river,average July rainfall,and daily temperature range;whereas the spatial scales of night light,distance from roads,and relative humidity(RH)were the most limited.All influencing factors maintained positive and negative effects on grass yield,save for the strictly negative effect of RH.The regression results revealed a multiscale differential spatial response regularity of different influencing factors on grass yield.Regression parameters revealed that the results of Ordinary least squares(OLS)(Adjusted R^(2)=0.642)and geographically weighted regression(GWR)(Adjusted R^(2)=0.797)models were worse than those of MGWR(Adjusted R^(2)=0.889)models.Based on the results of the RMSE and radius index,the simulation effect also was MGWR>GWR>OLS models.Ultimately,the MGWR model held the strongest prediction performance(R^(2)=0.8306).Spatially,the grass yield was high in the south and west,and low in the north and east of the study area.The results of this study provide a new technical support for rapid and accurate estimation of grassland yield to dynamically adjust grazing decision in the semi-arid loess hilly region.