Open AccessSensitivity of plant species to warming and altered precipitation dominates the community productivity in a semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau
Author(s) -
Su Fanglong,
Wei Yanan,
Wang Fuwei,
Guo Jiuxin,
Zhang Juanjuan,
Wang Yi,
Guo Hui,
Hu Shuijin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.5312
Subject(s) - environmental science , grassland , global warming , precipitation , ecology , plant community , climate change , ecosystem , productivity , primary production , ecological succession , biology , geography , macroeconomics , meteorology , economics
Global warming and changes in precipitation patterns can critically influence the structure and productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We conducted two independent but complementary experiments (one with warming and precipitation manipulation (+ or – 30%) and another with selective plant removal) in a semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau, northwestern China, to assess how warming and altered precipitation affect plant community. Our results showed that warming and altered precipitation affected community aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) through impacting soil moisture. Results of the removal experiment showed competitive relationships among dominant grasses, the dominant subshrub and nondominant species, which played a more important role than soil moisture in the response of plant community to warming and altered precipitation. Precipitation addition intensified the competition but primarily benefited the dominant subshrub. Warming and precipitation reduction enhanced water stresses but increased ANPP of the dominant subshrub and grasses, indicating that plant tolerance to drought critically meditated the community responses. These findings suggest that specie competitivity for water resources as well as tolerance to environmental stresses may dominate the responses of plant communities on the Loess Plateaus to future climate change factors.