Dataset Information

Effects of Sand Dune Stabilization on the Spatial Pattern of Artemisia ordosica Population in Mu Us Desert, Northwest China.

ABSTRACT: Vegetation patterns are strongly influenced by sand mobility in desert ecosystems. However, little is known about the spatial patterns of Artemisia ordosica, a dominant shrub in the Mu Us desert of Northwest China, in relation to sand fixation. The aim of this study was to investigate and contrast the effects of sand dune stabilization on the population and spatial distribution of this desert shrub. Spatial autocorrelation, semi-variance analysis, and point-pattern analysis were used jointly in this study to investigate the spatial patterns of A. ordosica populations on dunes in Yanchi County of Ningxia, China. The results showed that the spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity declined gradually, and the distance between the clustered individuals shortened following sand dune fixation. Seedlings were more aggregated than adults in all stage of dune stabilization, and both were more aggregated on shifting sand dunes separately. Spatial associations of the seedlings with the adults were mostly positive at distances of 0-5 m in shifting sand dunes, and the spatial association changed from positive to neutral in semi-fixed sand dunes. The seedlings were spaced in an almost random pattern around the adults, and their distances from the adults did not seem to affect their locations in semi-fixed sand dunes. Furthermore, spatial associations of the seedlings with the adults were negative in the fixed sand dune. These findings demonstrate that sand stabilization is an important factor affecting the spatial patterns of A. ordosica populations in the Mu Us desert. These findings suggest that, strong association between individuals may be the mechanism to explain the spatial pattern formation at preliminary stage of dune fixation. Sand dune stabilization can change the spatial pattern of shrub population by weakening the spatial association between native shrub individuals, which may affect the development direction of desert shrubs.

SUBMITTER: Zhang J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4477905 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of Sand Dune Stabilization on the Spatial Pattern of Artemisia ordosica Population in Mu Us Desert, Northwest China.

Zhang Jiachen J Zhang Yuqing Y Fan Dongqing D Qin Shugao S Jia Xin X Wu Bin B Chen Dong D Gao Hao H Zhu Linfeng L

PloS one 20150623 6

Vegetation patterns are strongly influenced by sand mobility in desert ecosystems. However, little is known about the spatial patterns of Artemisia ordosica, a dominant shrub in the Mu Us desert of Northwest China, in relation to sand fixation. The aim of this study was to investigate and contrast the effects of sand dune stabilization on the population and spatial distribution of this desert shrub. Spatial autocorrelation, semi-variance analysis, and point-pattern analysis were used jointly in ...[more]

PMID: 26102584

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Project description:To avoid the widespread resistance of commercial fungicides, new broad-spectrum botanical fungicides need to be developed. In previous bioactive screening assays, extracts of Artemisia ordosica Krasch. (A. ordosica) had highly antifungal activities, but the responsible phytochemicals were unidentified. In this study, active compounds of A. ordosica extracts were identified using a bioassay-guided method, and antifungal assays were performed in vitro and in vivo. The bioactive compounds were dissolved in petroleum ether, and the best antifungal fraction contained four compounds: trans-dehydromatricaria ester (TDDE), 7, 4-demetylnringenin, capillarin, and stearic acid. Among them, TDDE exhibited the highest antifungal activity against six pathogenic fungi and five bacteria. It exhibited significant fungicidal activity against Thanatephorus cucumeris and Botrytis cinerea with EC50 values of 0.464 μg/mL and 1.4 μg/mL, respectively. The living tissue bioassay results showed that the relative protection effects (RPE) of TDDE on tomato leaves, tomato fruit, and strawberry leaves infected with B. cinerea reached 76.78%, 86.2%, and 80.89%, respectively. In pot experiments, the RPE on tomato and strawberry plants infected with B. cinerea reached 84.11% and 96.37%, respectively. Morphological and physiological examination showed that TDDE had significant inhibitory effects on mycelial growth, including increased top offshoot, contorted hyphal tips, and extravasated cytochylema. Meanwhile, bactericidal activities of TDDE were significantly higher than kanamycin and streptomycin in five bacteria, and the plant tissue experiments further demonstrated that it had an 88.31% RPE on walnut leaves infected with Xanthomonas campestris pv. jugiandis, 72.18% RPE on potato infected with Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora, and 82.50% RPE on kiwifruit branches infected with Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae. The active compounds isolated from A. ordosica in this study show great potential value for developing broad-spectrum fungicides, and also provide an important way to identify and isolate new bioactive products from medicinal plants.

Dataset Information

Effects of Sand Dune Stabilization on the Spatial Pattern of Artemisia ordosica Population in Mu Us Desert, Northwest China.

Publications

Effects of Sand Dune Stabilization on the Spatial Pattern of Artemisia ordosica Population in Mu Us Desert, Northwest China.

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