Dataset Information

Disentangling the influence of climate, soil and belowground microbes on local species richness in a dryland ecosystem of Northwest China.

ABSTRACT: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) covers one of the largest drylands in the world, while the relative effects of different environmental factors on plant diversity are poorly understood. We sampled 66 sites in a typical dryland of XUAR, which covers more than 450,000?km2, to evaluate the relative influences of different factors on the patterns of local plant species richness (LPSR). We found that overall and herbaceous LPSR were positively correlated with water availability, soil nutrients but negatively correlated with energy availability, while the shrub LPSR showed the opposite response. Climate, soil attributes together explained 53.2% and 59.2% of the variance in overall and herbaceous LPSR, respectively; revealing that LPSR patterns were shaped by abiotic and underground biotic factors together. Only 31.5% of the variance in the shrub LPSR was explained by soil attributes, indicating that shrub LPSR was mainly limited by non-climatic factors. There findings provide robust evidence that relative contribution of climate and soil attributes differ markedly depending on the plant functional group. Furthermore, we found the different relationship between microbes and plant diversity, indicating that the linkages between soil microbial diversity and plant diversity may vary across functional groups of microbes and plant. These findings provide robust evidence that the relative roles of climate, soil and microbes differ markedly depending on the plant functional group. Microbial richness showed a significantly pure influence on the LPSR of all groups, suggesting that microbes play a non-negligible role in regulating plant diversity in dryland ecosystems.

SUBMITTER: Wang J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5740161 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Disentangling the influence of climate, soil and belowground microbes on local species richness in a dryland ecosystem of Northwest China.

Wang Jianming J Long Ting T Zhong Yueming Y Li Jingwen J Zhang Tianhan T Feng Yiming Y Lu Qi Q

Scientific reports 20171221 1

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) covers one of the largest drylands in the world, while the relative effects of different environmental factors on plant diversity are poorly understood. We sampled 66 sites in a typical dryland of XUAR, which covers more than 450,000 km<sup>2</sup>, to evaluate the relative influences of different factors on the patterns of local plant species richness (LPSR). We found that overall and herbaceous LPSR were positively correlated with water availability, soi ...[more]

PMID: 29269873

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Project description:AimDryland ecosystems are exceedingly sensitive to climate change. Desertification induced by both climate changes and human activities seriously threatens dryland vegetation. However, the impact of climate change on distribution of dryland plant species has not been well documented. Here, we studied the potential distribution of four representative dryland plant species (Haloxylon ammodendron, Anabasis aphylla, Calligonum mongolicum, and Populus euphratica) under current and future climate scenarios in a temperate desert region, aiming to improve our understanding of the responses of dryland plant species to climate change and provide guidance for dryland conservation and afforestation.LocationJunggar Basin, a large desert region in northwestern China.MethodsOccurrence data of the studied species were collected from an extensive field investigation of 2,516 sampling sites in the Junggar Basin. Ensemble species distribution models using 10 algorithms were developed and used to predict the potential distribution of each studied species under current and future climate scenarios.ResultHaloxylon ammodendron and A. aphylla were likely to lose most of their current suitable habitats under future climate scenarios, while C. mongolicum and P. euphratica were likely to expand their ranges or remain relatively stationary. Variable importance evaluation showed that the most important climate variables influencing species distribution differed across the studied species. These results may be explained by the different ecophysiological characteristics and adaptation strategies to the environment of the four studied species.Main conclusionsWe explored the responses of the representative dryland plant species to climate change in the Junggar Basin in northwestern China. The different changes in suitability of different species imply that policymakers may need to reconsider the selection and combination of the afforestation species used in this area. This study can provide valuable reference for the management and conservation of dryland ecosystems under future climate change scenarios.

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Dataset Information

Disentangling the influence of climate, soil and belowground microbes on local species richness in a dryland ecosystem of Northwest China.

Publications

Disentangling the influence of climate, soil and belowground microbes on local species richness in a dryland ecosystem of Northwest China.

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