Dataset Information

Altitudinal pattern of shrub biomass allocation in Southwest China.

ABSTRACT: Shrubs play an important role in the global carbon cycle and are particularly sensitive to climate change. However, the altitudinal pattern of biomass allocation in mountainous shrubs and its responses to climate change are still unclear. In this study, biomass accumulation and allocation of the shrub community and their relationships with climatic factors were investigated in 331 sampling sites along an extensive altitudinal gradient (311-4911 m) in Southwest China. The results showed that the above-ground biomass (AGB) and the total biomass (TB) of the shrub community decreased quadratically (R2 = 0.107) and linearly (R2 = 0.024) from 9.86 to 0.15 kg·m-2 and 15.61 to 0.26 kg·m-2 with increasing altitude, respectively. However, the below-ground biomass (BGB) and TB of the herb layer increased quadratically with increasing altitudes (R2 = 0.136 and 0.122, respectively. P<0.001). The root/shoot ratio (R/S) of the community and its component synusiae increased gradually with increasing altitudes (P<0.001). The standardized major axis (SMA) indicated an isometric relationship between AGB and BGB for the whole shrub community, but allometric relationships were found for the shrub and herb layer. Redundancy analysis and Pearson correlation analysis showed that the biomass and R/S were significantly correlated with mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP) and reconnaissance drought index (RDI). These findings indicate that shrub biomass allocation is strongly affected by the altitude, MAT and MAP and support the isometric relationship of AGB and BGB partitioning at the community level on mountainous shrub biomes.

SUBMITTER: Liu M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7580895 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Altitudinal pattern of shrub biomass allocation in Southwest China.

Liu Mei M Li Dandan D Hu Jun J Liu Dongyan D Ma Zhiliang Z Cheng Xinying X Zhao Chunzhang C Liu Qing Q

PloS one 20201022 10

Shrubs play an important role in the global carbon cycle and are particularly sensitive to climate change. However, the altitudinal pattern of biomass allocation in mountainous shrubs and its responses to climate change are still unclear. In this study, biomass accumulation and allocation of the shrub community and their relationships with climatic factors were investigated in 331 sampling sites along an extensive altitudinal gradient (311-4911 m) in Southwest China. The results showed that the ...[more]

PMID: 33091074

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundWith the exacerbating effects of the global climate change and the more and more attention to the study of plant carbon sink, an increasing number of researches on plant carbon sinks has grown. Although many studies exist on shrub vegetation, soil and litters, most studies focus on the community structure, biomass, surface soil of single plant and shrub layer vegetation, and lack the studies which included the potential relationships between climate change and ecological stoichiometric elements, comprehensive research on main species, even herb and litter layer. In order to provide relevant theoretical basis and data support, it is necessary to take the main terrestrial shrub ecosystem in Central Yunnan as the starting point to analyze and explore its carbon sink distribution characteristics, formation causes, the correlation between climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) and stoichiometric elements, which from community and species levels.MethodsPlants which originated from 12 main shrub species, litter and soil samples which collected in 69 plots were from 23 plots (Q1-Q23) of 11 cities (countries) in the central Yunnan, China. The biomass and carbon density distribution pattern of each shrub ecosystem and the potential correlations with main climate factors was explored and identified. Some indexes were analyzed such as biomass and carbon density of each part of the shrub ecosystem distribution pattern, correlation, significant changes, formation reasons with the mean value (±standard deviation: SD). Through the redundancy analysis(RDA) of carbon (c), nitrogen (n), phosphorus (P) and main climate factors (precipitation and temperature), the distribution pattern of stoichiometric elements in shrub ecosystem can be judged.Results(1) The above-ground biomass (AGB), under-ground biomass (UGB) and root-shoot ratio (R/S) were between 1.13-2.03 t/hm2, 0.62-1.49 t/hm2, and 0.38-0.84, the carbon element was distributed in herb layer under-ground part and rhizomes of the shrub layer mostly. (2) The fitting slope of AGB and UGB of shrub communities and species was in accordance with the allometric distribution growth relationship, the R/S of shrubs was smaller than other vegetation types. Mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) are not the main factors which affect the biomass and R/S. (3) The contents of C, N and P elements in leaves were significantly higher than other parts in shrub layer. P in shrub layer above-ground part is much higher than under-ground part. The surface soil layer has the highest C content, and decreased with the depth, so as the impact of vegetation and litter on the content of soil elements. Both of the correlation of MAT with N content of leaf, C/N of stem, the correlation of MAP with C content, C/N of soil is the greatest.

Project description:Understanding the response of biomass allocation in twigs (the terminal branches of current-year shoots) to environmental change is crucial for elucidating forest ecosystem carbon storage, carbon cycling, and plant life history strategies under a changing climate. On the basis of interspecies investigations of broad-leaved plants, previous studies have demonstrated that plants respond to environmental factors by allocating biomass in an allometric manner between support tissues (i.e., stems) and the leaf biomass of twigs, where the scaling exponent (i.e., slope of a log-log linear relationship, ?) is constant, and the scaling constant (i.e., intercept of a log-log linear relationship, log ?) varies with respect to environmental factors. However, little is known about whether the isometric scaling exponents of such biomass allocations remain invariant for single species, particularly conifers, at different altitudes and in different growing periods. In this study, we investigated how twig biomass allocation varies with elevation and period among Pinus hwangshanensis Hsia trees growing in the mountains of Southeast China. Specifically, we explored how twig stem mass, needle mass, and needle area varied throughout the growing period (early, mid-, late) and at three elevations in the Wuyi Mountains. Standardized major axis analysis was used to compare the scaling exponents and scaling constants between the biomass allocations of within-twig components. Scaling relationships between these traits differed with growing period and altitude gradient. During the different growing periods, there was an isometric scaling relationship, with a common slope of 1.0 (i.e., ? ? 1.0), between needle mass and twig mass (the sum of the total needle mass and the stem mass), whereas there were allometric scaling relationships between the stem mass and twig mass and between the needle mass and stem mass of P. hwangshanensis. The scaling constants (log ?) for needle mass vs. twig mass and for needle mass vs. stem mass increased progressively across the growing stages, whereas the scaling constants of stem mass vs. twig mass showed the opposite pattern. The scaling exponents (?) of needle area with respect to needle biomass increased significantly with growing period, changing from an allometric relationship (i.e., ? < 1.0) during the early growing period to a nearly isometric relationship (i.e., ? ? 1.0) during the late growing period. This change possibly reflects the functional adaptation of twigs in different growing periods to meet their specific reproductive or survival needs. At different points along the altitudinal gradient, the relationships among needle mass, twig mass, and stem mass were all isometric (i.e., ? ? 1.0). Moreover, significant differences were found in scaling constants (log ?) along the altitudinal gradient, such that species had a smaller stem biomass but a relatively larger needle mass at low altitude. In addition, the scaling exponents remained numerically invariant among all three altitudes, with a common slope of 0.8, suggesting that needle area failed to keep pace with the increasing needle mass at different altitudes. Our results indicated that the twig biomass allocation pattern was significantly influenced by altitude and growing period, which reflects the functional adaptation of twigs to meet their specific survival needs under different climatic conditions.

Dataset Information

Altitudinal pattern of shrub biomass allocation in Southwest China.

Publications

Altitudinal pattern of shrub biomass allocation in Southwest China.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets