Journal
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
Volume 519, Issue -, Pages 1362-1367Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.09.012
Keywords
Species diversity; Plant productivity; Belowground biomass; Soil water; Semi-arid region
Funding
- Natural Science Foundation of China [NSFC41390463, 41371282, 41371242]
- Action Plan for West Development Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences [KZCX2-XB3-13]
- Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province [2014KJXX-15]
- '100-Talent Program' of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Soil water is a major driving force for plant community succession in semi-arid area. Many studies have focused on the relationships of species diversity-productivity, but few studies have paid attentions to the effects of soil water content heterogeneity on the plant species diversity in the semi-arid loess regions. To determine relationship of soil water content heterogeneity and plant community structure properties a semi-arid steppe on the Loess Plateau, we conducted a gradient analysis of soil water content variation and above- and below-ground properties of plant communities. Results showed that community coverage, above- and below-ground biomass were significantly and positively related to the surface soil water contents (0-5 cm). Plant diversity (Shannon index and Richness index) were closely correlated to soil water content at the soil depth of 0-10 cm. But plant height, litter biomass and root/shoot ratio were not related to soil water content. These results showed that there is an positive interaction effects for plant diversity and soil water content in the semi-arid grassland communities. Our observations indicate that change of plant species diversity is also an important community responses to soil water content heterogeneity in the semi-arid grassland ecosystem. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available