Conservation and Restoration of Grasslands

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Wilsey
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Woody Plant Encroachment ◽  
Humpty Dumpty ◽  
Alternate States ◽  
Density And Biomass ◽  
Acid Test ◽  
Stocking Rates

Conservation programs alter herbivore stocking rates and find and protect the remaining areas that have not been plowed or converted to crops. Restoration is an ‘Acid Test’ for ecology. If we fully understand how grassland systems function and assemble after disturbance, then it should be easy to restore them after they have been degraded or destroyed. Alternatively, the idea that restorations will not be equivalent to remnants has been termed the ‘Humpty Dumpty’ hypothesis—once lost, it cannot be put back together again. Community assembly may follow rules, and if these rules are uncovered, then we may be able to accurately predict final species composition after assembly. Priority effects are sometimes found depending on species arrival orders, and they can result in alternate states. Woody plant encroachment is the increase in density and biomass of woody plants, and it is strongly affecting grassland C and water cycles.

Herbivore diet in a semi-arid Eucalyptus populnea woodland. 2. Feral goats

1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
GN Harrington
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Short Supply ◽  
Pasture Quality ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Acacia Aneura ◽  
Stocking Rates ◽  
Eucalyptus Populnea ◽  
Semi Arid

The diet of feral goats was recorded by direct observation in a shrub-dominated Eucalyptus populnea woodland between Nyngan and Bourke, N.S.W., on 7 sampling occasions over 2 years. Different nutritional opportunities were provided by the effects of rainfall on 4 contrasting grazing treatments. The goats foraged evenly over the paddocks and encountered most foods with the same frequency as they occurred. With unlimited quantities of forage available the goats spent 63% of their time grazing and only 28% browsing. Most browsing took place under dry conditions when pasture quality was low. When forage was in short supply the goats accepted some shrubs not normally eaten, and these plants died; other woody plants were consumed erratically or not at all. Acacia aneura was the only woody plant which was both palatable and resilient to goat browsing. Goats mostly ate the same plant species as sheep and with the same preference, but tended to eat more browse and less forbs than sheep in dry times. The browse consumed was principally the same as consumed by sheep, demonstrating sequential competition for dry-season fodder. Goats demonstrated a potential for overgrazing in dry times, indicating that stocking rates must be adjusted at such times to avoid pastures becoming extinct.

scholarly journals Increasing aridity may reduce productivity and soil organic carbon storage with woody plant encroachment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunhua Liu ◽  
Junhui Cheng ◽  
Bernhard Schmid ◽  
Jiandong Sheng
Keyword(s):  
Woody Plants ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Herbaceous Plants ◽  
Woody Plant Encroachment ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Arid Grasslands ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract Aims We have found a positive effect of woody plants on total plant carbon (C) storage in less arid grassland was shifted to a negative effect in arid grasslands in Xinjiang, a typical arid region in China. In this study, we further assessed the effects of woody plants on aboveground primary productivity (ANPP) and soil organic C (SOC) storage and explored the mediation of climate conditions on these effects. We also aimed to elucidate the reasons for the effects on SOC storage in terms of ANPP and belowground biomass C (BGC). Methods We compared the difference in ANPP and SOC content between pure and wooded grasslands and evaluated the relation between SOC content and ANPP and BGC in six grassland types along the altitude (climatic) gradients. Results In three arid types, woody plants had a negative effect on ANPP due to their more negative impacts on herbaceous plants and lower ANPP. The negative effect on ANPP and BGC led to that on SOC storage in these types. In less arid types, there had a positive effect on ANPP because woody plants had weaker negative impacts on herbaceous plants and higher ANPP. A positive effect on ANPP combined with a neutral impact on BGC contributed to a positive effect on SOC storage in these types. Conclusions Woody plants had a negative effect on ANPP and SOC storage in most arid grasslands in Xinjiang. We predicted that increasing aridity may reduce ANPP and SOC storage with woody plant encroachment in the future.

scholarly journals Woody plant encroachment may decrease plant carbon storage in grasslands under future drier conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-223
Author(s):  
Yun-Hua Liu ◽  
Jun-Hui Cheng ◽  
Bernhard Schmid ◽  
Li-Song Tang ◽  
Jian-Dong Sheng
Keyword(s):  
Woody Plants ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Desert Steppe ◽  
Woody Plant Encroachment ◽  
C Storage ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Total Plant ◽  
Arid Grasslands ◽  
Grassland Types

Abstract Aims Woody plants are widely distributed in various grassland types along the altitudinal/climatic gradients in Xinjiang, China. Considering previously reported change in carbon (C) storage following woody plant encroachment in grasslands and the mediating effect of climate on this change, we predicted that a positive effect of woody plants on plant C storage in semiarid grasslands may revert to a negative effect in arid grasslands. We first investigated the spatial variation of aboveground C (AGC) and belowground C (BGC) storage among grassland types and then tested our prediction. Methods We measured the living AGC storage, litter C (LC) and BGC storage of plants in two physiognomic types, wooded grasslands (aboveground biomass of woody plants at least 50%) and pure grasslands without woody plants in six grassland types representing a gradient form semiarid to arid conditions across Xinjiang. Important Findings Living AGC, LC, BGC and total plant C storage increased from desert to mountain meadows. These increases could also be explained by increasing mean annual precipitation (MAP) or decreasing mean annual temperature (MAT), suggesting that grassland types indeed represented an aridity gradient. Woody plants had an effect on the plant C storage both in size and in distribution relative to pure grasslands. The direction and strength of the effect of woody plants varied with grassland types due to the mediating effect of the climate, with wetter conditions promoting a positive effect of woody plants. Woody plants increased vegetation-level AGC through their high AGC relative to herbaceous plants. However, more negative effects of woody plants on herbaceous plants with increasing aridity led to a weaker increase in the living AGC in arid desert, steppe desert and desert steppe than in the less arid other grassland types. Under greater aridity (lower MAP and higher MAT), woody plants allocated less biomass to roots and had lower BGC and had a more negative impact on herbaceous plant production, thereby reducing vegetation-level BGC in the desert, steppe desert and desert steppe. In sum, this resulted in a negative effect of woody plants on total plant C storage in the most arid grasslands in Xinjiang. As a consequence, we predict that woody plant encroachment may decrease rather than increase C storage in grasslands under future drier conditions.

scholarly journals Metabolic engineering in woody plants: challenges, advances, and opportunities

aBIOTECH ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Yu ◽  
Cody S. Bekkering ◽  
Li Tian
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Metabolic Engineering ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Plant Transformation ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
High Biomass ◽  
Generation Times ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Biochemical Diversity

AbstractWoody plant species represent an invaluable reserve of biochemical diversity to which metabolic engineering can be applied to satisfy the need for commodity and specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy. Woody plants are particularly promising for this application due to their low input needs, high biomass, and immeasurable ecosystem services. However, existing challenges have hindered their widespread adoption in metabolic engineering efforts, such as long generation times, large and highly heterozygous genomes, and difficulties in transformation and regeneration. Recent advances in omics approaches, systems biology modeling, and plant transformation and regeneration methods provide effective approaches in overcoming these outstanding challenges. Promises brought by developments in this space are steadily opening the door to widespread metabolic engineering of woody plants to meet the global need for a wide range of sustainably sourced chemicals and materials.

scholarly journals Phylogenetic and Functional Traits Verify the Combined Effect of Deterministic and Stochastic Processes in the Community Assembly of Temperate Forests along an Elevational Gradient

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 591
Author(s):  
Wensong Zhou ◽  
Yuxin Zhang ◽  
Shuang Zhang ◽  
Basil N. Yakimov ◽  
Keming Ma
Keyword(s):  
Stochastic Processes ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Combined Effect ◽  
Abiotic Environment ◽  
Spatial Factors ◽  
Assembly Mechanism ◽  
Deterministic Processes

Explaining community assembly mechanisms along elevational gradients dominated by deterministic processes or stochastic processes is a pressing challenge. Many studies suggest that phylogenetic and functional diversity are significant indicators of the process. In this study, we analyzed the structure and beta diversity of phylogenetic and functional traits along an elevational gradient and discussed the effects of environmental and spatial factors. We found that the phylogenetic and functional traits showed inconsistent changes, and their variations were closely related to the abiotic environment. The results suggested that the community assembly of woody plants was obviously affected by the combined effect of deterministic processes and the stochastic hypothesis (primarily by the latter). Phylogenetic and functional traits had a certain relationship but changed according to different rules. These results enhance our understanding of the assembly mechanism of forest communities by considering both phylogenetic and functional traits.

Weight–diameter relationships for 22 woody plant species

1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 1851-1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Telfer
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Stem Diameter ◽  
Prediction Equations ◽  
Woody Plant Species ◽  
Leaf Weight ◽  
Ground Line

Prediction equations are presented for use in estimating total aboveground weight and maximum leaf weight for 22 species of woody plants. Stem diameter at the ground line was found to be closely correlated with both total and leaf weights. This diameter was therefore used in the equations as the measurement from which weights were predicted.

scholarly journals Ecological and biological characteristics of the dendroflora of Cheboksary in the greening system of the city

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-111
Author(s):  
Konstantin Vitalyevich Samokhvalov ◽  
Evgeny Arkadievich Sinichkin ◽  
Aleksandr Petrovich Arsentiev
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Central Zone ◽  
Industrial Area ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Degree Of Participation ◽  
Economic Zones ◽  
The City

The paper presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the species composition of Cheboksary. The analysis of the dendroflora of the urban environment was carried out according to 3 indicators: the territory of woody plants, the occurrence of woody plant species in landscaping, the structure of the landscaping system. The arboreal vegetation of Cheboksary is represented by 73 species belonging to 43 genera and 20 families. The predominant part of the dendroflora is represented by the covered-seeded plants (86,3%), the gymnosperms - 13,7%. In the dendroflora of green areas of the city, the most widely represented families are Rosaceae, Pinaceae, Salicaceae (48%). The analysis of the species composition of woody plants showed that in the functional and economic zones of Cheboksary plantings of general use are represented by 65 species, plantings of limited use - 52 species, plantings along the streets and main roads - 50 species. The analysis of the species composition of woody plants depending on the share of their participation in landscaping revealed that the greatest number of woody plants is used with low (51 species) and medium (50 species) share. The analysis of the degree of participation of woody plants in landscaping in the four identified functional and economic zones of Cheboksary found that the greatest number of taxa prevail with an average participation in the central zone (37 species), the coastal and suburban zones (36 species). The largest number of species of woody plants grow in the green areas of the central functional and economic zone, where the landscaping involved 66 species, the smallest number grow in the green areas of the industrial area (36 species).

scholarly journals Alien and native woody plants in scattered vegetation in agricultural landscape

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
Ján Supuka ◽  
Attila Tóth ◽  
Mária Bihuňová ◽  
Martina Verešová ◽  
Karol Šinka
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Robinia Pseudoacacia ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Lycium Barbarum ◽  
Dominance Index ◽  
Acer Campestre

AbstractThe woody plant species composition has been evaluated in three cadastral territories of southwestern Slovakia, together in 77 habitats of non-forest woody vegetation (NFWV). A total of 43 tree species have been identified; 8 of them were alien and 5 species were cultural fruit trees. In total 20 shrub species were identified, out of which 3 were alien. Three woody species are classified as invasive according to the law in Slovakia: Acer negundo L., Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, and Lycium barbarum L. They occurred only in 2, maximum in 4 of the evaluated habitats. The most occurring alien tree species Robinia pseudoacacia L. was generally identified in 58 habitats and in 48 habitats, with an incidence over 40% and dominance index of 70.6. The second most occurring alien tree Populus × canadensis had a dominance index of 8.3. The dominant native trees in NFWV were Acer campestre L., Fraxinus excelsior L., Quercus robur L., Salix fragilis L. with the dominance index of 1–5 only.

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