temperate steppe
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Land ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Huimin Zou ◽  
Jiquan Chen ◽  
Changliang Shao ◽  
Gang Dong ◽  
Meihui Duan ◽  
...  

Selecting an appropriate model for simulating ecosystem respiration is critical in modeling the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems due to their magnitude and high variations in time and space. There is no consensus on the ideal model for estimating ecosystem respiration in different ecosystems. We evaluated the performances of six respiration models, including Arrhenius, logistic, Gamma, Martin, Concilio, and time series model, against measured ecosystem respiration during 2014–2018 in four grassland ecosystems on the Mongolian Plateau: shrubland, dry steppe, temperate steppe, and meadow ecosystems. Ecosystem respiration increased exponentially with soil temperature within an apparent threshold of ~19.62 °C at shrubland, ~16.05 °C at dry steppe, ~16.92 °C at temperate steppe, and ~15.03 °C at meadow. The six models explained approximately 50–80% of the variabilities of ecosystem respiration during the study period. Both soil temperature and soil moisture played considerable roles in simulating ecosystem respiration with R square, ranging from 0.5 to 0.8. The Martin model performed better than the other models, with a relatively high R square, i.e., R2 = 0.68 at shrubland, R2 = 0.57 at dry steppe, R2 = 0.74 at temperate steppe, and R2 = 0.81 at meadow. These models achieved good performance for around 50–80% of the simulations. No single model performs best for all four grassland types, while each model appears suitable for at least one type of ecosystem. Models that oil moisture include models, especially the Martin model, are more suitable for the accurate prediction of ecosystem respiration than Ts-only models for the four grassland ecosystems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 361
Author(s):  
Zhanyong Fu ◽  
Fei Wang ◽  
Zhaohua Lu ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Lin Zhang ◽  
...  

In this work, we conducted a 1200 km belt transect for field survey in typical and meadow steppes across Inner Mongolia Plateau in 2018. The field investigation, laboratory soil analysis, and quantitative ecology methods were utilized to explore the differentiation characteristics of the plant community, and their relationships with ecological factors. The results showed that a total of 140 vascular plants within 108 quadrats mainly comprised of Asteraceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae, and Fabaceae. Two-way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) revealed eight vegetation typologies: I: Stipa sareptana var. krylovii + Dysphania aristata, II: Stipa grandis + Leymus chinensis, III: Stipa sareptana var. krylovii + Leymus chinensis, IV: Stipa grandis + Cleistogenes squarrosa, V: Stipa grandis + Carex duriuscula, VI: Stipa baicalensis + Leymus chinensis, VII: Carex pediformis + Stipa baicalensis, VIII: Leymus chinensis + Elymus dahuricus. Detrend Correspondence Analysis (DCA) confirmed the above eight vegetation typologies and indicated a relatively small variation. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the spatial differentiation characteristics in the typical steppe were chiefly driven by precipitation, while the influencing factor in the meadow steppe was soil nutrients, followed by temperature and precipitation. The contrast between typical and meadow steppes revealed that the spatial distribution of typical steppe was influenced by precipitation, while the contribution of heat and water in the meadow steppe was equal. The conclusion revealed that the temperature and precipitation conditions coupled with soil nutrients shaped the spatial differentiation characteristics of temperate steppe vegetation in the Inner Mongolia grassland. Therefore, this study advanced our knowledge of the spatial patterns of temperate steppe along longitude and latitude gradients, providing scientific and theoretical guidance for the biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management of the Inner Mongolia grassland.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Xueqin Liu ◽  
Xinpu Wang ◽  
Ming Bai ◽  
Josh Jenkins Shaw

Ground-dwelling beetles are important functional components in nutrient-poor grasslands of middle temperate steppe ecosystems in China. Here, we assessed the changes in ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities in the grasslands of northwestern China over 12 years to improve the management and conservation of beetles all over the world. The Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was applied to estimate the changes in carabid beetle communities in two regions: a desert steppe (Yanchi region), and a typical steppe and meadow steppe (Guyuan region). During the 12-year investigation, a total of 34 species were captured. We found that species abundance and richness per survey declined by 0.2 and 11.2%, respectively. Precipitation was the main factor affecting the distribution of carabid beetles. A distinct decline in carabid beetle species in the Yanchi region indicated that they may be threatened by less precipitation and loss of habitat, which could be due to climate change. Overall, species richness was stable in the Guyuan region. It is necessary to estimate and monitor the changes in carabid beetle communities in a temperate steppe of northern China and to protect them. Extensive desertification seriously threatens the distribution of carabid beetles. Future research should develop methods to protect carabid beetle communities in temperate steppes in China.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2092
Author(s):  
Kelu Chen ◽  
Huakun Zhou ◽  
Bingbing Lu ◽  
Yang Wu ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
...  

Artificial grasslands have been regarded as an effective method to improve grass production and quality, especially on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Soil ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) plays an important role in sustainable regional development. However, few studies have investigated the impacts of artificial grasslands on soil EMF. Here, we constructed single-species artificial grasslands in a natural temperate steppe and investigated soil microbial communities, abiotic factors (soil moisture and pH), and functions related to biogeochemical cycles to explore (1) how the transformation from temperate steppe to artificial grasslands affected soil EMF and (2) the roles of species and phylogenetic microbial diversities, microbial community composition, and abiotic factors in driving differences in soil EMF. Our results showed that artificial grasslands decreased soil EMF regardless of planting species; that the bacterial and fungal community composition contributed more to soil EMF prediction than species and phylogenetic diversities; and that microbial phylogenetic diversities were negatively associated with soil EMF. Soil pH played an important role in the effects of artificial grasslands on soil EMF—artificial grasslands increased soil pH, which was negatively associated with soil EMF. Overall, the benefits of establishing artificial grasslands, for example, higher grass production and quality, might be at the expense of soil EMF. Further studies should explore mixed-species artificial grasslands.


Author(s):  
Yan‐Ru Yang ◽  
Shuang‐Li Hou ◽  
Zhi‐Wei Zhang ◽  
Yan‐Yu Hu ◽  
Cong Ding ◽  
...  

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