Please wait a minute...
Journal of Arid Land  2013, Vol. 5 Issue (3): 331-339    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-013-0168-9
Research Articles     
Persistence of four dominant psammophyte species in central Inner Mongolia of China under continual drought
YuanRun ZHENG1*, LianHe JIANG2, Yong GAO3, Xi CHEN4, GePing LUO4, XianWei FENG4, YunJiang YU5, Ping AN6, Yi YU7, Hideyuki SHIMIZU7
1 Key Laboratory of Resource Plants, Beijing Botanical Garden, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
2 State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
3 Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China;
4 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China;
5 Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China;
6 Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University 1390 Hamasaka, Tottori 680-0001, Japan;
7 National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan
Download:   PDF(794KB)
Export: BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      

Abstract  Clarifying the persistence time of seedlings of dominant species under continual drought will help us understand responses of ecosystems to global climate change and improve revegetation efforts. Drought tolerance of four dominant psammophytic shrub species occurring in different environments was studied in the semi-arid areas of Inner Mongolian grasslands. Seedlings of Hedysarum laeve, Caragana korshinskii, Artemisia sphaerocephala and Artemisia ordosica were grown under four air temperature regimes (night/day: 12.5/22.5°C, 15/25°C, 17.5/27.5°C and 20/30°C) within climate (air temperature and humidity) controlled, naturally lit glasshouses with a night/day relative humidity of 70%/50%. Pots were watered to field capacity for each temperature treatment. Soil water condition was monitored by weighting each pot every day using an electronic balance. Date of seedling death for each treatment was recorded and the dead plants were harvested. Plant dry weights were determined after oven drying at 80°C for 3 days. Two Artemisia species had higher growth rates than H. laeve and C. korshinskii, and the growth of all four species increased with increasing temperatures. The two Artemisia species had the highest leaf biomass increment, followed by C. korshinskii, and then H. laeve. Shoot biomass increment was higher for A. ordosica and C. korshinskii, intermediate for A. sphaerocephala and lowest for H. laeve. C. korshinskii had the highest root biomass increment. The final soil water content at death for all four species varied from 1% to 2%. C. korshinskii, A. sphaerocephala, H. laeve and A. ordosica survived for 25–43, 24–41, 26–41, and 24–37 days without watering, respectively. C. korshinskii, A. sphaerocephala, H. Laeve, and A. ordosica seedlings survived longer at the lowest temperatures (12.5/22.5°C) than at the highest temperatures (20/30°C) by 18, 17, 15 and 13 days, respectively. Increased climatic temperatures induce the death of seedlings in years with long intervals between rainfall events. The adaptation of seedlings to droughts should be emphasized in revegetation efforts in the Ordos Plateau, Inner Mongolia.

Key words cation exchange capacity      soil organic carbon      soil pH      soil fertility      Caragana microphylla      ecological restoration     
Received: 24 December 2012      Published: 10 September 2013
Fund:  

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Pro-gram of China (2009CB825103).

Corresponding Authors: YuanRun ZHENG     E-mail: zhengyr@ibcas.ac.cn
Cite this article:

YuanRun ZHENG, LianHe JIANG, Yong GAO, Xi CHEN, GePing LUO, XianWei FENG, YunJiang YU, Ping AN, Yi YU, Hideyuki SHIMIZU. Persistence of four dominant psammophyte species in central Inner Mongolia of China under continual drought. Journal of Arid Land, 2013, 5(3): 331-339.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-013-0168-9     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2013/V5/I3/331

Blum A, Ramaiah S, Kanemasu E T, et al. 1990. The physiology of heterosis in sorghum with respect to environmental stress. Annals of Botany, 65: 149–158.

Callaway R M, Delucia E H, Schlesinger W H. 1994. Biomass allocation of montane and desert ponderosa pine: an analog for response to climate change. Ecology, 75: 1474–1481.

Carey E V, Callaway R M, DeLucia E H. 1998. Increased photosynthesis offsets cost of allocation to sapwood in an arid environment. Ecology, 79: 2281–2291.

Chapin F S III, Bloom A J, Field C B, et al. 1987. Plant responses to multiple environmental factors. Bioscience, 37: 49–57.

Chen H, Maun M A. 1999. Effects of sand burial depth on seed germination and seedling emergence of Cirsium pitcheri. Plant Ecology, 140: 53–60.

China National Committee for the Implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. 1992. China National Action Pro-gram to Combat Desertification. Beijing: Ministry of Forestry.

Clifton-Brown J C, Lewandowski I. 2000. Water use efficiency and biomass portioning of three different Miscanthus genotypes with limited and unlimited water supply. Annals of Botany, 86: 191–200.

Fenner M, Kitajima K. 1999. Seed and seedling ecology. In: Pugnaire F I, Valladares F. Handbook of Functional Pant Ecology. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc.

Gallardo M, Turner N C, Ludig C. 1994. Water relations, gas exchange and abscisic acid content of Lupinus cosentinii leaves in response to drying different proportions of the root system. Journal of Experimental Botany, 45: 909–918.

Geraldine L D, Lisa A D. 1999. Water potential and ionic effects on germination and seedling growth of two cold desert shrubs. American Journal of Botany, 86: 1146–1153.

Gill J S, Sivasithamparam K, Smettem K R J. 2001. Effect of soil moisture at different temperatures on Rhizoctonia root rot of wheat seedlings. Plant and Soil, 231: 91–96.

Gower S T, Isebrands J G, Sheriff D W. 1995. Carbon allocation and accumulation in conifers. In: Smith W K, Hinckley T M. Resource Physiology of Conifers: Acquisition, Allocation, and Utilization. New York: Academic Press.

Heilmeier H, Wartinger A, Erhard M, et al. 2002. Soil drought increases leaf and whole-plant water use of Prunus dulcis grown in the Negev Desert. Oecologia, 130: 329–336.

Hood R C. 2001. The effect of soil temperature and moisture on organic matter decomposition and plant growth. Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, 37: 25–41.

Hunt R. 1990. Basic Growth Analysis. London: Unwin Hyman Limited.

Johnsen Ø, Dæhlen O G, Østreng G, et al. 2005. Daylength and temperature during seed production interactively affect adaptive performance of Picea abies progenies. New Phytologist, 168(3): 589–596.

Jones H G. 1993. Drought tolerance and water-use efficiency. In: Smith J A C, Griffiths J. Water Deficits: Plant Responses from Cell to Community. Oxford: BIOS.

Kirkham M B. 1980. Movement of cadmium and water in split-root wheat plants. Soil Science, 129: 339–344.

Kramer P J. 1980. Drought stress and origin adaptation. In: Turner N C, Kramer P J. Adaptation of Plants to Water and High Temperature Stress. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Kumer R, Gagri P R, Prihard S S. 1985. Water use by wheat as affected by soil moisture, rooting, canopy and evaporation. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 55: 570–573.

Lawrence D M, Slingo J M. 2004. An annual cycle of vegetation in a GCM. Part II: global impacts on climate and hydrology. Climate Dynamics, 22: 107–122.

Lo Gullo M A, Salleo S, Rosso R, et al. 2003. Drought resistance of 2-year-old saplings of Mediterranean forest trees in the field: relations between water relations, hydraulics and productivity. Plant and Soil, 250: 259–272.

Luo G P, Han Q F, Cheng X, et al. 2012. Moderate grazing can promote aboveground primary production of grassland under water stress. Ecological Complexity, 11: 126–136.

Machado S, Paulsen G M. 2001. Combined effects of drought and high temperature on water relations of wheat and sorghum. Plant and Soil, 233: 179–187.

Manivannan P, Abdul J C, Sankar B, et al. 2007. Growth, biochemical modifications and proline metabolism in Helianthus annuus L. as induced by drought stress. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 59: 141–149.

Maun M A. 1998. Adaptations of plants to burial in coastal sand dunes. Canadian Journal of Botany, 76: 713–738.

Middleton N, Thomas D. 1997. World Atlas of Desertification. London: Arnold.

Mitchell J F B. 1989. The “greenhouse” effect and climate change. Reviews of Geophysics, 27: 115–139.

Moles A T, Westoby M. 2004. What do seedlings die from and what are the implications for evolution of seed size? Oikos, 106: 193–199.

Padilla F M, Pugnaire F I. 2007. Rooting depth and soil moisture control Mediterranean woody seedling survival during drought. Functional Ecology, 21: 489–495.

Qaderi M M, Kurepin L V, Reid D M. 2006. Growth and physiological responses of canola (Brassica napus) to three components of global climate change: temperature, carbon dioxide and drought. Physiologia Plantarum, 128: 710–721.

Qi J. 1998. Aerial Sowing for Sand Control in China. Beijing: Science Press.

Repellin A, Laffray D, Daniel C, et al. 1997. Water relations and gas exchange in young coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) as influenced by water deficit. Canadian Journal of Botany, 75: 18–27.

Salleo S, Lo Gullo M A. 1993. Drought resistance strategies and vulnerability to cavitation of some Mediterranean sclerophyllous trees. In: Borghetti M, Grace J, Raschi A. Water Transport in Plants under Climatic Stress. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Saralabai V C, Vivekandan M, Sureshbabu R. 1997. Plant responses to high CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Photosynthetica, 33: 7–37.

Swemmer A M, Knapp A K, Smith M D. 2006. Growth responses of two dominant C4 grass species to altered water availability. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 167: 1001–1010.

Wang J C, Shi X, Zhang D Y, et al. 2011. Phenotypic plasticity in response to soil moisture availability in the clonal plant Eremosparton songoricum (Litv.) Vass. Journal of Arid Land, 3(1): 34–39.

Waring R H, Schlesinger W H. 1985. Forest Ecosystems Concepts and Management. New York: Academic Press.

Wilson J B. 1988. A review of evidence on the control of shoot:root ratio in relation to models. Annals of Botany, 61: 433–449.

Xiong F S, Mueller E C, Day T A. 2000. Photosynthetic and respiratory acclimation and growth response of Antarctic vascular plants to contrasting temperature regimes. American Journal of Botany, 87: 700–710.

Zha Y, Gao J. 1997. Characteristics of desertification and its rehabilitation in China. Journal of Arid Environments, 37: 419–432.

Zhang C, Li C F, Chen X, et al. 2013. A spatial-explicit dynamic vegetation model that couples carbon, water, and nitrogen processes for arid and semiarid ecosystems. Journal of Arid Land, 5(1): 102–117.

Zheng Y R, Xie Z X, Gao Y, et al. 2003. Ecological restoration in northern China: germination characteristics of 9 key species in relation to air seeding. Belgian Journal of Botany, 136: 129–138.

Zhou X B, Zhang Y M, Ji X H, et al. 2011. Combined effects of nitrogen deposition and water stress on growth and physiological responses of two annual desert plants in northwestern China. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 74: 1–8.

Ziche D, Overdieck D. 2004. CO2 and temperature effects on growth, biomass production, and stem wood anatomy of juvenile Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality, 78: 120–132.

 
[1] WANG Jincheng, JING Mingbo, ZHANG Wei, ZHANG Gaosen, ZHANG Binglin, LIU Guangxiu, CHEN Tuo, ZHAO Zhiguang. Assessment of organic compost and biochar in promoting phytoremediation of crude-oil contaminated soil using Calendula officinalis in the Loess Plateau, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(6): 612-628.
[2] ZHOU Siyuan, DUAN Yufeng, ZHANG Yuxiu, GUO Jinjin. Vegetation dynamics of coal mining city in an arid desert region of Northwest China from 2000 to 2019[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(5): 534-547.
[3] Batande Sinovuyo NDZELU, DOU Sen, ZHANG Xiaowei. Corn straw return can increase labile soil organic carbon fractions and improve water-stable aggregates in Haplic Cambisol[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(6): 1018-1030.
[4] HE Mingzhu, JI Xibin, BU Dongsheng, ZHI Jinhu. Cultivation effects on soil texture and fertility in an arid desert region of northwestern China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(4): 701-715.
[5] XIANG Yanling, WANG Zhongke, LYU Xinhua, HE Yaling, LI Yuxia, ZHUANG Li, ZHAO Wenqin. Effects of rodent-induced disturbance on eco-physiological traits of Haloxylon ammodendron in the Gurbantunggut Desert, Xinjiang, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(3): 508-521.
[6] LIU Xiaoju, PAN Cunde. Effects of recovery time after fire and fire severity on stand structure and soil of larch forest in the Kanas National Nature Reserve, Northwest China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2019, 11(6): 811-823.
[7] SUN Lipeng, HE Lirong, WANG Guoliang, JING Hang, LIU Guobin. Natural vegetation restoration of Liaodong oak (Quercus liaotungensis Koidz.) forests rapidly increased the content and ratio of inert carbon in soil macroaggregates[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2019, 11(6): 928-938.
[8] Jun WU, STEPHEN Yeboah, Liqun CAI, Renzhi ZHANG, Peng QI, Zhuzhu LUO, Lingling LI, Junhong XIE, Bo DONG. Effects of different tillage and straw retention practices on soil aggregates and carbon and nitrogen sequestration in soils of the northwestern China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2019, 11(4): 567-578.
[9] Shaofei JIN, Xiaohong TIAN, Hesong WANG. Hierarchical responses of soil organic and inorganic carbon dynamics to soil acidification in a dryland agroecosystem, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(5): 726-736.
[10] Xu BI, Bo LI, Bo NAN, Yao FAN, Qi FU, Xinshi ZHANG. Characteristics of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen under various grassland types along a transect in a mountain-basin system in Xinjiang, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(4): 612-627.
[11] Xiaobo GU, Yuannong LI, Yadan DU. Film-mulched continuous ridge-furrow planting improves soil temperature, nutrient content and enzymatic activity in a winter oilseed rape field, Northwest China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(3): 362-374.
[12] Dongyan JIN, J MURRAY Phil, Xiaoping XIN, Yifei QIN, Baorui CHEN, Gele QING, Zhao ZHANG, Ruirui YAN. Attribution of explanatory factors for change in soil organic carbon density in the native grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(3): 375-387.
[13] Quanlin MA, Yaolin WANG, Yinke LI, Tao SUN, MILNE Eleanor. Carbon storage in a wolfberry plantation chronosequence established on a secondary saline land in an arid irrigated area of Gansu Province, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(2): 202-216.
[14] Wen SHANG, Yuqiang LI, Xueyong ZHAO, Tonghui ZHANG, Quanlin MA, Jinnian TANG, Jing FENG, Na SU. Effects of Caragana microphylla plantations on organic carbon sequestration in total and labile soil organic carbon fractions in the Horqin Sandy Land, northern China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2017, 9(5): 688-700.
[15] Jinling LYU, Hua LIU, Xihe WANG, OLAVE Rodrigo, Changyan TIAN, Xuejun LIU. Crop yields and soil organic carbon dynamics in a long-term fertilization experiment in an extremely arid region of northern Xinjiang, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2017, 9(3): 345-354.