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Journal of Arid Land  2020, Vol. 12 Issue (3): 508-521    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-020-0015-8     CSTR: 32276.14.s40333-020-0015-8
Research article     
Effects of rodent-induced disturbance on eco-physiological traits of Haloxylon ammodendron in the Gurbantunggut Desert, Xinjiang, China
XIANG Yanling1, WANG Zhongke1, LYU Xinhua1, HE Yaling2, LI Yuxia1, ZHUANG Li1, ZHAO Wenqin1,*()
1 College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
2 School of Medicine, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
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Abstract  

Disturbance by rodents alters the morphologies and nutrients of plants as well as the physical-chemical properties of the soils. Changes in plants are considered to be mechanisms of defense against the disturbance by rodents. Rodents gnaw on the assimilating branches of Haloxylon ammodendron (CA Mey.) Bunge and burrow under the bushes in the desert ecosystems of Xinjiang, China. However, eco-physiological responses of different age groups of H. ammodendron to the disturbance by rodents are not well understood. In this study, soil physical-chemical properties under the shrubs and the above-ground morphological, physiological and biochemical features of assimilating branches of H. ammodendron of different age groups (i.e., young, 30-100 cm; middle-aged, 100-200 cm; and mature, >200 cm) in burrowed and non-burrowed (control) areas were studied in 2018. We found that disturbance by rodents significantly increased the crown width and total branching rates of young and middle-aged H. ammodendron. Photosynthetic pigment contents of assimilating branches of H. ammodendron were significantly reduced under the disturbance by rodents. In term of plant nutrients, the main differences among different age groups of H. ammodendron under the disturbance by rodents occurred in the total soluble sugar and reducing sugar contents that decreased in young plants, increased in middle-aged plants, and did not affect in mature plants. Crude protein and phosphorus contents significantly increased, while crude fiber and calcium contents significantly decreased in young plants. Crude fat and calcium contents significantly decreased in middle-aged plants. Soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN) and available potassium (AK) contents in the topsoil (0-20 cm), which are conducive to forming ''fertile islands'', also increased under the disturbance by rodents. In particular, soil AN and AK were the major factors affecting the above-ground morphological characteristics of H. ammodendron in burrowed areas. Overall, the response and defense strategies of H. ammodendron to the disturbance by rodents differed among different age groups, and the effect of the disturbance by rodents on H. ammodendron gradually weakened with the increasing plant age.



Key wordsage groups      morphology      assimilating branches      soil physical-chemical properties      photosynthetic pigments     
Received: 01 June 2019      Published: 10 May 2020
Corresponding Authors:
About author: *Corresponding author: ZHAO Wenqin (E-mail: zhwq-88@163.com)
Cite this article:

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. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(3): 508-521.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-020-0015-8     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2020/V12/I3/508

Fig. 1 Difference in above-ground morphological characteristic (a-d) of H. ammodendron with different ages (heights) in burrowed and control areas. Boxes represent the interquartile range (containing 50% of values), lines across boxes represent medians, whiskers indicate the highest and lowest values, and circle indicates outlier. * and ** indicate signi?cant differences between burrowed and control areas at P<0.05 and P<0.01 levels, respectively. (e), Correlation between height and basal stem of H. ammodendron in burrowed (R2) and control (R02) areas; and (f) correlation between height and crown width of H. ammodendron in burrowed (R2) and control (R02) areas.
Fig. 2 Difference of nutrient content in assimilating branches of H. ammodendron in burrowed and control areas. Bars represent standard error. * and ** indicate signi?cant differences between burrowed and control areas at P<0.05 and P<0.01 levels, respectively.
Fig. 3 Comparison of photosynthetic pigment content of H. ammodendron in burrowed and control areas. Different lowercase letters represent signi?cant differences among different age groups (heights) of H. ammodendron at P<0.05 level. * and ** indicate signi?cant differences between burrowed and control areas at P<0.05 and P<0.01 levels, respectively.
Fig. 4 Difference in soil physical-chemical property of H. ammodendron in burrowed and control areas. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference among different soil depths at P<0.05 level. Boxes represent the interquartile range (containing 50% of values), lines across boxes represent medians, whiskers indicate the highest and lowest values, and circle indicates outlier. * and ** indicate signi?cant differences between burrowed and control areas at P<0.05 and P<0.01 levels, respectively. SOM, soil organic matter; TN, total nitrogen; TP, total phosphorus; TK, total potassium; AN, available nitrogen; AP, available phosphorus; AK, available potassium.
Fig. 5 Correlation between physical-chemical property of topsoil and above-ground morphology of H. ammodendron, as determined by redundancy analysis (RDA). (a), burrowed areas; and (b), control areas. △, young H. ammodendron; ○, middle-aged H. ammodendron; □, mature H. ammodendron; SOM, soil organic matter; TN, total nitrogen; TP, total phosphorus; TK, total potassium; AN, available nitrogen; AP, available phosphorus; AK, available potassium.
Sample plot Soil variable Eigenvalues Explained variance (%) F P
Burrowed area AN 0.505 50.5 25.5 0.002
AK 0.309 30.9 11.2 0.002
TP 0.107 10.7 3.0 0.072
TK 0.078 7.8 2.1 0.122
SOM 0.045 4.5 1.2 0.270
pH 0.038 3.8 1.0 0.354
AP 0.018 1.8 0.5 0.578
TN 0.014 1.4 0.3 0.690
Control area AN 0.426 42.6 18.5 0.002
AK 0.305 30.5 11.0 0.004
TN 0.270 27.0 9.2 0.012
AP 0.256 25.6 8.6 0.008
SOM 0.101 10.1 2.8 0.104
TP 0.041 4.1 1.1 0.294
pH 0.008 0.8 0.2 0.762
TK 0.002 0.2 <0.1 0.878
Table 1 Forward selection of soil variables during the redundancy analysis
Fig. S1 Pearson′s correlation coefficient among physiological indices of assimilating branches of H. ammodendron in burrowed and control areas. * and ** indicate signi?cant differences between these indices at P<0.05 and P<0.01 levels, respectively. TSS, total soluble sugar; RS, reducing sugar; CF, crude fiber; EE, crude fat; CP, crude protein; P, phosphorous; Ca, calcium; Cha, Chlorophyll a; Chb, Chlorophyll b; Car, carotenoid; Total Chl, total chlorophyll.
SOM TN TP TK AN AP AK
TSS 0.58 -0.32 -0.55 -0.21 -0.35 0.50 -0.46
RS 0.55 -0.38 -0.52 -0.17 -0.40 0.35 -0.29
CF 0.06 -0.47 0.03 0.26 -0.35 -0.06 0.34
EE -0.38 -0.82** 0.12 -0.30 -0.79* -0.43 -0.31
CP -0.11 0.62* 0.70* 0.15 0.75* 0.18 0.78*
P 0.03 0.61 0.54 0.11 0.78* 0.71* 0.40
Ca 0.14 -0.74* -0.54 -0.43 -0.88** -0.31 -0.82**
Table S1 Correlation of nutrient between topsoil and assimilating branches of H. ammodendron in burrowed area
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