Effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region: An application of a low altitude UAV.
Biodiversity conservation, plant growth and spatial distribution of plant species are the central issues in contemporary community ecology. Ephemeral stream may influence soil properties, which in turn may determine biodiversity and function of an ecosystem in alluvial fan of arid desert region. Eph...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2019-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212057 |
| _version_ | 1818682224643407872 |
|---|---|
| author | Xiao-Dong Yang Juan Wang Ming-Shan Xu Arshad Ali Yilu Xu Dane Lamb Lu-Chun Duan Kai-Hong Yan Sheng-Tian Yang |
| author_facet | Xiao-Dong Yang Juan Wang Ming-Shan Xu Arshad Ali Yilu Xu Dane Lamb Lu-Chun Duan Kai-Hong Yan Sheng-Tian Yang |
| author_sort | Xiao-Dong Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biodiversity conservation, plant growth and spatial distribution of plant species are the central issues in contemporary community ecology. Ephemeral stream may influence soil properties, which in turn may determine biodiversity and function of an ecosystem in alluvial fan of arid desert region. Ephemeral stream is one of the most common natural disturbances, yet the effects of the ephemeral stream on plant communities in terms of species diversity and plant species distribution remain poorly studied. In this study, the information of species distribution, ephemeral stream beds ('washes'), and the characteristics of plant growth, i.e. height, crown area, were interpreted at different heights using the images of low altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). After that, soil properties such as soil texture (sand, silt and clay), soil water content, pH, soil organic matter, soil electric conductivity, soil bulk density and the percentage of gravel content, and their relationships with UAV data were assessed in order to explore the influences of ephemeral stream on species diversity, plant growth characteristics and species distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region. The results showed that deep-rooted plants were only distributed in washes whereas shallow-rooted plants were distributed in both washes and the outside of washes ('non-washes'). Species richness was significantly higher in washes than that in non-washes whereas the opposite pattern was true for abundance. Soil properties, plant height and crown area were higher in washes than that in non-washes. Plant height, crown area and the total number of individual plants increased with increasing wash width and per unit length of stream flow. This study highlights that the coupling factors of ephemeral stream, such as soil erosion, particle transport and sedimentation, can dramatically cause changes in soil properties and total number of individual plants, and hence, can influence species diversity, plant growth characteristics and spatial distribution of plant species in an alluvial fan of arid desert regions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:15:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ebdabac11bd24a8ca7ebe03e5fd38d96 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:15:27Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-ebdabac11bd24a8ca7ebe03e5fd38d962022-12-21T21:52:55ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032019-01-01142e021205710.1371/journal.pone.0212057Effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region: An application of a low altitude UAV.Xiao-Dong YangJuan WangMing-Shan XuArshad AliYilu XuDane LambLu-Chun DuanKai-Hong YanSheng-Tian YangBiodiversity conservation, plant growth and spatial distribution of plant species are the central issues in contemporary community ecology. Ephemeral stream may influence soil properties, which in turn may determine biodiversity and function of an ecosystem in alluvial fan of arid desert region. Ephemeral stream is one of the most common natural disturbances, yet the effects of the ephemeral stream on plant communities in terms of species diversity and plant species distribution remain poorly studied. In this study, the information of species distribution, ephemeral stream beds ('washes'), and the characteristics of plant growth, i.e. height, crown area, were interpreted at different heights using the images of low altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). After that, soil properties such as soil texture (sand, silt and clay), soil water content, pH, soil organic matter, soil electric conductivity, soil bulk density and the percentage of gravel content, and their relationships with UAV data were assessed in order to explore the influences of ephemeral stream on species diversity, plant growth characteristics and species distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region. The results showed that deep-rooted plants were only distributed in washes whereas shallow-rooted plants were distributed in both washes and the outside of washes ('non-washes'). Species richness was significantly higher in washes than that in non-washes whereas the opposite pattern was true for abundance. Soil properties, plant height and crown area were higher in washes than that in non-washes. Plant height, crown area and the total number of individual plants increased with increasing wash width and per unit length of stream flow. This study highlights that the coupling factors of ephemeral stream, such as soil erosion, particle transport and sedimentation, can dramatically cause changes in soil properties and total number of individual plants, and hence, can influence species diversity, plant growth characteristics and spatial distribution of plant species in an alluvial fan of arid desert regions.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212057 |
| spellingShingle | Xiao-Dong Yang Juan Wang Ming-Shan Xu Arshad Ali Yilu Xu Dane Lamb Lu-Chun Duan Kai-Hong Yan Sheng-Tian Yang Effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region: An application of a low altitude UAV. PLoS ONE |
| title | Effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region: An application of a low altitude UAV. |
| title_full | Effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region: An application of a low altitude UAV. |
| title_fullStr | Effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region: An application of a low altitude UAV. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region: An application of a low altitude UAV. |
| title_short | Effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region: An application of a low altitude UAV. |
| title_sort | effects of the ephemeral stream on plant species diversity and distribution in an alluvial fan of arid desert region an application of a low altitude uav |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212057 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xiaodongyang effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav AT juanwang effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav AT mingshanxu effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav AT arshadali effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav AT yiluxu effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav AT danelamb effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav AT luchunduan effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav AT kaihongyan effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav AT shengtianyang effectsoftheephemeralstreamonplantspeciesdiversityanddistributioninanalluvialfanofariddesertregionanapplicationofalowaltitudeuav |