Relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in Horqin Sandy Land, eastern China
Climate change and human development will lead to an increase in groundwater levels. This will have a particularly severe impact on arid ecosystems that are highly dependent on groundwater, as overconsumption and pollution of water resources can lead to faster depletion of groundwater. This not only...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23011433 |
| _version_ | 1827782328558026752 |
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| author | Siteng Zhao Xueyong Zhao Yulin Li |
| author_facet | Siteng Zhao Xueyong Zhao Yulin Li |
| author_sort | Siteng Zhao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate change and human development will lead to an increase in groundwater levels. This will have a particularly severe impact on arid ecosystems that are highly dependent on groundwater, as overconsumption and pollution of water resources can lead to faster depletion of groundwater. This not only exacerbates the problem of groundwater scarcity, but also may have profound impacts on local ecological environment and biodiversity. However, previous research has focused on aboveground trait responses to precipitation deficits, with less emphasis on concomitant belowground impacts and deep soil drought from groundwater depletion. Therefore, it remains unclear how groundwater depletion affects above and belowground traits of plant to jointly regulate aboveground biomass. In this study, we assessed morphological and ecophysiological traits of two dominant species (herb: Pennisetum centrasiaticum and shrub: Artemisia halodendron) across three groundwater depth (50 cm, 100 cm, and 200 cm) in the Horqin Sandy Land in China, within which photosynthetic rate (Photo), stomatal conductance (Cond), transpiration rate (Tr), internal CO2 concentration (Ci), instantaneous water-use efficiency of leaves (Lwue), total nitrogen (LN) and phosphorus (LP) content of the leaves, root to shoot ratio (RSR), root length density (RLD), total root length (RTL), root length ratio (RLR) were measured. The result showed that the two species growing with increased groundwater depth had reduced photosynthetic rate, and regulated stomatal close to aggregate ability of instantaneous water use efficiency, which may allow plants to meet resource demands under drought stress avoiding transpiration water loss. Plants also reduced the density of all roots and adjusted the vertical distribution of coarse root by changing biomass distribution to acquire deeper soil available water. Correlation analysis showed that the vital traits for aboveground biomass responses appear to be groundwater depth, soil moisture, leaf area, photosynthesis, water use efficiency, and root traits. Overall, the biomass production response of two dominant species may be greatly influenced by the interaction between aboveground and belowground traits in response to changes in groundwater depth. This result contributes to our understanding of adaptive strategies of vegetation in sandy soils and provides additional support for enhancing vegetation productivity in semi-arid ecosystems. The ability of semi-arid ecosystems to predict vegetation dynamics under current and future increasing groundwater depths is crucial. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:31:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fa6e09f1a3a5417b93df6a91e7597d65 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:31:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa6e09f1a3a5417b93df6a91e7597d652023-10-27T04:23:56ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2023-12-01156111001Relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in Horqin Sandy Land, eastern ChinaSiteng Zhao0Xueyong Zhao1Yulin Li2Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR ChinaNorthwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China; Naiman Desertification Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tongliao, PR China; Corresponding authors at: Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, PR China.Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China; Naiman Desertification Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tongliao, PR China; Corresponding authors at: Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, PR China.Climate change and human development will lead to an increase in groundwater levels. This will have a particularly severe impact on arid ecosystems that are highly dependent on groundwater, as overconsumption and pollution of water resources can lead to faster depletion of groundwater. This not only exacerbates the problem of groundwater scarcity, but also may have profound impacts on local ecological environment and biodiversity. However, previous research has focused on aboveground trait responses to precipitation deficits, with less emphasis on concomitant belowground impacts and deep soil drought from groundwater depletion. Therefore, it remains unclear how groundwater depletion affects above and belowground traits of plant to jointly regulate aboveground biomass. In this study, we assessed morphological and ecophysiological traits of two dominant species (herb: Pennisetum centrasiaticum and shrub: Artemisia halodendron) across three groundwater depth (50 cm, 100 cm, and 200 cm) in the Horqin Sandy Land in China, within which photosynthetic rate (Photo), stomatal conductance (Cond), transpiration rate (Tr), internal CO2 concentration (Ci), instantaneous water-use efficiency of leaves (Lwue), total nitrogen (LN) and phosphorus (LP) content of the leaves, root to shoot ratio (RSR), root length density (RLD), total root length (RTL), root length ratio (RLR) were measured. The result showed that the two species growing with increased groundwater depth had reduced photosynthetic rate, and regulated stomatal close to aggregate ability of instantaneous water use efficiency, which may allow plants to meet resource demands under drought stress avoiding transpiration water loss. Plants also reduced the density of all roots and adjusted the vertical distribution of coarse root by changing biomass distribution to acquire deeper soil available water. Correlation analysis showed that the vital traits for aboveground biomass responses appear to be groundwater depth, soil moisture, leaf area, photosynthesis, water use efficiency, and root traits. Overall, the biomass production response of two dominant species may be greatly influenced by the interaction between aboveground and belowground traits in response to changes in groundwater depth. This result contributes to our understanding of adaptive strategies of vegetation in sandy soils and provides additional support for enhancing vegetation productivity in semi-arid ecosystems. The ability of semi-arid ecosystems to predict vegetation dynamics under current and future increasing groundwater depths is crucial.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23011433Dominant speciesPlant physiological traitRelationship underground water tableRoot trait |
| spellingShingle | Siteng Zhao Xueyong Zhao Yulin Li Relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in Horqin Sandy Land, eastern China Ecological Indicators Dominant species Plant physiological trait Relationship underground water table Root trait |
| title | Relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in Horqin Sandy Land, eastern China |
| title_full | Relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in Horqin Sandy Land, eastern China |
| title_fullStr | Relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in Horqin Sandy Land, eastern China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in Horqin Sandy Land, eastern China |
| title_short | Relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in Horqin Sandy Land, eastern China |
| title_sort | relationship between the trait response of aboveground and belowground parts of dominant plant species to groundwater depth change in horqin sandy land eastern china |
| topic | Dominant species Plant physiological trait Relationship underground water table Root trait |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23011433 |
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