Impact of Warming on Species Niche Dynamics in Early-Stage Degraded Desert Grassland Restoration
This study investigated the influence of warming on plant species niche dynamics within a recovering desert grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia.To achieve this,we compared natural restoration and warming restoration treatments against a free-grazing control.Shannon-Wiener niche breadth index and Pianka niche overlap index were calculated to assess niche characteristics.The results showed that compared to the control,natural restoration led to increase importance values of Caragana stenophylla and Convolvulus ammannii.Warming restoration further enhanced importance value of Convolvulus ammannii while suppressing Cleistogenes songorica and Stipa breviflora(P＜0.05).Natural restoration significantly expanded the niche breadth of Stipa breviflora,Caragana stenophylla,and Convolvulus ammannii(P＜0.05),whereas warming reduced the niche breadth of Caragana stenophylla and Cleistogenes songorica,and increased the niche breadth of Convolvulus ammannii(P＜0.05).Niche overlap analysis revealed that Stipa breviflora exhibited increased niche overlap with other species under natural restoration compared to the control(P＜0.05).Warming restoration did not significantly alter the overlap between Stipa breviflora and other species but promoted niche overlap among Cleistogenes songorica,Convolvulus ammannii and Caragana stenophylla(P＜0.05).These findings indicate that both natural and warming-induced recovery processes alter species interactions and niche dynamics in early-stage of desert grassland restoration.
Warming restorationNatural restorationNicheDominant species
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
