首页|Uneven distributions of unique species promoting N niche complementarity explain the stability of degraded alpine meadow

Uneven distributions of unique species promoting N niche complementarity explain the stability of degraded alpine meadow

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  • NETL
  • NSTL
  • Elsevier
Alpine meadow degradation, usually involving decreased soil nitrogen (N) and patchy landscapes, is a challengefor natural restoration. However, the mechanism underlying plant species coexistence under degradation isunclear. In this study, we evaluated plant N niche complementarity in degraded alpine meadows on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau using a ~(15)N-labeling (~(15)NO_3~-, ~(15)NH_4~+, and ~(15)N-glycine) experiment. At the community level, theconcentration of ~(15)NO_3~- in the degraded alpine meadow was 1.5 times higher than that in the undegraded alpinemeadow; both alpine meadows had a significant preference for NO_3~- (60.72 % and 66.84 % for the degraded and undegraded alpine meadows, respectively), and the degree of glycine preference was significantly higher in thedegraded alpine meadow (30.77 %) relative to the undegraded alpine meadow (21.85 %). At the species level,dominant species in both alpine meadows consistently preferred NO_3~-; the generalist species that can be found inboth meadows and unique species of the two alpine meadows generally showed NO_3~- preferences, while the otherplant species that were unevenly distributed in the degraded alpine meadow tended to show increased utilizationof glycine, which could reduce N competition. We observed that differentiation among N sources and the unevendistribution of unique species may explain the stability of degraded alpine meadows. Our results suggested thatuneven distributions of plants could have strong impacts on community stability and highlighted the importanceof considering fine-scale analysis in studies of niche theory. This study has important implications for therestoration of degraded alpine meadows.

Alpine meadowN-absorption preferenceNiche complementarityUneven distributionUnique species

Buqing Yao、Guoxi Shi、Huakun Zhou、Xinquan Zhao、Josep Penuelas、Jordi Sardans、Fangping Wang、Zhiqiang Wang

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Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China||Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology of Cold Area in Qinghai Province, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008,China

Key Laboratory of Utilization of Agriculture Solid Waste Resources, College of Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui 741000, China

Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology of Cold Area in Qinghai Province, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008,China

College of Ecological and Environmental Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China

CSIC, Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, Catalonia 08193, Spain||CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, Catalonia 08193, Spain

Sichuan Zoige Alpine Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610041, China||Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610041, China

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2024

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168487

Science of the Total Environment

Science of the Total Environment

EISCI
ISSN：0048-9697
年,卷(期)：2024.911(Feb.10)
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