Climate Factors Influence Above- and Belowground Biomass Allocations in Alpine Meadows and Desert Steppes through Alterations in Soil Nutrient Availability

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 5; p. 727
• Main Authors: Wang, Jiangfeng, Zhang, Xing, Wang, Ru, Yu, Mengyao, Chen, Xiaohong, Zhu, Chenghao, Shang, Jinlong, Gao, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.03.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: above–belowground biomass; Allocations; alpine meadows; Annual precipitation; Availability; Biomass; Carbon; Climate; Climate change; climate factors; Climatic changes; Cold; Communication; desert steppes; Deserts; Distribution; Distribution patterns; Drought; Ecosystems; Environmental changes; Environmental conditions; Enzymes; Grasslands; Hypotheses; Influence; Meadows; Nutrient availability; Nutrients; Phosphorus; Phosphorus content; Plant biomass; Plant growth; Precipitation; Productivity; Rain; Soil acidity; Soil chemistry; Soil nutrients; Soil pH; Soils; Spatial distribution; Steppes; Temperature; Vegetation; China; soil nutrients; climate factors; alpine meadows; desert steppes; above–belowground biomass
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants13050727

Biomass is a direct reflection of community productivity, and the allocation of aboveground and belowground biomass is a survival strategy formed by the long-term adaptation of plants to environmental changes. However, under global changes, the patterns of aboveground-belowground biomass allocations and their controlling factors in different types of grasslands are still unclear. Based on the biomass data of 182 grasslands, including 17 alpine meadows (AMs) and 21 desert steppes (DSs), this study investigates the spatial distribution of the belowground biomass allocation proportion (BGBP) in different types of grasslands and their main controlling factors. The research results show that the BGBP of AMs is significantly higher than that of DSs ( < 0.05). The BGBP of AMs significantly decreases with increasing mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) ( < 0.05), while it significantly increases with increasing soil nitrogen content (N), soil phosphorus content (P), and soil pH ( < 0.05). The BGBP of DSs significantly decreases with increasing MAP ( < 0.05), while it significantly increases with increasing soil phosphorus content (P) and soil pH ( < 0.05). The random forest model indicates that soil pH is the most important factor affecting the BGBP of both AMs and DSs. Climate-related factors were identified as key drivers shaping the spatial distribution patterns of BGBP by exerting an influence on soil nutrient availability. Climate and soil factors exert influences not only on grassland biomass allocation directly, but also indirectly by impacting the availability of soil nutrients.