Spatial-Temporal Variation of ANPP and Rain-Use Efficiency Along a Precipitation Gradient on Changtang Plateau, Tibet

Aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and rain-use efficiency (RUE) are important indicators in assessing the response of ecosystems to climate change. In this paper, the Changtang Plateau in the Tibetan Autonomous Region was selected as the study area to analyze the spatial and temporal changes of ANPP and RUE in grassland communities and their response to climate change. The results showed the following:(1) The spatial pattern of ANPP was closely related to rainfall on the Changtang Plateau. The average ANPP over the past 15 years increased gradually from the arid west to the humid east. A consistent pattern was exhibited in different grassland types and climate zones. (2) The RUE was higher at the east and west edges of the Changtang Plateau, especially in the arid west, but was lower in the center. From the perspective of different climatic zones, the average RUE in the southern Tibetan semiarid climate zone and the Ngari arid climate zone was significantly higher than that in other climate zones. However, the average RUE in different grassland types only varied from 0.07 to 0.09 g·m−2·mm−1. The spatial variation in RUE was more distinct in different climatic zones than in different grassland types. (3) Climate change influenced the interannual variation of ANPP and RUE, but the response of ANPP to rainfall showed a significant lag. The interannual change in RUE was negatively correlated with changes in precipitation. (4) In general, a greater area showed a significant increase rather than a decrease in ANPP on the Changtang Plateau, which meant that the grassland condition is improving. The temporal variation patterns of ANPP and RUE in different climate zones were consistent with the overall patterns on the Changtang Plateau, while the variation was not significant in different grassland types.

[1]  K. Thompson,et al.  Integrated screening validates primary axes of specialisation in plants , 1997 .

[2]  J. Briggs,et al.  Interannual variability in primary production in tallgrass prairie: climate, soil moisture, topographic position, and fire as determinants of aboveground biomass , 1995 .

[3]  Xianzhou Zhang,et al.  Foliar nutrient resorption patterns of four functional plants along a precipitation gradient on the Tibetan Changtang Plateau , 2017, Ecology and evolution.

[4]  Osvaldo E. Sala,et al.  The Importance of Soil Water in the Recruitment of Bouteloua Gracilis in the Shortgrass Steppe , 1994 .

[5]  O. Sala,et al.  Long-Term Forage Production of North American Shortgrass Steppe. , 1992, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[6]  Eike Luedeling,et al.  Winter and spring warming result in delayed spring phenology on the Tibetan Plateau , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[7]  Jesse E. Bell,et al.  Rain use efficiency across a precipitation gradient on the Tibetan Plateau , 2010 .

[8]  Rational exploitation of grassland resources in the Northern Xizang Plateau , 2000 .

[9]  Zhenxi Shen,et al.  Precipitation and species composition primarily determine the diversity–productivity relationship of alpine grasslands on the Northern Tibetan Plateau , 2014, Alpine Botany.

[10]  Todd M. Scanlon,et al.  Determining land surface fractional cover from NDVI and rainfall time series for a savanna ecosystem , 2002 .

[11]  S. Verón,et al.  Environmental Controls of Primary Production in Agricultural Systems of the Argentine Pampas , 2002, Ecosystems.

[12]  G. Meehl,et al.  Climate extremes: observations, modeling, and impacts. , 2000, Science.

[13]  J. Blair,et al.  Rainfall Variability, Carbon Cycling, and Plant Species Diversity in a Mesic Grassland , 2002, Science.

[14]  S. Piao,et al.  Variations in Vegetation Net Primary Production in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China, from 1982 to 1999 , 2006 .

[15]  Quevedo Amaya,et al.  Caracterización fisiológica y bioquímica de cuatro genotipos de algodón (Gossypium hirsutum L.) en condiciones de déficit hídrico , 2020 .

[16]  T. Luo,et al.  Low rainfall-induced shift in leaf trait relationship within species along a semi-arid sandy land transect in northern China. , 2011, Plant biology.

[17]  José M. Paruelo,et al.  Annual and seasonal variation of NDVI explained by current and previous precipitation across Northern Patagonia , 2009 .

[18]  J. Zak,et al.  Convergence across biomes to a common rain-use efficiency , 2004, Nature.

[19]  J. Paruelo,et al.  Interactions of Water and Nitrogen on Primary Productivity Across Spatial and Temporal Scales in Grassland and Shrubland Ecosystems , 2019, Dryland Ecohydrology.

[20]  P. Reich,et al.  The Influence of Functional Diversity and Composition on Ecosystem Processes , 1997 .

[21]  W. Lauenroth.  Grassland Primary Production: North American Grasslands in Perspective , 1979 .

[22]  Xiaoke Zhang,et al.  Spatial-Temporal NDVI Variation of Different Alpine Grassland Classes and Groups in Northern Tibet from 2000 to 2013 , 2015 .

[23]  Yanhong Tang,et al.  Carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and an alpine meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China , 2004 .

[24]  M. Shen,et al.  Precipitation impacts on vegetation spring phenology on the Tibetan Plateau , 2015, Global change biology.

[25]  Jinwei Dong,et al.  Green-up dates in the Tibetan Plateau have continuously advanced from 1982 to 2011 , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[26]  J. Paruelo,et al.  Vegetation heterogeneity and diversity in flat and mountain landscapes of Patagonia (Argentina) , 1996 .

[27]  O. Sala,et al.  Directional climate change and potential reversal of desertification in arid and semiarid ecosystems , 2012 .

[28]  P. Keddy.  A pragmatic approach to functional ecology , 1992 .

[29]  José M. Paruelo,et al.  Land‐use impact on ecosystem functioning in eastern Colorado, USA , 2001 .

[30]  S. McNaughton,et al.  Ecology of a Grazing Ecosystem: The Serengeti , 1985 .

[31]  O. Sala,et al.  Legacies of precipitation fluctuations on primary production: theory and data synthesis , 2012, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[32]  Jianhui Huang,et al.  Primary production and rain use efficiency across a precipitation gradient on the Mongolia Plateau. , 2008, Ecology.

[33]  Qiu Ji.  Spatial Characteristics of Precipitation Use Efficiency on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau From 1982 to 2007 , 2014 .

[34]  I. Burke,et al.  REGIONAL PATTERNS OF DECOMPOSITION AND PRIMARY PRODUCTION RATES IN THE U.S. GREAT PLAINS , 2002 .

[35]  C J Tucker,et al.  Drier summers cancel out the CO2 uptake enhancement induced by warmer springs. , 2005, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[36]  Le Houérou,et al.  Rain use efficiency: a unifying concept in arid-land ecology , 1984 .

[37]  Xi Chen,et al.  Analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of aboveground net primary productivity in the Eurasian steppe region from 1982 to 2013 , 2017, Ecology and evolution.

[38]  Osvaldo E. Sala,et al.  Competition, facilitation, seed distribution and the origin of patches in a Patagonian steppe , 1994 .

[39]  Pereira,et al.  Plant diversity and productivity experiments in european grasslands , 1999, Science.

[40]  O. Sala,et al.  Grassland Precipitation-Use Efficiency Varies Across a Resource Gradient , 1999, Ecosystems.

[41]  Kerry M. Byrne,et al.  Defining the limit to resistance in a drought‐tolerant grassland: long‐term severe drought significantly reduces the dominant species and increases ruderals , 2011 .

[42]  C. Field,et al.  A reanalysis using improved leaf models and a new canopy integration scheme , 1992 .

[43]  Osvaldo E. Sala,et al.  PATTERNS AND CONTROLS OF PRIMARY PRODUCTION IN THE PATAGONIAN STEPPE: A REMOTE SENSING APPROACH† , 2002 .

[44]  Josep Peñuelas,et al.  Comparative field study of Quercus ilex and Phillyrea latifolia: photosynthetic response to experimental drought conditions , 2003 .

[45]  H. L. Houérou,et al.  Relationship between the variability of primary production and the variability of annual precipitation in world arid lands , 1988 .

[46]  J. Paruelo,et al.  ANPP ESTIMATES FROM NDVI FOR THE CENTRAL GRASSLAND REGION OF THE UNITED STATES , 1997 .

[47]  A. Knapp,et al.  Variation among biomes in temporal dynamics of aboveground primary production. , 2001, Science.

[48]  J. P. Grime,et al.  Evidence for the Existence of Three Primary Strategies in Plants and Its Relevance to Ecological and Evolutionary Theory , 1977, The American Naturalist.

[49]  Graham D. Farquhar,et al.  On the Relationship Between Carbon Isotope Discrimination and the Intercellular Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Leaves , 1982 .

[50]  C. Peng,et al.  Interannual variability in net primary production and precipitation. , 2001, Science.

[51]  Jun-bang Wang,et al.  Spatial pattern of vegetation precipitation use efficiency and its response to precipitation and temperature on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau of China: Spatial pattern of vegetation precipitation use efficiency and its response to precipitation and temperature on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau of China , 2013 .

[52]  Shiliang Liu,et al.  Spatiotemporal dynamics of grassland aboveground biomass on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on validated MODIS NDVI , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[53]  William K. Lauenroth,et al.  Patterns of Production and Precipitation-Use Efficiency of Winter Wheat and Native Grasslands in the Central Great Plains of the United States , 2000, Ecosystems.

[54]  C. D. Di Bella,et al.  Forage Production of the Argentine Pampa Region Based on Land Use and Long-Term Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Data , 2009 .

[55]  O. Sala,et al.  Carbon and nitrogen dynamics across a natural precipitation gradient in Patagonia, Argentina , 2002 .

[56]  S. Collins,et al.  Stability of tallgrass prairie during a 19‐year increase in growing season precipitation , 2012 .

[57]  Mingjun Ding,et al.  Spatiotemporal variation in alpine grassland phenology in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from 1999 to 2009 , 2013 .

[58]  Wang Shaoqiang,et al.  Precipitation‐use efficiency along a 4500‐km grassland transect , 2010 .

[59]  T. Luo,et al.  Variations in leaf functional traits of Stipa purpurea along a rainfall gradient in Xi-zang, China: Variations in leaf functional traits of Stipa purpurea along a rainfall gradient in Xi-zang, China , 2012 .

[60]  Yang Yuan.  Plant species richness of alpine grasslands in relation to environmental factors and biomass on the Tibetan Plateau , 2004 .