草原化荒漠植被草本层片植物对人工施加氮素的响应

水分是干旱区生态过程的第一非生物限制因子,土壤氮由于直接影响着生物生产力和土壤生态过程而被认为是仅次于水分的限制因子。利用人工施加氮肥的控制试验研究了荒漠植被草本层片植物在多度、物种丰富度、高生长以及地上部分生物量等群落学特征对不同施肥处理的响应。结果表明,在施肥量分别为12.5、25、50 g·m-2时,样方植物多度和物种丰富度在施肥当年和第二年较对照均有不同程度的降低,且施肥量越高,降低越明显,这一结果支持来自典型草地和森林植被生物多样性对氮素增加或氮降沉增加响应的结论,即氮素的增加会使生物多样性减少。地上部分生物量对施氮肥的响应在施肥当年(年降水量为多年平均值的1.4倍)和第二年(年降水量为多年平均值的0.7倍)表现出相反的规律,即施肥当年随着施肥量的增加生物量显著增加,而在第二年则显著减小,说明水肥耦合同样有利于荒漠生态系统生物生产力的提高。氮素对植物高生长的影响不明显,各施肥梯度与对照相比均无显著性差异(P>0.05),这可能主要取决于荒漠草本植物本身固有的生物学特性。     

火干扰对内陆荒漠湿地芦苇群落特征的影响

采用人为起火的方法，通过对比敦煌西湖荒漠湿地干扰区域和未干扰区域火后第一年芦苇群落特征的变化，探讨内陆荒漠湿地植被对火干扰的响应机制。了解火干扰对内陆荒漠湿地芦苇群落特征的影响。结果表明: 火干扰能够延长植物青绿期，促进了植被的个体发育；火干扰对草本层植被盖度、高度均有显著的负面影响，而对密度有显著的正面影响，对灌木层植被群落盖度、高度及密度均有正面影响，但影响不明显；火干扰后植物群落Shannon-Wiener多样性指数H′、Simpson多样性指数D和Simpson优势度指数C均减少，而Margalef物种丰富度指数Ma和Pielou均匀度指数J均增加；火干扰致使草本层植物群落多样性指数与研究区植物群落总体多样性指数变化趋势一致，致使灌木层物种H′、D和J指数均减少，而Ma和C指数均增加；火干扰致使植物群落地上总的生物量降低，主要使灌木层生物量降低，而使草本层生物量有所增加。     

古尔班通古特沙漠草本植物生物量分配特征

草本植物层片是古尔班通古特沙漠早春生产力的主要贡献者,为深入了解荒漠草本植物在群落水平上对荒漠环境的整体适应性,分析了沙漠中部1 hm2样地中草本植物层片地上与地下生物量分配关系,并验证了草本植物层片生物量与根冠比、物种丰富度以及植株密度之间的关系.结果 表明:(1)类短命植物囊果苔草(Carex physodes)是...     

人工生物土壤结皮对草本植物群落组成与多样性的影响

人工生物土壤结皮（Biological Soil Crusts, BSCs）指通过人工培养加速形成的BSCs,可用于沙化土地治理。目前关于人工BSCs的研究多在藻种选择与培养、接种方法优化及野外拓殖等方面,缺少其对荒漠生态系统功能恢复作用的研究。为探讨人工BSCs对草本植物多样性等荒漠生态系统功能恢复的影响,以腾格里沙漠东南缘人工BSCs与流沙为研究对象,对人工BSCs属性以及草本植物的组成、生长和多样性进行了研究。结果表明：人工BSCs样地共有9种草本植物,隶属于4科9属,其中苋科（Amaranthaceae）种数最多,其次为禾本科（Gramineae）,优势种为砂蓝刺头（Echinops gmelini）。对照组流沙的草本植物总盖度8%、生物量11.63 g·m^-2、丰富度0.71、多度1.00;人工BSCs草本植物的总盖度11%—19%、生物量80.00—179.70 g·m^-2、丰富度1.67—3.67、多度4.33—16.78。人工BSCs盖度与草本植物盖度为二次函数关系,而人工BSCs属性与草本植物的盖度、生物量、丰富度、多度均呈显著正相关关系。因此,人工BSCs形成与发育有利于草本植物的生长和多样性的恢复,加快了荒漠生态系统功能恢复。     

科尔沁沙地草地植被对围封和放牧的响应

研究了科尔沁沙地疏林草地、针茅草原和草甸植被盖度、地上和地下生物量、物种多样性对围封和放牧的响应。结果表明：（1）围封与放牧草地的优势植物不同,围封草地植物群落优势植物为多年生禾本科植物,放牧草地中一年生植物和小半灌木优势明显。（2）围封和放牧草地的植物盖度、凋落物量、地上生物量和物种丰富度存在明显差异（P<0.05）;围封显著提高了植被盖度和地上生物量,由疏林草地、针茅草原到草甸,植物盖度和地上生物量逐渐增加,而3种草地植被凋落物量大小顺序为针茅草原> 疏林草地> 草甸;放牧条件下植物盖度、凋落物量和物种丰富度差异不显著（P>0.05）。（3）3种草地之间的地下生物量无显著差异（P>0.05）,但围封与放牧之间、不同土壤层次之间地下生物量存在明显差异（P<0.05）;围封显著提高草地的地下生物量（P<0.05）;草地地下生物量随着土壤深度表现出下降趋势（P<0.05）。长期放牧增加了草地一年生植物和小半灌木植物的优势,消除了不同草地之间植被盖度和物种丰富度的差异;而围封能提高草地多年生禾本科植物的优势、增加其物种丰富度,对于草地质量和植物多样性的恢复和保育具有积极作用。     

干旱山地生态系统植物群落不同尺度下物种数的变化特征

对典型干旱山地生态系统不同生境（土质山坡,石质山坡）的植物群落在不同取样几度下所测定的植物物种数的变化情况进行分析。采用了曲线拟合和分形维数相结合的分析方法进行探讨。从物种数随取样尺度的变化曲线（对数曲线）看（p〈0．01）,土质山坡植物群落（草本植物群落）曲线比较平滑,石质山坡（草本和灌丛混合群落）曲线较粗糙。两个样地植物群落物种数在不同取样尺度下变化的趋势不同。分形维数变化趋势表明,两个样地植物物种数随取样尺度（r）变化趋势的差别较大,土质山坡植物群落物种数空间变化异质性不大。可以找到合适的取样面积;石质山坡物种数变化的空间异质性大,物种分布空间格局较复杂。在整个山坡范围内没有合适的取样面积。因此,建议在干旱山地石质山坡上进行植物群落研究时采用设置典型样方方法,同时尽量增加样方数量,使取样尽量代表整个山坡植被。     

施肥对荒漠化草原草本植物种群密度和生物量的影响

通过外源施加N肥、P肥和N-P混合肥的试验,研究了荒漠化草原草本植物种群密度和生物量对不同肥料的响应,3种肥料均设置了0(对照)、5、10 g·m-2和20 g·m-2 4个投加水平。一年的研究结果表明：种群密度在3种肥料作用下均随着施肥水平的增大呈现逐渐降低的趋势,尤其是在高的N肥（20 g·m-2）处理下,优势种草本植物茵陈蒿（Artemisia capillaris）、多根葱（Allium polyrhizum）和冠芒草（Enneapogon brachystachyus）的密度及总密度均显著低于对照（p<0.05）;地上部及根部生物量在3种肥料处理下的响应同种群密度,即地上和根部生物量均随着施肥水平的增大而减小,其中,3种优势种草本植物的地上部生物量及总的地上部生物量随着施肥水平的增大均呈现出显著的负相关的关系,其决定系数（R2）均在0.80以上。可见,在荒漠区较低的降水条件下（年降水<180 mm）,施肥会抑制荒漠草本植物的种群密度和生物量,且其抑制作用与肥料种类无关。     

黄山风景区旅游干扰对植物群落草本层的影响

采用平均高度、平均盖度,平均物种数等单项指标及物种丰富度指数,物种多样性指数和重要值等综合指标分析了不同干扰强度对草本层植物高度,盖度,物种多样性及物种组成的影响.结果表明:旅游干扰对草本层高度的影响明显,游径边缘干扰强度最大地段草本层植物高度明显降低;旅游干扰对草本层盖度影响不明显,虽然随干扰强度的降低,草本层盖度有所上升,但不同干扰强度下盖度差异并不显著;旅游干扰增加了物种的多样性,游径边缘干扰强度最大地段物种数最多;同时干扰也对草本层物种组成产生了一定影响,随干扰强度增加,耐践踏植物及伴人植物比例增加.旅游干扰对植物群落草本层植被影响的空间范围大约在距游径10 m以内.     

抚育间伐对川中丘陵区柏木人工林生长和植物多样性的影响

为探索适宜间伐强度的抚育措施,在川中丘陵区高密度的柏木人工纯林中,选择抚育间伐形成的不同柏木密度样地36个,采用样方法,调查光热环境、植物生长和多样性随间伐强度的变化规律。结果表明:间伐后,林内光合有效辐射和气温显著(P0.05,下同)升高,空气湿度和土壤相对含水量显著降低,间伐强度越大变化幅度越大。间伐后,林下更新层乔木胸径、冠幅和郁闭度,灌木层盖度和高度,草本层盖度,枯落物层厚度较非间伐样地均显著增加,且随间伐强度增加增值越大;更新层乔木高度在各间伐和对照样地之间差异不显著;间伐显著提高了单株柏木材积,但单位面积内柏木蓄积量显著降低。间伐后,林内植物种数、属数和科数增多,乔木、灌木和草本种数增加;间伐林内植物物种丰富度和多样性Shannon-Wiener指数显著提高,均匀度Pielou指数和优势度Simpson指数变化不明显。间伐和非间伐样地之间共有种为4~9种,相似系数介于16.67%~50.00%。抚育间伐改变了林内光热环境,促进了林下植物的生长更新,丰富了林内植物多样性,强度间伐影响效果更为明显。     

沙埋对河西走廊荒漠绿洲过渡带一年生草本植物的影响

一年生草本植物是荒漠绿洲过渡带人工固沙植物群落草本层的优势植物类群,由于风沙活动剧烈,风蚀和沙埋成为一年生草本植物生存的关键选择动力因素。以河西走廊荒漠绿洲过渡带典型一年生草本植物狗尾草（Setaria viridis）、虎尾草（Chloris virgata）、白茎盐生草（Halogeton arachnoideus）和雾冰藜（Bassia dasyphylla）为研究对象,通过0（对照）、1、2、3、5、10、15 cm深度沙埋试验,探寻沙埋对一年生草本植物的影响。结果表明：（1）4种一年生草本植物在0—1 cm埋深出苗率最高,狗尾草最大出苗深度为10 cm,虎尾草和雾冰藜为5 cm,白茎盐生草为3 cm;（2）不同沙埋深度下,4种一年生草本植物的生长（株高和总生物量）和繁殖（种子数量和百粒重）高值区位于2—3 cm埋深,3 cm往下虎尾草和雾冰藜存活率显著下降,而狗尾草仍保持较高存活率;（3）不同沙埋深度下,4种一年生草本植物的渗透调节物质（可溶性糖、可溶性蛋白和游离脯氨酸）含量在2—3 cm埋深达到最高,丙二醛（MDA）含量高值主要位于3—5 cm埋深,叶绿素含量在1—2 cm埋深最高,2 cm往下开始降低;（4）一年生草本植物的生长存活与游离脯氨酸和叶绿素含量呈极显著相关关系,表明二者对保持植物叶片水分平衡和保证光合作用、维持植物正常生长起着更关键的作用。研究可为荒漠绿洲过渡带一年生草本植物恢复提供科学依据。     

Effects of fire and environmental variables on plant structure and composition in grazed salt desert shrublands of the Great Basin (USA)

Fire in shrub-dominated portions of the Great Basin, largely fueled by non-native annuals such as Bromus tectorum, has become an important structuring force altering vegetation composition and soil characteristics. The extent to which fire affects native species in drier portions of the Great Basin, termed salt desert, is poorly documented. We conducted a survey of grazed salt desert habitat in northwestern Nevada 5 years after wildfires burned 650,000 ha, with the goal of investigating community response to fire and factors correlating with post-fire recovery. We found that recruitment of a dominant shrub, Artemisia spinescens, is severely restricted following fire: it occurred in only 2 of the 24 burned sites. The co-dominant shrub, Atriplex confertifolia, occurred in most burned sites although on average its percent cover was one-third lower than adjacent unburned sites. Biotic soil crust cover was four times lower, and non-native species cover 5 times higher, in burned sites compared to unburned. Ordination analyses confirmed differences among plant communities in burned versus unburned sites, with environmental variables soil conductivity, plant litter, soil potassium (K⁺) and pH explaining 38% of the variance in community composition. However, we found no environmental predictors of recovery for native species in burned sites. Future recruitment is likely to be further limited, as fire frequency in the salt desert is expected to increase with invasion by non-native annual grasses and with global climate change.     

Studying the post-fire performance of tussock grasses in Patagonia: Survival, biomass production and early competition

Patagonia grasslands are subjected to two main disturbances, fire and grazing, but little information is available about its effects on vegetation. We studied post-fire survival and resprouting ability of two dominant grass species, Stipa speciosa and Festuca pallescens, for four years; evaluated the effect of early post-fire defoliation on both species; and tested whether competition is important in post-fire recovery in San Ramón Ranch, NW Patagonia (Argentina). To simulate grazing, a clipping treatment was applied at the beginning and end of growing seasons. Survival rates were high (>60%) and, after three years, biomass of both species in the burned area was similar to the unburned area. Competition seems to play an important role in the early post-fire recovery of both species, particularly in the case of F. pallescens that increased 87% the biomass production without competition. Fire may improve forage quality by eliminating the standing dead material, but early post-fire grazing might endanger the persistence of F. pallescens. We suggest requiring a resting period before livestock introduction and controlling grazing intensity.     

Post-fire plant recovery in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of western North America

Increasing wildfire activity is one of the most pressing management concerns in arid lands of the American West. To examine post-fire recovery of perennial vegetation in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, I analyzed data systematically synthesized from the literature. Post-fire sprouting by desert perennials is generally limited but varies among species. For example, only 3–37% of Larrea tridentata sprouted compared to 64–86% of Yucca schidigera. Four of five studies measuring recovery of perennial cover reported close relationships (r² = 0.67–0.99) between time since fire (TSF) and cover. In fact, three studies measuring the longest TSF (≥37 years) found that cover had returned to within 10% cover of unburned areas within approximately 40 years. Conversely, post-fire species composition exhibited little convergence with unburned composition in five of six studies even 47 years after fire. Sphaeralcea ambigua, Gutierrezia spp., Achnatherum speciosum, Encelia spp., Hymenoclea salsola, and Baileya multiradiata had the highest burned:unburned abundance ratios, although overall post-fire community composition differed between the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Analyzing the literature as a whole suggested some generalities (e.g., that perennial cover reestablishes faster than composition), but more work is required for improving specific knowledge about plant recovery among fires, sites, species, and climates.     

Fire in Chihuahuan Desert grassland: Short-term effects on vegetation, small mammal populations, and faunal pedoturbation

A prescribed burn resulted in significant decreases in canopy cover of the grasses: Bouteloua eriopoda, Sporobolus flexuosus, and Aristida purpurea. One year post-burn, basal cover of B. eriopoda remained significantly lower in burned patches than in unburned areas but there were no differences in basal cover of the other perennial grasses. Only one species of the 14 summer annual species occurred in both burned and unburned plots. There were six species of spring annuals in burned patches but no spring annuals in the unburned grassland ten months post-burn. Fire killed 100% of the snakeweed shrubs (Gutierrezia sarothrae), 77% of the Ephedra torreyana shrubs, and 36% of the Yucca elata. All mesquite shrubs that were top-killed by fire, resprouted one month post-burn. Fire had no effect on abundance and species richness of rodents. There were fewer wolf spider, Geolycosa spp. burrows in burned areas than in unburned grassland. The area and volume of soil in termite galleries and sheeting were significantly larger in the unburned grassland than in the burned areas.     

Expansive fire in Mojave Desert shrubland reduces abundance and species diversity of small mammals

Changes in plant community structure and composition of the Mojave Desert in response to greater fire intensity and extent are likely to have strong bottom-up effects on the biological community. The objective of this study was to determine how expansive fire in Mojave Desert impacts small mammal communities across seasons. We sampled small mammals in paired burned (4–5 years post-fire) and unburned areas of Beaver Dam Wash in southwestern Utah. Fire reduced total abundance of small mammals, and species richness and species diversity of the small mammal community. Merriam’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) responded positively to fire (15% greater in burned areas). Long-tailed pocket mouse (Chaetodipus formosus) and canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus) were 91% and 98% less abundant in burned versus unburned areas. The positive response of Merriam’s kangaroo rat to fire is most likely correlated with their preference for open foraging microhabitat while other species captured prefer greater and more diverse cover. Because the small mammal community has been dramatically affected by fire, it is likely that top-down control of vegetation structure will be dominated by Merriam’s kangaroo rat in burned areas, which may promote more open habitat by limiting the growth of annual and perennial grasses.     

Post-fire primary production and plant community dynamics in chaparral stands exposed to varying levels of nitrogen deposition

High levels of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition to southern California chaparral shrublands may interact with fire to affect biomass production and plant species composition during secondary succession. To determine the potential interactions between post fire recovery and N deposition we compared rates of aboveground net primary production (ANPP), shrub growth, and the relative abundance of Adenostoma fasciculatum, other sub-dominant shrubs, and herbaceous species of three chaparral stands exposed to different levels of atmospheric N deposition over the first 3 years of post-fire succession. Our data suggest that rates of ANPP (gdw m(-2) month(-1)) and aboveground N storage (gN m(-2) month(-1)) for these chaparral stands were not related to N deposition even though sites exposed to high levels of N deposition had significantly higher rates of shrub growth (gdw plant(-1) month(-1)) and N uptake (gN plant(-1) month(-1)). However, high-N stands were composed of larger shrubs with a lower density, and this trade-off between shrub size and density may explain the low correlation between N deposition and post-fire ANPP. Differences in relative plant species abundance between sites were significantly correlated with N deposition exposure, where stands exposed to high N deposition had a lower relative abundance of A. fasciculatum and a higher relative abundance of other shrub and herbaceous species. While many factors can affect rates and patterns of post-fire recovery, these results suggest that chronic exposure to N deposition may significantly alter plant growth and species composition in successional chaparral stands.     

Aeolian sediment transport following wildfire in sagebrush steppe

Wind erosion of soil is an appreciable but unstudied event following fires in cold desert. We examined aeolian transport of sediment for 1 year following fire in semi-arid shrub steppe on loess soils in southern Idaho, USA. Sediment collectors were used to determine horizontal mass transport of soil and saltation sensors and anemometers were used to determine saltation activity (fraction of time having saltation) and threshold wind speed in an area burned in August and an unburned control site. Horizontal mass transport (per 30-day period) was negligible in the unburned area, but in the burned area was 5.40 kg m^?1 in October and decreased to 2.80 kg m^?1 in November and 0.32 kg m^?1 in December. Saltation activity was high enough to determine threshold wind speeds only in the burn site during fall, when values ranged from 10.0 to 10.6 m s^?1. Sediment flux and saltation activity in the burned site became much less pronounced following the emergence of herbaceous vegetation in the spring. Post-fire sediment flux in the shrub steppe we examined was of greater magnitude but shorter duration than post-fire fluxes in warm deserts or sandier regions that experience more frequent wind erosion.