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Net primary productivity and spatial distribution of vegetation in an alpine wetland, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

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Abstract

To initially describe vegetation structure and spatial variation in plant biomass in a typical alpine wetland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, net primary productivity and vegetation in relationship to environmental factors were investigated. In 2002, the wetland remained flooded to an average water depth of 25 cm during the growing season, from July to mid-September. We mapped the floodline and vegetation distribution using GPS (global positioning system). Coverage of vegetation in the wetland was 100%, and the vegetation was zonally distributed along a water depth gradient, with three emergent plant zones (Hippuris vulgaris-dominated zone, Scirpus distigmaticus-dominated zone, and Carex allivescers-dominated zone) and one submerged plant zone (Potamogeton pectinatus-dominated zone). Both aboveground and belowground biomass varied temporally within and among the vegetation zones. Further, net primary productivity (NPP) as estimated by peak biomass also differed among the vegetation zones; aboveground NPP was highest in the Carex-dominated zone with shallowest water and lowest in the Potamogeton zone with deepest water. The area occupied by each zone was 73.5% for P. pectinatus, 2.6% for H. vulgaris, 20.5% for S. distigmaticus, and 3.4% for C. allivescers. Morphological features in relationship to gas-transport efficiency of the aerial part differed among the emergent plants. Of the three emergent plants, H. vulgaris, which dominated in the deeper water, showed greater morphological adaptability to deep water than the other two emergent plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sugadaira Montane Research Center (SMRC) University of Tsukuba, 1278-294 Sugadaira, Ueda, Nagano, 386-2204, Japan

    Mitsuru Hirota

  2. National Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Ibaraki, Japan

    Kiyokazu Kawada & Wenhong Mo

  3. Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Science, Xining, People’s Republic of China

    Qiwu Hu & Guangmin Cao

  4. Frontier Research Center for Global Change, Kanagawa, Japan

    Tomomichi Kato

  5. National Institute for Environmental Studies, Ibaraki, Japan

    Yanhong Tang

  6. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Shigeru Mariko

Authors
  1. Mitsuru Hirota
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  2. Kiyokazu Kawada
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  3. Qiwu Hu
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  4. Tomomichi Kato
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  5. Yanhong Tang
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  6. Wenhong Mo
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  7. Guangmin Cao
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  8. Shigeru Mariko
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Correspondence to Mitsuru Hirota.

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Hirota, M., Kawada, K., Hu, Q. et al. Net primary productivity and spatial distribution of vegetation in an alpine wetland, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Limnology 8, 161–170 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-007-0205-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-007-0205-5

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