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Effects of the hemiparasitic plant Pedicularis kansuensis on plant community structure in a degraded grassland

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Species-rich grasslands have high conservation value because they support diverse floral and faunal assemblages. Alpine grassland is an important and characteristic ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but ca. 30 % has been severely degraded by the combined effects of climate change, human activity, overgrazing and rodent damage. One potential method to restore grassland diversity involves using hemiparasitic plants to modify the competitive relationships among neighboring species. A possible candidate is Pedicularis kansuensis, a hemiparasitic plant found in grasslands throughout the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but more information on its host associations and its effects on surrounding vegetation is required to assess its suitability. Thus, we examined host associations of P. kansuensis by direct root excavation at a selected site on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and found that haustoria formation is non-randomly distributed among host species, with preferential bias for members of Poaceae, Rosaceae and Fabaceae. We also found that aboveground biomass of grasses and legumes was higher in quadrats from which the parasite had been removed than in intact controls, while the biomass of sedges and forbs was unaffected by parasite removal. However, removal significantly decreased plant species richness and Shannon–Wiener diversity. These results suggest that P. kansuensis modifies the competitive balance in grassland communities of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, allowing for colonization by subordinate species and thereby enhancing species diversity and contributing to restoration of these degraded grasslands.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. Jakub Těšitel and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Prof. Steve W. Adkins, Chunping Zhang and Chunhui Zhang helped revise the manuscript, Minglong Yuan and Hui Song gave inspiring advice on the manuscript, and Mr. Huiqiang Li assisted with sampling. The research was financially supported by the National Key Basic Research Program (973) of China (2014CB138702), the Natural Science Foundation of China (31372366), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT13019) and the Special Fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest (201203041).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, P.O. Box 61, Lanzhou, 730020, China

    Gensheng Bao, Xiang Yao, Li Liu & Chunjie Li

  2. Grassland Institute, Qinghai Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, 1 Weier Road, Biological Industrial District, Xining, 810003, Qinghai, China

    Gensheng Bao & Hongsheng Wang

  3. Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Nihonmatsu-cho, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Kenji Suetsugu

  4. Department of Biology, Qinghai University, 251 Ningda Road, Xining, 810016, Qinghai, China

    Jing Ou

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  1. Gensheng Bao
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  2. Kenji Suetsugu
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  3. Hongsheng Wang
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  4. Xiang Yao
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  5. Li Liu
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  6. Jing Ou
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  7. Chunjie Li
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Correspondence to Chunjie Li.

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Bao, G., Suetsugu, K., Wang, H. et al. Effects of the hemiparasitic plant Pedicularis kansuensis on plant community structure in a degraded grassland. Ecol Res 30, 507–515 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1248-4

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