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Rhombomys opimus contribution to the “fertile island” effect of tamarisk mounds in Junggar Basin

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Fertile islands are created and maintained by a combination of physical and biologically mediated processes. Plants have been shown to be very important in the formation of fertile islands, and recent research indicates that the activities of burrowing animals have a significant influence on the physiochemical properties of soil that can promote the development of fertile islands. In this paper, we chose tamarisk (Tamarix spp.)—a constructive species that grows in the oasis-desert ecotone, and the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus)—a widely distributed rodent in Central Asia to study the influence of great gerbils on soil nutrient dynamics in tamarisk mounds. Results indicate that fertile islands exist in tamarisk mounds without burrows of the great gerbil. However, the great gerbil’s burrowing activities promote the fertile island effect in tamarisk mounds: soil nutrients under shrubs with great gerbil activity were significantly higher than inter-mound areas in both surface soil and deep soil from 15 to 50 cm. Available nitrogen in mounds with rodent burrows was over twice as high as in tamarisk mounds without burrows at the same depth. The great gerbil’s burrowing activities promote the concentration of soil nutrients in the tamarisk mounds.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30970476), the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorships for Senior International Scientists (2009Z2-5), Xi Bu Zhi Guang (LHXZ200701), and SINO-UAE Cooperation Project (0866031). We also thank the staff at the Mosuowan Field Station for logistic support. We thank Patricia Johnston and Scot Ferguson for editing our manuscript and Mr Jin Shijie for help with the fieldwork.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Wenxuan Xu, Weikang Yang, Chaowen Tang & David Blank

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Wenxuan Xu & Chaowen Tang

  3. School of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Wei Liu

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  1. Wenxuan Xu
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  2. Wei Liu
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  5. David Blank
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Correspondence to Weikang Yang.

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Xu, W., Liu, W., Yang, W. et al. Rhombomys opimus contribution to the “fertile island” effect of tamarisk mounds in Junggar Basin. Ecol Res 27, 775–781 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-012-0952-6

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