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Competition between Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima seedlings under simulated high groundwater availability

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Abstract

Desert riparian plants experience high variability in water availability due to hydrological fluctuations. How riparian plants can survive with low water availability has been well studied, however, little is known about the effects of high water availability on plant community structuring. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to test whether seedling competition under simulated high groundwater availability can explain the shift of co-dominance of Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima in early communities to P. euphratica dominance in mature ones along the Tarim River in northwestern China. Seedlings of these two plant species were grown in monoculture and mixture pools with high groundwater availability. Results indicated that the above-ground biomass and relative yield of T. ramosissima were higher than those of P. euphratica. The competitive advantages of T. ramosissima included its rapid response in growth to groundwater enrichment and its water spender strategy, as evidenced by the increased leaf biomass proportion and the inert stomatal response to leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit (VPD). In comparison, P. euphratica showed a conservative strategy in water use, with a sensitive response to leaf-to-air VPD. Result of the short-term competition was inconsistent with the long-term competition in fields, suggesting that competition exclusion is not the mechanism structuring the desert riparian plant communities. Thus, our research highlights the importance of mediation by environmental fluctuations (such as lessening competition induced by disturbance) in structuring plant communities along the Tarim riparian zones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Guilin Wu, Shaowei Jiang, Chengyi Zhao & Jun Li

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

    Guilin Wu & Shaowei Jiang

  3. College of Plant Science, Tarim University, Alar, 843300, China

    Weiyang Liu

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  1. Guilin Wu
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  2. Shaowei Jiang
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  5. Jun Li
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Correspondence to Jun Li.

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Wu, G., Jiang, S., Liu, W. et al. Competition between Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima seedlings under simulated high groundwater availability. J. Arid Land 8, 293–303 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-015-0019-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-015-0019-y

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