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Vegetation pattern variation, soil degradation and their relationship along a grassland desertification gradient in Horqin Sandy Land, northern China

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

The Horqin Sandy Land is one of the most severely desertified regions in northern China. Plant communities and soil conditions at five stages of grassland desertification (potential, light, moderate, severe and very severe) were selected for the study of vegetation pattern variation relating to soil degradation. The results showed that vegetation cover, species richness and diversity, aboveground biomass (AGB), underground biomass, litter, soil organic carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), electrical conductivity, very fine sand (0.1–0.05 mm) content and silt (0.05–0.002 mm) content decreased with the desertification development. Plant community succession presented that the palatable herbaceous plants gave place to the shrub species with asexual reproduction and sand pioneer plants. The decline of vegetation cover and AGB was positively related to the loss of soil organic C and total N with progressive desertification (P < 0.01). The multivariate statistical analysis showed that plant community distribution, species diversity and ecological dominance had the close relationship with the gradient of soil nutrients in the processes of grassland desertification. These results suggest that grassland desertification results in the variation of vegetation pattern which presents the different composition and structure of plant community highly influenced by the soil properties.

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Acknowledgments

Authors thank all the members of Naiman Desertification Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), for their help in field work. Especially, we thank professors Tonghui Zhang, Yulin Li, Xinrong Li and Yongzhong Su for their kind assistance in our research work. We also wish to thank anonymous reviews for valuable comments on the manuscript. This paper was financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (40601008), the “Xibuzhiguang” Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (2009CB421303), the Knowledge Innovation Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-431), National Key Technologies Support Program of China (2006BAC01A12, 2006BAD26B02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Naiman Desertification Research Station, Cold and Arid Regions of Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoan Zuo, Halin Zhao, Xueyong Zhao, Yirui Guo, Jianying Yun & Shaokun Wang

  2. Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Takafumi Miyasaka

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  1. Xiaoan Zuo
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  2. Halin Zhao
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Correspondence to Xiaoan Zuo.

Appendix: Community abbreviations at the different grassland desertification stages

Appendix: Community abbreviations at the different grassland desertification stages

C1, Cleistogenes squarrosa + Tragus mongolorum community; C2, Artemisia scoparia + Phragmites communis + L. davurica community; C3, Artemisia scoparia + Setaria viridis + L. davurica community; C4, Eragrostis pilosa + Artemisia frigida community; C5, Artemisia frigida + Euphorbia humifusa community; C6, Artemisia frigida + Setaria viridis community; C7, Digitaria ciliaris + Melissitus ruthenicus + Artemisia frigida community; C8, Bassia dasyphylla + Eragrostis pilosa + Artemisia frigida community; C9, M. ruthenicus + Euphorbia humifusa + Artemisia halodendron community; C10, D. ciliaris + M. ruthenicus + Artemisia halodendron community; C11, Ixeris denticulata + Artemisia halodendron community; C12, P. communis + Artemisia halodendron + Ixeris denticulata community; C13, Agriophyllum squarrosum community; C14, Inula salsoloides + Agriophyllum squarrosum community; C15, Sonchus oleraceus + Agriophyllum squarrosum community

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Zuo, X., Zhao, H., Zhao, X. et al. Vegetation pattern variation, soil degradation and their relationship along a grassland desertification gradient in Horqin Sandy Land, northern China. Environ Geol 58, 1227–1237 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1617-1

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