Abstract
Understanding changes in plant diversity is important with changing climate in desert ecosystems. We analyzed the changes in species richness and plant functional types in different landscape positions and species turnover between five sub-regions of the Gurbantünggüt Desert, China, from 2009 to 2013. We also analyzed how species density, richness, and plant functional types responded to annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, and the coefficient of variation (C v) of both daily precipitation and monthly temperature, throughout this entire desert region. The results showed significant differences in the Shannon–Weiner, Evenness, and Gleason indices between the sub-regions over the 5-year study period. Species richness varied in the order of ephemeral plants > long-lived annual plants > perennial herbs > shrubs. Species richness in the lower and inter-dune area was higher than on the upper dune and on top of dunes. About 34.8 % of total species were influenced by climate change. The density of about 8.7 % of total species declined with increasing precipitation, especially the two dominant species, Haloxylon persicum and Haloxylon ammodendron. Plant richness increased significantly with increased precipitation. Ephemeral plant made the largest contribution to increasing plant diversity in the desert, while shrubs made the smallest. Ephemeral plants play an important role in maintaining plant community composition and function. In addition, species turnover declined with increasing precipitation. We suggest that differences in flora and different landscape positions in the dunes, specifically in shaping the heterogeneous microhabitats, are important reasons for the complex responses of species to climate change.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler PB, Levine JM (2007) Contrasting relationships between precipitation and species richness in space and time. Oikos 116:221–232
Adler RF, Huffman GJ, Chang A, Ferraro R, Xie PP, Janowiak J, Bruno R, Schneider U, Scott C, Bolvin D, Gruber A, Susskind J, Arkin P, Nelkin E (2003) The version-2 global precipitation climatology project (GPCP) monthly precipitation analysis (1979-present). J Hydrometeorol 4:1147–1167
Anderson JE, Inouye RS (2001) Landscape-scale changes in plant species abundance and biodiversity of a sagebrush steppe over 45 years. Ecol Monogr 71:531–556
Angert AL, Horst JL, Huxman TE, Venable DL (2010) Phenotypic plasticity and precipitation response in Sonoran desert winter. Am J Bot 97:405–411
Archer SR, Predick KI (2008) Climate change and ecosystems of the southwestern United States. Rangel J 30:23–28
Báez S, Collins SL, Pockman WT, Johnson JE, Small EE (2013) Effects of experimental rainfall manipulations on Chihuahuan desert grassland and shrubland. Plant communities. Oecologia 172:1117–1127
Bateman IJ, Harwood AR, Mace GM, Watson RT, Abson DJ, Andrews B, Binner A, Crowe A, Day BH, Dugdale S, Fezzi C, Foden J, Hadley D, Young RH, Hulme M, Kontoleon A, Lovett AA, Munday P, Pascual U, Paterson J, Perino G, Sen A, Siriwardena G, Soest DV, Termansen M (2013) Bringing ecosystem services into economic decision-making: land use in the United Kingdom. Science 341:45–50
Bellard C, Bertelsmeier C, Leadley P, Thuiller W, Courchamp F (2012) Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity. Ecol Lett 15:365–377
Bobbink R, Hicks K, Galloway J, Spranger T, Alkemade R, Ashmore M, Bustamante M, Cinderby S, Davidson E, Dentener F, Emmett B, Erisman JW, Fenn M, Gilliam F, Nordin A, Pardo L, Vries WD (2010) Global assessment of nitrogen deposition effects on terrestrial plant diversity: a synthesis. Ecol Appl 20:30–59
Butterfield BJ, Betancourt JL, Turner RM, Briggs JM (2010) Facilitation drives 65 years of vegetation change in the Sonoran Desert. Ecology 91:1132–1139
Chesson P, Gebauer RLE, Schwinning S, Huntly N, Wiegand K, Ernest MSK, Sher A, Novoplansky A, Weltzin JF (2004) Resource pulses, species interactions, and diversity maintenance in arid and semi-arid environments. Oecologia 141:236–253
Dagnachew L, Christine V, Françoise G (2003) Hydrological response of a catchment to climate and land use changes in Tropical Africa: case study South Central Ethiopia. J Hydrol 275:67–85
Diffenbaugh NS, Giorgi F, Pal JS (2008) Climate change hotspots in the United States. Geophys Res Lett 35:1–5
Elsa EC, Scott LC, Timothy LD, Emily CF, Katherine LG, Laureano AG, Lauren MH, Richard JB, Joanna SH, Laura T, Katharine NS (2013) Sensitivity of grassland plant community composition to spatial vs. temporal variation in precipitation. Ecology 94:1687–1696
Fan L, Ma J, Wu L, Xu G, Li Y, Tang L (2012) Response of the herbaceous layer to snow variability at the south margin of the Gurbantünggüt desert of China. In Chinese with English abstract. Chin J Plant Ecol 36:126–135
Flora of China Editorial Committee (1985) Flora of China. Kexue Press, Beijing In Chinese
Guo K, Dong X, Liu Z (2000) Characteristics of soil moisture content on sand dunes in Muus sandy grassland: why Artemisia ordosica declines on old fixed sand dunes. In Chinese with English abstract. Acta Phytoecol Sin 24:275–279
Guo Q, Wang C, Guo Z, Tan D, Shi Z (2005) Geographic distribution of existing Haloxylon desert vegetation and its patch character in China. In Chinese with English abstract. Sci Silvae Sine 41:1–7
Kushwaha SPS, Nandy S (2012) Species diversity and community structure in sal (Shorea robusta) forests of two different rainfall regimes in West Bengal, India. Biodivers Conserv 21:1215–1228
Levine J, Rees M (2004) Effects of temporal variability on rare plant persistence in annual systems. Am Nat 164:350–363
Ma K, Liu Y (1994) Measure method of diversity of bio-communities I—measure method of α diversity. In Chinese with English abstract. Chin Biodivers 2:231–239
Maestre FT, Quero JL, Gotelli NJ, Escudero A, Ochoa V, Baquerizo MD, García-Gómez M, Bowker MA, Soliveres S, Escolar C, García-Palacios P, Berdugo M, Valencia E, Gozalo B, Gallardo A, Aguilera L, Arredondo T, Blones J, Boeken B, Bran D, Conceição AA, Cabrera O, Chaieb M, Derak M, Eldridge DJ, Espinosa CI, Florentino A, Gaitán J, Gatica MG, Ghiloufi W, González SG, Gutiérrez JR, Hernández RM, Huang XW, Sannwald EH, Jankju M, Miriti M, Monerris J, Mau RL, Morici E, Naseri K, Ospina A, Polo V, Prina A, Pucheta E, Ramírez-Collantes DA, Romão R, Tighe M, Torres-Díaz C, Val J, Veiga JP, Wang D, Zaady E (2012) Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands. Science 335:214–218
Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, New Jersey
Mao Z, Zhang D (1994) The conspectus of ephemeral flora in northern Xinjiang. In Chinese with English abstract. Arid Zone Res 11:1–26
Matthews B, Pomati F (2012) Reversal in the relationship between species richness and turnover in a phytoplankton community. Ecology 93:2435–2447
McAuliffe JR, Hamerlynck EP (2010) Perennial plant mortality in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts in response to severe, multi-year drought. J Arid Environ 74:885–896
Morecroft MD, Masters GJ, Brown VK, Clarke IP, Taylor ME (2004) Changing precipitation patterns alter plant community dynamics and succession in an ex-arable grassland. Funct Ecol 18:648–655
Munson SM, Webb RH, Belnap J, Hubbard JA, Swann DS, Rutman S (2012) Forecasting climate change impacts to plant community composition in the Sonoran desert region. Glob Change Biol 18:1083–1095
Munson SM, Muldavin EH, Belnap J, Peters DP, Anderson JP, Reiser MH, Gallo K, Castillo AM, Herrick JE, Christiansen TA (2013) Regional signatures of plant response to drought and elevated temperature across a desert ecosystem. Ecology l94:2030–2041
Nezlin NP, Kostianoy AG, Li BL (2005) Inter-annual variability and interaction of remote-sensed vegetation index and atmospheric precipitation in the Aral Searegion. J Arid Environ 62:677–700
O’Connor TG, Haines LM, Snyman HA (2001) Influence of precipitation and species composition on phytomass of a semi-arid African grassland. J Ecol 89:850–860
Pan X, Dang R (2003) The floristic geography and resources utilization in the arid deserts area in North-West China. Science Press, Beijing
Paruelo JM, Lauenroth WK (1996) Relative abundance of plant functional types in grasslands and shrublands of North America. Ecol Appl 6:1212–1224
Qian Y, Wu Z, Zhao R, Zhang L (2008) Vegetation patterns and species-environment relationships in the Gurbantunggut desert of China. In Chinese with English abstract. J Geogr Sci 18:400–414
Qiao X, Jabot F, Tang Z, Jiang M, Fang J (2015) A latitudinal gradient in tree community assembly processes evidenced in forests of China. Global Ecol Biogeogr 24:314–323
Reynolds JF, Smith DMS, Lambin EF, Turner BL, Mortimore M, Batterbury SPJ, Downing TE, Dowlatabadi H, Fernández RJ, Herrick JE, Huber-Sannwald E, Jiang H, Leemans R, Lynam T, Maestre FT, Ayarza M, Walke B (2007) Global desertification: building a science for dryland development. Science 316:847–851
Roberto SG, Wolfgang S, Brenda BC, Katja T (2012) A demographic approach to study effects of climate change in desert plants. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 367:3100–3114
Sandra D, Marcelo C (2001) Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes. Trend Ecol Evol 16:646–655
Sheldon AL (1969) Equitability indices dependence on the species count. Ecology 50:466–467
Shen Y, Fen M, Zhang H, Gao F (2010) Gridding method of daily precipitation in China. In Chinese with English abstract. J Appl Meteorol Sci 21:279–286
Shurin JB, Winder M, Adrian R, Keller WB, Matthews B, Paterson AM, Paterson MJ, Pinel-Alloul B, Rusak JA, Yan ND (2010) Environmental stability and lake zooplankton diversity—contrasting effects of chemical and thermal variability. Ecol Lett 13:453–463
Smith SD, Monson RK, Anderson JE (1997) Physiological ecology of north American desert plants. Springer, Berlin, p 286 ISBN 3: 53113
Tang Z, Fang J, Chi X, Yang Y, Ma W, Mohhamot A, Guo Z, Liu Y, Gaston K (2012) Geography, environment, and spatial turnover of species in China’s grasslands. Ecography 35:1103–1109
Tielbörger K, Salguero-Gómez R (2014) Some like it hot: are desert plants indifferent to climate change?. Springer, Berlin, pp 377–400
Wang S, Yu E (2013) Simulation and projection of changes in rainy season precipitation over China using the WRF model. In Chinese with English abstract. Acta Meteorol Sin 27:577–584
Wang X, Jiang J, Lei J, Zhang W, Qian Y (2003) The distribution of ephemeral vegetation on the longitudinal dune surface and its stabilization significance in the Gurbantünggüt Desert. In Chinese with English abstract. Acta Geogr Sin 58:598–605
Wang X, Zhang Y, Jiang J, Chen J (2006) Variation pattern of soil water content in longitudinal dune in the southern part of Gurbantünggüt desert: how snow melt and frozen soil change affect the soil moisture. In Chinese with English abstract. J Glaciol Geocryol 28:262–268
Wehrden HV, Hanspach J, Kaczensky P, Fischer J, Wesche K (2012) Global assessment of the non-equilibrium concept in rangelands. Ecol Appl 22:393–399
Wu Z (1997) Preliminary study on the aeolian sand landforms in Junggar Basin. In Chinese with English abstract. Science Press, Beijing, pp 29–43
Xia Y, Moore DI, Collins SL, Muldavin EH (2010) Aboveground production and species richness of annuals in Chihuahuan desert grassland and shrubland plant communities. 2010. J Arid Environ 74:378–385
Xie J, Liu T (2010) Characterization of spatial scaling relationships between vegetation pattern and topography at different directions in Gurbantunggut desert, China. Ecol Complex 7:234–242
Xie J, Xu GQ, Jenerette GD, Bai YF, Wang ZY, Li Y (2015) Apparent plasticity in functional traits determining competitive ability and spatial distribution: a case from desert. Sci Rep 5:1–18
Xu H, Li Y (2006) Water-use strategy of three central Asian desert shrubs and their responses to rain pulse events. Plant Soil 285:5–17
Zhang L, Chen C (2002) On the general characteristics of plant diversity of Gurbantünggüt sandy desert. In Chinese with English abstract. Acta Ecol Sin 22:1923–1932
Zhang R, Liu T (2012) Plant species diversity and community classification in the southern Gurbantünggüt desert. In Chinese with English abstract. Acta Ecol Sin 32:6056–6066
Zhang D, Shi X, Wang J, Liu H, Gaskin J (2011) Breeding system and its consequence on fruit set of a rare sand dune shrub Eremosparton songoricum (Fabaceae: Papilionoideae): implications for conservation. J Arid Land 3:231–239
Zhang R, Liu T, Zhang JL, Sun QM (2015) Spatial and environmental determinants of plant species diversity in a temperate desert. J Plant Ecol. doi:10.1093/jpe/rtv053
Zhou H, Zheng X, Zhou B, Dai Q, Li Y (2012) Sublimation over seasonal snowpack at the southeastern edge of a desert in central Eurasia. Hydrol Process 26:3911–3920
Zhu J, Kong F, Lei H (2012) A regional ensemble forecast system for stratiform precipitation events in northern China. Part I: a case study. Adv Atmos Sci 29:201–216
Acknowledgments
The National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31260099 and 41061004) and Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China-Xinjiang (Grant Nos. U1130304) supported this research. We thank Q. M. Li, H. Yu, Z. X. Chen, N. Luo, Y. Y. Sun, L. Fen, Z. C. Liu, and L. K. Zhu for assistance with the plant diversity studies and J. G. Tang for assistance with data processing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
About this article
Cite this article
Zeng, Y., Liu, T., Zhou, Xb. et al. Effects of climate change on plant composition and diversity in the Gurbantünggüt Desert of northwestern China. Ecol Res 31, 427–439 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-016-1352-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-016-1352-0