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Effect of intensity of small rainfall simulation in spring on annuals in Horqin Sandy Land, China

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Abstract

The composition and development of sandy land plant communities in arid and semiarid environments largely depend on rainfall pulses. However, little is known about how the intensity of small rainfall events affects the emergence and growth of annuals in spring. For this study, an experiment was designed to simulate the effect of low-intensity spring rainfall events on annuals in Horqin Sandy Land, China, in May of 2011 and 2012. It included rainfall treatments of 2 mm (applied 16 times), 4 mm (applied 8 times), and 8 mm (applied 4 times), and a control check (CK, which received natural rainfall). The soil water content, species composition, seed germination, plant density, height, and coverage, and aboveground biomass were measured. Results showed that rainfall intensity had a significant influence on the emergence and growth of annuals. A rainfall of 8 mm was the threshold for germination, whether as a single rainfall event or as accumulated rainfall. The 8-mm treatment also resulted in the greatest number of seedlings, while the 2-mm treatment provided the least. Community characteristics such as species number, density, and coverage increased with rainfall intensity; height and canopy decreased; the Shannon-Wiener index showed no obvious trend. The distribution of rain amount and frequency impacted biomass accumulation: with increased rainfall intensity and extended rainfall intervals, biomass was significantly increased compared to the control check.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the technicians at Naiman Station for their help with the field investigation. This research was funded by a Chinese National Key Projects for Basic Scientific Research (2009CB421303), a Chinese National Support Projects of Science and Technology (2011BAC07B02), a strategic leading science and technology projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA05050201-04-01), and a Chinese National Science Foundation (41371053). The authors wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for their critical review of, and comments on, this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Yunhua Ma, Tonghui Zhang & Xinping Liu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19A Yu-Quan Road, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yunhua Ma

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  1. Yunhua Ma
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  2. Tonghui Zhang
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  3. Xinping Liu
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Correspondence to Tonghui Zhang.

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Ma, Y., Zhang, T. & Liu, X. Effect of intensity of small rainfall simulation in spring on annuals in Horqin Sandy Land, China. Environ Earth Sci 74, 727–735 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4077-4

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