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Effects of changing precipitation and warming on functional traits of zonal Stipa plants from Inner Mongolian grassland

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Abstract

The mechanisms driving changes in dominant plant species are the key for understanding how grassland ecosystems respond to climate change. In this study, we examined plant functional traits (morphological characteristics: plant height, leaf area, and leaf number; biomasses: aboveground, belowground, and total; and growth indices: root-to-shoot ratio, specific leaf area, and leaf mass ratio) of four zonal Stipa species (S. baicalensis, S. bungeana, S. grandis, and S. breviflora) from Inner Mongolian grassland in response to warming (control, +1.5, +2.0, +4.0, and +6.0?), changing precipitation (-30%, -15%, control, +15%, and +30%), and their combined effects via climate control chambers. The results showed that warming and changing precipitation had significant interactive effects, different from the accumulation of single-factor effects, on functional traits of Stipa species. The correlation and sensitivity of different plant functional traits to temperature and precipitation differed. Among the four species, the accumulation and variability of functional traits had greater partial correlation with precipitation than temperature, except for leaf number, leaf area, and specific leaf area, in S. breviflora, S. bungeana, and S. grandis. For S. baicalensis, the accumulation and variability of plant height, aboveground biomass, and root-to-shoot ratio only had significant partial correlation with precipitation. However, the variability of morphological characteristics, biomasses, and some growth indices, was more sensitive to temperature than precipitation in S. bungeana, S. grandis, and S. breviflora—except for aboveground biomass and plant height. These results reveal that precipitation is the key factor determining the growth and changes in plant functional traits in Stipa species, and that temperature mainly influences the quantitative fluctuations of the changes in functional traits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    Xiaomin Lü  (吕晓敏), Yuhui Wang  (王玉辉) & Xiliang Song  (宋希亮)

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

    Xiaomin Lü  (吕晓敏) & Xiliang Song  (宋希亮)

  3. Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Guangsheng Zhou  (周广胜)

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  1. Xiaomin Lü  (吕晓敏)
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  2. Guangsheng Zhou  (周广胜)
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  3. Yuhui Wang  (王玉辉)
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  4. Xiliang Song  (宋希亮)
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Correspondence to Guangsheng Zhou  (周广胜).

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Supported by the China Meteorological Administration Special Public Welfare Research Fund (GYHY201506001-3), Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA05050408), and National (Key) Basic Research and Development (973) Program of China (2010CB951300).

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Lü, X., Zhou, G., Wang, Y. et al. Effects of changing precipitation and warming on functional traits of zonal Stipa plants from Inner Mongolian grassland. J Meteorol Res 30, 412–425 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-016-5091-5

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