植物生态学报 ›› 2020, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6): 669-676.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2019.0331

• 研究论文 • 上一篇    下一篇

极端干旱对草甸草原优势植物非结构性碳水化合物的影响

宋琳1,2, 雒文涛1,*(), 马望1,2, 何鹏3, 梁潇洒1, 王正文1   

  1. 1中国科学院沈阳应用生态研究所, 额尔古纳森林草原过渡带生态系统研究站, 沈阳 110016
    2中国科学院大学资源与环境学院, 北京 100049
    3天津师范大学生命科学学院, 天津 300387
  • 出版日期:2020-06-20 发布日期:2020-03-26
  • 通讯作者: 雒文涛
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金(31971465);国家自然科学基金(41603080);中国科学院战略性先导科技专项(XDA23080401)

Extreme drought effects on nonstructural carbohydrates of dominant plant species in a meadow grassland

SONG Lin1,2, LUO Wen-Tao1,*(), MA Wang1,2, HE Peng3, LIANG Xiao-Sa1, WANG Zheng-Wen1   

  1. 1Erguna Forest-Steppe Ecotone Research Station, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
    2College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
  • Online:2020-06-20 Published:2020-03-26
  • Contact: LUO Wen-Tao
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(31971465);National Natural Science Foundation of China(41603080);Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA23080401)

摘要:

植物光合作用产生的非结构性碳水化合物(NSCs)水平可以反映植物和生态系统对环境变化的响应程度。近年来, 草原极端干旱事件的发生频率和持续时间增加趋势明显, 对生态系统结构和功能产生深远影响。该研究以内蒙古呼伦贝尔草甸草原为研究对象, 通过连续4年减少66%生长季降水量的控制实验来模拟极端干旱事件, 分析草原6种优势物种和植物功能群NSCs各组分对极端干旱的响应规律与机制。结果显示, 由于植物生物学、光合特性以及生理生态等特性的差异, 不同物种对干旱胁迫的响应具有明显差异。这表明草地植物NSCs组分及其利用策略对干旱胁迫的响应具有物种特异性, 从而导致其生物量的不同响应。将6种植物分为禾草和非禾草两类, 发现干旱显著增加了禾草的淀粉含量, 但对其可溶性糖含量无显著影响; 相反, 干旱显著增加了非禾草功能群的可溶性糖含量, 对其淀粉含量无显著影响, 表明不同功能群采取了不同的干旱应对策略。禾草选择将光合作用固定的能量进行储存以应对干旱胁迫, 其生物量对干旱响应不敏感; 而非禾草选择将能量以可溶性糖的形式直接供植物生长利用以及抵御干旱胁迫, 其生物量对干旱响应较为敏感。这一发现可为预测在全球气候变化背景下草甸草原生态系统结构与功能对极端干旱的响应提供科学参考。

关键词: 极端干旱, 非结构性碳水化合物, 草原植物, 功能群, 生物量, 响应比

Abstract:

Aims Plant nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) produced by photosynthesis can reflect the responses of plants and/or ecosystem to environmental changes. Climate models recently predicted an increase in the frequency and duration of extreme drought (ED) events that could profoundly impact ecosystem structure and functions. Yet, less is understood about the response patterns of different plant species and functional groups to extreme drought.
Methods Here we studied the effects of extreme drought on the NSCs of dominant species belonging to different functional groups in grasslands. To achieve ED, we experimentally reduced precipitation amounts by 66% during four consecutive growing seasons in a meadow steppe in Hulunbeier, North China. The NSCs of six plants grouped into two functional groups (i.e., grass and non-grass) were examined.
Important findings We found different species responded differently to drought, due to their differences in plant biological characteristics, photosynthetic characteristics and physiological ecology. This result implied that different species used different NSC-use strategies to cope with drought stress, resulting in different responses of their biomass to extreme drought. Extreme drought significantly increased the starch concentrations, and had no effect on the soluble sugar concentrations of the grass functional group. Contrarily, ED significantly increased the soluble sugar concentrations, and had no significant effects on the starch concentrations of the non-grass functional group. These results indicate that grasses moderately use and store photosynthate to cope with drought stress, hence their biomass was less sensitive. The biomass of the non-grasses was more sensitive perhaps because they maximally utilize soluble sugar for plant growth, defense and reproduction. Our results showed that different species or functional groups exhibit different NSC-use strategies to cope with drought stress. This study could provide scientific data for predicting future ecosystem responses to extreme drought.

Key words: extreme drought, nonstructural carbohydrates, grassland plants, functional groups, biomass, response ratio