Community succession and photosynthetic physiological characteristics of pasture plants in a sub-alpine meadow in Gannan, China

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2015.0033

Abstract

Abstract: Aims

A plant’s photosynthetic characteristics reflect its adaptive strategies to a given environment. Using pasture plants within enclosures representing communities at different stages of habitat restoration, our objective was to determine how photosynthetic characteristics vary between these different communities and what causes these differences in order to find the theoretical basis to foster rehabilitation of degraded grassland in sub-alpine meadows.

Methods

We predicated a succession sequence according to the species richness and the Shannon-Wiener diversity indices, the important values of the main species, and the biotype of five different communities. We measured several photosynthetic parameters including area-based leaf CO₂ assimilation rate (A_area), special leaf area (SLA), foliar nitrogen content based on mass (N_mass), photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (PNUE), water-use efficiency (WUE) and chlorophyll content (SPAD) of dominant species and three common species in each succession stage. Soil water content and total nitrogen of surface soil (0-20 cm) for each community were measured as well. One-way ANOVA was used to find the differences between dominant species, while principal components analysis (PCA) was used to reveal the variation in different communities for each measured parameter.

Important findings

Photosynthetic traits were different among dominant species and different succession communities. The A_area, WUE and SPAD of the dominant species decreased as succession progressed, but the N_mass, PNUE and SLA showed no consistent patterns related to succession; they varied between different functional groups. For each of the non-dominant species, the A_area and SPAD gradually decreased as succession proceeded from initial stage to climax stage. With succession, WUE and PNUE of the non-leguminous plants (Elymus dahuricus and Geranium wilfordii) decreased while SLA and N_mass increased. However, there were no obvious changes in these parameters for the leguminous plant (Medicago sativa). Soil water content and total nitrogen increased with succession, suggesting that water content and nitrogen are two important factors affecting variation of community photosynthetic characteristics in different stages of restoration succession.

Key words: functional group, photosynthetic physiological characteristics, restoration, succession, resource-use efficiency

CHEN Shi-Wei,LIU Min-Xia,JIA Yun,AN Qi,AN Yan-Fei. Community succession and photosynthetic physiological characteristics of pasture plants in a sub-alpine meadow in Gannan, China[J]. Chin J Plan Ecolo, 2015, 39(4): 343-351.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2015.0033

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2015/V39/I4/343

Figures/Tables 7

References 35

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群落 Comm-unity	优势种及主要物种重要值 Important value of dominant and main species	丰富度 Richness	Shannon指数 Shannon indices
A	刺儿菜 Cirsium setosum (0.251)	20	3.55
	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.093)
	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.054)
B	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.429)	18	2.79
	刺儿菜 Cirsium setosum (0.069)
	二裂委陵菜 Potentilla bifurca (0.060)
	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.055)
C	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.148)	32	4.00
	甘青蒿 Artemisia tangutica (0.068)
	老鹳草 Geranium wilfordii (0.047)
	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.060)
	少花米口袋 Gueldenstaedtia verna (0.017)
D	沙蒿 Artemisia desertorum (0.140)	36	4.01
	羊茅 Festuca ovina (0.109)
	圆穗蓼 Polygonum macrophyllum (0.083)
	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.071)
	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.056)
E	金露梅 Potentilla fruticosa (0.433)	40	4.15
	蕨麻 Potentilla anserina (0.060)
	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.047)
	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.011)

群落 Comm-unity	优势种及主要物种重要值 Important value of dominant and main species	丰富度 Richness	Shannon指数 Shannon indices
A	刺儿菜 Cirsium setosum (0.251)	20	3.55
	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.093)
	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.054)
B	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.429)	18	2.79
	刺儿菜 Cirsium setosum (0.069)
	二裂委陵菜 Potentilla bifurca (0.060)
	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.055)
C	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.148)	32	4.00
	甘青蒿 Artemisia tangutica (0.068)
	老鹳草 Geranium wilfordii (0.047)
	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.060)
	少花米口袋 Gueldenstaedtia verna (0.017)
D	沙蒿 Artemisia desertorum (0.140)	36	4.01
	羊茅 Festuca ovina (0.109)
	圆穗蓼 Polygonum macrophyllum (0.083)
	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.071)
	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.056)
E	金露梅 Potentilla fruticosa (0.433)	40	4.15
	蕨麻 Potentilla anserina (0.060)
	披碱草 Elymus dahuricus (0.047)
	紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa (0.011)

物种 Species	A_area (μmol CO₂m^-1·s^-1)	SPAD	N_mass (mg·g^-1)	SLA (cm²·g^-1)
刺儿菜 Cirsium setosum	15.25 ± 2.71^c	47.99 ± 2.36^e	18.14 ± 1.97^bcd	150.19 ± 5.48^a
披碱草 Elymus dahuricus	17.41 ± 0.64^c	39.69 ± 0.20^cd	11.52 ± 3.18^a	180.40 ± 4.88^ab
紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa	16.51 ± 2.95^c	50.96 ± 1.99^e	23.04 ± 1.77^de	241.35 ± 35.07^c
少花米口袋 Gueldenstaedtia verna	14.20 ± 1.48^bc	43.02 ± 1.97^d	26.23 ± 3.62^e	200.12 ± 10.21^bc
甘青蒿 Artemisia tangutica	13.52 ± 0.72^bc	30.75 ± 0.49^b	19.48 ± 2.66^cd	242.24 ± 15.87^c
老鹳草 Geranium wilfordii	16.06 ± 2.52^c	24.75 ± 1.72^a	15.43 ± 0.42^abc	165.20 ± 17.33^ab
圆穗蓼 Polygonum macrophyllum	10.40 ± 4.21^b	35.90 ± 5.62^c	13.19 ± 2.77^ab	194.10 ± 27.70^ab
沙蒿 Artemisia desertorum	13.30 ± 1.55^bc	35.48 ± 2.65^c	16.61 ± 3.09^abc	207.30 ± 31.33^bc
金露梅 Potentilla fruticosa	4.29 ± 0.92^a	27.10 ± 1.25^ab	18.82 ± 1.72^cd	203.66 ± 37.09^bc

物种 Species	A_area (μmol CO₂m^-1·s^-1)	SPAD	N_mass (mg·g^-1)	SLA (cm²·g^-1)
刺儿菜 Cirsium setosum	15.25 ± 2.71^c	47.99 ± 2.36^e	18.14 ± 1.97^bcd	150.19 ± 5.48^a
披碱草 Elymus dahuricus	17.41 ± 0.64^c	39.69 ± 0.20^cd	11.52 ± 3.18^a	180.40 ± 4.88^ab
紫苜蓿 Medicago sativa	16.51 ± 2.95^c	50.96 ± 1.99^e	23.04 ± 1.77^de	241.35 ± 35.07^c
少花米口袋 Gueldenstaedtia verna	14.20 ± 1.48^bc	43.02 ± 1.97^d	26.23 ± 3.62^e	200.12 ± 10.21^bc
甘青蒿 Artemisia tangutica	13.52 ± 0.72^bc	30.75 ± 0.49^b	19.48 ± 2.66^cd	242.24 ± 15.87^c
老鹳草 Geranium wilfordii	16.06 ± 2.52^c	24.75 ± 1.72^a	15.43 ± 0.42^abc	165.20 ± 17.33^ab
圆穗蓼 Polygonum macrophyllum	10.40 ± 4.21^b	35.90 ± 5.62^c	13.19 ± 2.77^ab	194.10 ± 27.70^ab
沙蒿 Artemisia desertorum	13.30 ± 1.55^bc	35.48 ± 2.65^c	16.61 ± 3.09^abc	207.30 ± 31.33^bc
金露梅 Potentilla fruticosa	4.29 ± 0.92^a	27.10 ± 1.25^ab	18.82 ± 1.72^cd	203.66 ± 37.09^bc

光合生理特征指标 Photosynthetic physiological characteristics	基于面积的CO₂同化速率 A_area	基质质量的叶片氮含量 N_mass	光合氮利用效率 PNUE	叶绿素含量 SPAD	气孔导度 G_s	水分利用效率 WUE	比叶面积 SLA
基于面积的CO₂同化速率A_area	1
基于质量的叶片氮含量 N_mass	0.151	1
光合氮利用效率 PNUE	0.725^***	-0.436^**	1
叶绿素含量 SPAD	0.469^**	0.311	0.103	1
气孔导度 G_s	0.319^*	0.060	0.398^*	0.140	1
水分利用效率 WUE	0.712^***	-0.136	0.369^*	0.293	-0.314^*	1
比叶面积 SLA	-0.215	0.511^**	-0.105	0.133	0.092	-0.353^*	1