Spatial distributions of biomass and carbon density in natural grasslands of Hebei, China

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2015.0300

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Grassland is an important component of the global terrestrial ecosystem and plays a significant role in the global carbon cycle. Knowledge of the spatial distribution of biomass and carbon density and their constraining environmental factors in different types of grasslands is crucial for revealing the variations of grassland carbon pool and understanding the grassland ecosystem carbon sequestration in China. The objective of this study was to determine the spatial patterns of biomass and carbon density distribution in natural grasslands of Hebei Province, China.

Methods The aboveground biomass, root biomass, litter mass, and their carbon densities were investigated in 390 grassland plots from 78 sites representative of six different types of natural grasslands based on vegetation, soil and climate from 2011 to 2013. The grassland types include temperate steppe, temperate meadow, temperate mountain meadow, low-land saline meadow, warm-temperate tussock and warm-temperate shrub tussock.

Important findings There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the total biomass among the six grassland types, with the highest value of 2770.2 g·m^-2 in the low-land saline meadow and lowest value of 747.6 g·m^-2 in the temperate steppe. The low-land saline meadow also had the highest value in the aboveground biomass (285.0 g·m^-2), followed by the warm-temperate shrub tussock (235.1 g·m^-2) and the temperate mountain meadow (203.1 g·m^-2); the lowest value in aboveground biomass was found in the temperate steppe (110.6 g·m^-2). The litter mass was largest in the lowland saline meadow (584.0 g·m^-2), followed by the temperate mountain meadow (187.9 g·m^-2) and the warm-temperate shrub tussock (91.0 g·m^-2). The values of root biomass were 1.9-4.3 times greater than that of aboveground biomass across the six types of grasslands, resulting in average root:shoot ratio of 3.1. The root biomass was largest in the lowland saline meadow (1901.3 g·m^-2), and smallest in the temperate steppe with only 1/3 of that in the former. In terms of carbon density, lowland saline meadow also displayed the largest values among all the types of grasslands. The values of carbon density in the aboveground vegetation, litter and root were respectively 132.7, 81.2, and 705.9 g C·m^-2. In all grassland types, the biomass of aboveground vegetation and root, litter mass, and total biomass decreased initially and then increased with elevation (p < 0.05). With the increasing accumulative temperatures >10 °C, the root biomass and the total biomass decreased initially and then increased (p < 0.01). In this study, the warm-temperate shrub tussock mostly distributes in the rocky mountain area where the soil layer is very thin, leading to the lower biomass relatively to the temperate meadow. Therefore, climate, soil and geographical factors should be comprehensively considered when comparing the biomass among different grassland types in large area.

http://jtp.cnki.net/bilingual/detail/html/ZWSB201803002

Key words: aboveground biomass, litter mass, root biomass, carbon density, environmental factor, natural grassland

CEN Yu, WANG Cheng-Dong, ZHANG Zhen, REN Xia, LIU Mei-Zhen, YANG Fan. Spatial distributions of biomass and carbon density in natural grasslands of Hebei, China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2018, 42(3): 265-276.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2015.0300

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2018/V42/I3/265

Figures/Tables 9

Fig. 1 The distribution of sampling sites in the experiment in Hebei Province.

Table 1 Information on the number of plots and dominant species for different types of grasslands in Hebei Province

草地类型 Grassland type	样本数 Sample size	优势种 Dominant species
温性草原 Temperate steppe	30	冰草、羊草、百里香、大针茅 Agropyron cristatum, Leymus chinensis, Thymus mongolicus, Stipa grandis
温性草甸 Temperate meadow	13	委陵菜、披针薹草、地榆 Potentilla chinensis, Carex lancifolia, Sanguisorba officinalis
温性山地草甸 Temperate mountain meadow	9	龙牙草、篷子菜、直穗披碱草 Agrimonia pilosa, Galium verum, Elymus gmelinii
低地盐化草甸 Low-land saline meadow	3	叉分蓼、白花马蔺、芨芨草 Polygonum divaricatum, Iris lacteal, Achnatherum splendens
暖性草丛 Warm-temperate tussock	4	阿拉伯黄背草、矮蒿 Themeda triandra, Artemisia lancea
暖性灌草丛 Warm-temperate shrub tussock	19	胡枝子、荆条、绣线菊、金色狗尾草 Lespedeza bicolor, Vitex negundo var. heterophylla, Spiraea salicifolia, Setaria glauca

Fig. 2 The aboveground biomass, litter mass and root biomass in different types of grasslands (mean ± SD). 1, temperate steppe; 2, temperate meadow; 3, temperate mountain meadow; 4, low-land saline meadow; 5, warm-temperate tussock; 6, warm- temperate shrub tussock. Different lower-case letters indicate significant differences in biomass among different types of grasslands (p < 0.05).

Fig. 3 Proportions of aboveground biomass, litter mass and root biomass in different types of grasslands. 1, temperate steppe; 2, temperate meadow; 3, temperate mountain meadow; 4, low- land saline meadow; 5, warm-temperate tussock; 6, warm- temperate shrub tussock.

Fig. 4 The aboveground carbon density, litter carbon density and root carbon density in different types of grasslands (mean ± SD). 1, temperate steppe; 2, temperate meadow; 3, temperate mountain meadow; 4, low-land saline meadow; 5, warm- temperate tussock; 6, warm-temperate shrub tussock. Different lower-case letters indicate significant differences in carbon density among different types of grasslands (p < 0.05).

Fig. 5 Proportions of aboveground carbon density, litter carbon density and root carbon density in different types of grasslands. 1, temperate steppe; 2, temperate meadow; 3, temperate mountain meadow; 4, low-land saline meadow; 5, warm- temperate tussock; 6, warm-temperate shrub tussock.

Fig. 6 Relationships of aboveground biomass, litter mass, root biomass, and total biomass with elevation in the grassland ecosystem.

Fig. 7 Relationships of aboveground biomass, litter mass, root biomass, and total biomass with precipitation in the grassland ecosystem. Here the precipitation is the mean of the annual precipitation of all sampling sites.

Fig. 8 Relationships of aboveground biomass, litter mass, root biomass, and total biomass with accumulative temperature in the grassland ecosystem. The accumulative temperature is the mean of the accumulative temperatures > 10 °C of all sampling sites.

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