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Table of Content
    Volume 44 Issue 11
    20 November 2020
    Cushion vegetation in the alpine screes on the northwestern Yunnan, China (Photographed by ZHANG Ya-Zhou). Cushion Arenaria polytrichoides is the most important foundation species which plays a key role in maintaining the alpine ecosystems. Upper left: The flowering aspect of one individual (Photographed by CHEN Jian-Guo). Top center: Hermaphrodite flowers (Photographed by ZHANG Ya-Zhou). Upper right: Female flowers (Photographed by ZHANG Ya-Zhou). Other commonly found species [Detail] ...
      
    Review
    A review on the effects of invasive plants on mycorrhizal fungi of native plants and their underlying mechanisms
    TANG Jin-Qi, GUO Xiao-Cheng, LU Xin-Yu, LIU Ming-Chao, ZHANG Hai-Yan, FENG Yu-Long, KONG De-Liang
    Chin J Plant Ecol. 2020, 44 (11):  1095-1112.  doi:10.17521/cjpe.2020.0166
    Abstract ( 1362 )   Full Text ( 195 )   PDF (2216KB) ( 1120 )   Save
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    Mycorrhizal fungi symbiosis is an important strategy for plant to uptake soil nutrients. Alien plants could thwart the symbiotic relationship between native plants and mycorrhizal fungus, and thus suppress the growth of native plants, which is an important mechanism for alien plant invasion, and has been increasingly emphasized in recent studies. In the present review, we summarized several key aspects of such mycorrhizal-related mechanism of plant invasion: 1) the impacts of alien plants on mycorrhizal fungi of native plants (i.e. mycorrhizal colonization rate, internal structures of mycorrhizal hyphae, amount of external hyphae, mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal composition, and mycorrhizal network); 2) mechanisms of alien-plant impacts on mycorrhizal fungi of native plants, including ecological mechanisms such as resource competition, allelopathy and edaphic fertility, as well as their molecular mechanisms; 3) variations of the above mentioned alien-plant impacts and related mechanisms at different durations of plant invasion. Despite thwarting mycorrhizal fungi of native plants is an important mechanism for alien plant invasion, researches on such mechanism are still scarce comparing to other mechanisms such as natural enemy release and new weapon hypothesis. Therefore, we proposal several research areas that need to be focused on in future studies: 1) how do global changes affect the alien-plant-invasion impacts on mycorrhizal fungi of native plants; 2) what are the relationships among different mechanisms including the mycorrhizal-related mechanism; 3) how does the mycorrhizae-related mechanism change at large spatio-temporal scales.

    Research Articles
    Analysis of vegetation index changes and driving forces in inland arid areas based on random forest model: a case study of the middle part of northern slope of the north Tianshan Mountains
    ZHANG Wen-Qiang, LUO Ge-Ping, ZHENG Hong-Wei, WANG Hao, HAMDI Rafiq, HE Hui-Li, CAI Peng, CHEN Chun-Bo
    Chin J Plant Ecol. 2020, 44 (11):  1113-1126.  doi:10.17521/cjpe.2020.0111
    Abstract ( 1287 )   Full Text ( 173 )   PDF (13798KB) ( 1451 )   Save
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    Aims In the context of global change, vegetation changes in arid areas in the context of global change are both affected by climate change and human activities. Quantifying the vegetation dynamics and their driving mechanism are essential for monitoring the ecological environment change in arid areas and for promoting the sustainable development. Because of the complexity of human activities, most researches are limited to the response of normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) to climate change, while the impacts of human activities have not yet been comprehensively considered.
    Methods Firstly, we proposed a quantification method to quantify the main human activities related to land use. Then, the contribution of climate change and human activities to the NDVI in the middle part of the northern slope of the north Tianshan Mountains was analyzed using the multiple linear regression model and random forest model.
    Important findings We found that an overall upward trend was evident in NDVI variations from 2000 to 2015. The fitting accuracy of NDVI based on the random forest model was significantly better than the multiple linear regression model with an improved R2 of about 24%. The contribution of human activities related to arable land to NDVI change in the study area showed an increasing trend which was greater than climatic factors from 2000 to 2015. This study provides new insight into the effects of climate change and human activities on vegetation and a scientific basis for the protection and restoration of the ecological environment in the arid areas.

    Season dynamics of carbon use efficiency and its influencing factors in the old-growth Abies fabri forest in Gongga Mountain, western Sichuan, China
    SHU Shu-Miao, ZHU Wan-Ze, RAN Fei, SUN Shou-Qin, ZHANG Yuan-Yuan
    Chin J Plant Ecol. 2020, 44 (11):  1127-1137.  doi:10.17521/cjpe.2019.0289
    Abstract ( 579 )   Full Text ( 135 )   PDF (1404KB) ( 568 )   Save
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    Aims Carbon use efficiency (CUE), an important function parameter, reflects the carbon sequestration capacity of forest ecosystems. It is useful in analyzing the temporal dynamics of carbon budgets at the organ, individual and community scales. It can help to determine and predict the carbon sink/source of terrestrial ecosystems, which is a matter of widespread concern.
    Methods Using the biometric method, we measured and calculated the respiration and net productivity dynamics of different fir organs from an old-growth Abies fabri forest on Gongga Mountain in the eastern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China. We studied the CUE dynamics of the tree layer and its organs and analyzed their influencing factors. We also estimated the CUE of whole trees of different diameters at breast-height (DBH) classes.
    Important findings (1) Monthly respiration rates in both the tree layer and its organs are positively related to temperature, and fine roots have the highest respiration rate of all. There is no significant difference in the annual respiration of whole trees with different DBH classes, and the small DBH trees (30-40 cm) have the minimum annual stem respiration. (2) The monthly net primary productivity (NPP) of the fine root and whole stem in the tree layer increases with temperature, with the fine root accounting for the largest proportion. The small trees have the greatest annual NPP, and their needle NPP is also significantly higher than that of the medium DBH (50- 60 cm) and large DBH (75-90 cm) trees. (3) The CUE of the tree layer and its organs are mostly among 0.30 to 0.60. The monthly changes in the CUE of both fine roots and stems are similar, and their CUE increases with temperature. The CUE of trees and their organs all decrease significantly with tree growth. (4) The CUE of both the stems and fine roots is positively related with the air and soil temperature, while precipitaion has a positive effect on needle CUE. Fine root CUE has negative and positive effects on stem CUE and needle CUE, respectively. The tree layer CUE depends mainly on stem and fine root CUE. These results indicate that old-growth forests have strong and sustainable carbon sink functions, and play an important role in regional carbon storage and the carbon cycle of the forest ecosystem.

    Seasonal dynamics of leaf C, N and P stoichiometry in plants of typical steppe in Nei Mongol, China
    XIONG Xing-Shuo, CAI Hong-Yu, LI Yao-Qi, MA Wen-Hong, NIU Ke-Chang, CHEN Di-Ma, LIU Na-Na, SU Xiang-Yan, JING He-Ying, FENG Xiao-Juan, ZENG Hui, WANG Zhi-Heng
    Chin J Plant Ecol. 2020, 44 (11):  1138-1153.  doi:10.17521/cjpe.2020.0105
    Abstract ( 1365 )   Full Text ( 162 )   PDF (2196KB) ( 1140 )   Save
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    Aims Exploring the seasonal dynamics in leaf carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and their ecological stoichiometric characteristics will enhance our understanding about physiological and ecological processes such as plant growth and development and nutrient uptake and utilization as well as dynamic equilibrium relationship among plant stoichiometry.
    Methods Here, we collected leaf samples of 18 dominant plant species semimonthly through growing season (i.e. from June 2nd to Sept. 2nd) from a long-term fenced site in a typical steppe in Xilinhot of Nei Mongol, China. Leaf C, N and P concentrations were measured. Seasonal changes in leaf C, N and P concentrations and their ratios were explored and their differences between different species groups were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. The relationships between leaf C, N and P concentrations and their ratios were analyzed using correlation analysis. Lastly, the allometric relationships between the concentrations of different elements were analyzed using Standardized Major Axis.
    Important findings Seasonal trends in leaf C, N and P concentrations and their ratios were not consistent with each other and also differed between different functional groups. Specifically, the variation of leaf N and P concentrations for all functional groups showed obvious dilution effect. Monocotyledons and perennial grasses had lower leaf N and P concentrations but much higher leaf C:N and C:P mass ratio than dicotyledons and perennial forbs, respectively. Leaf N concentration was positively correlated with leaf P concentration while leaf C:N and C:P mass ratios were negatively correlated with leaf N and P concentrations respectively, indicating the internal coupling mechanism between nutrient elements in plants. Allometric analyses showed that leaf N concentration and C:N mass ratio, leaf P concentration and C:P mass ratio as well as leaf N and P concentrations all maintained the same growth rate respectively among species through most time of growing season.

    Altitudinal variation in flowering area and position and their ecological significances of an alpine cushion Arenaria polytrichoides, a gynodioecious herb
    ZHANG Ya-Zhou, WANG Song-Wei, HE Xiao-Fang, YANG Yang, CHEN Jian-Guo, SUN Hang
    Chin J Plant Ecol. 2020, 44 (11):  1154-1163.  doi:10.17521/cjpe.2020.0124
    Abstract ( 1320 )   Full Text ( 118 )   PDF (1833KB) ( 1048 )   Save
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    Aims As foundation species in the alpine ecosystems, the reproduction and recruitment of alpine cushion plants are very important for sustaining the alpine ecosystem functions. However, it still remains unclear that how cushion plants effectively allocate resources to optimize reproductive fitness.
    Methods Here we selected five populations of a gynodioecious herb Arenaria polytrichoides with different exposures and slopes along an altitudinal gradient on the Baima snow mountain in northwest Yunnan, southwest China, to investigate and compare flowering area and positions, within and among populations and between female and hermaphroditic morphs. By doing so, we further discuss how the environmental stresses affect the cushion’s flowering attributes thus the population-level reproduction.
    Important findings The results showed that, individual plant size and resources allocated to flowering (flowering area %) both decreased with increasing elevation, indicating that the reproductive allocation strategy was significantly affected by elevation. However, a population at lower elevation showed lower reproductive investment than higher populations, suggesting that elevation was not the only factor affecting the cushion’s reproductive allocation. In addition, absolute flowering area increased with increasing individual size, but the flowering area ratio decreased, indicating that the increases in reproductive allocation are fewer than that in vegetative allocation. Hermaphroditic individuals invested more resources to flowering than females did, but again, such effect was affected by elevation. Moreover, within a single population, the flowering areas were significantly different among the four directions (east, south, west and north) within one single individual canopy, but such differences varied in different populations.

    Response of resource allocation of Saussurea leontodontoides during its fruiting stage to the elevation
    LI Lei, WANG Yi-Feng, GOU Wen-Xia, MA Wen-Mei, JIANG Chun-Ling
    Chin J Plant Ecol. 2020, 44 (11):  1164-1171.  doi:10.17521/cjpe.2020.0201
    Abstract ( 526 )   Full Text ( 104 )   PDF (1038KB) ( 547 )   Save
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    Aims Our objective is to study the differences between the reproduction characteristics and resource allocation of Saussurea leontodontoides in the fruiting stage across six levels of the elevation gradient, and analyze the relationship between the above two parameters and individual size of S. leontodontoides.
    Methods The study site is located in the northeastern margin of the Qingzang Plateau. The collection and investigation were carried out on the fruiting individuals of S. leontodontoides which were distributed in an elevation range of 3 200-4 540 m. 40 complete individuals were randomly collected from each level of the elevation. The number of seeds in each capitulum was counted, then the biomass was measured after drying at 80 °C in the oven. The differences between the reproduction characteristics and resource allocation of S. leontodontoides at different levels of the elevation gradient were analyzed by ANOVA. The relationship between the reproduction characteristics with individual size, resource allocation with individual size at different levels of the elevation gradient was analyzed by the allometric model.
    Important findings Our results showed that: 1) The individual size, reproductive organ biomass, vegetative organ biomass, seed number and vegetative allocation were negatively correlated with elevation; the hundred grain mass and reproductive allocation were positively correlated with elevation. 2) Along the elevation gradient, the hundred grain mass, the seed number, the reproductive organs biomass and the vegetative allocation were positively correlated with individual size; reproductive allocation was negatively related to individual size; and vegetative organ biomass and individual size were significantly positively correlated. This indicates that the elevation and individual size had different effects on the reproductive strategy of S. leontodontoides. Our study suggests that S. leontodontoides adapted to the high-elevation stress environment by increasing the reproductive organs biomass and the hundred grain mass.

    Spatial distribution patterns and association of Picea crassifolia population in Dayekou Basin of Qilian Mountains, northwestern China
    TA Feng, LIU Xian-De, LIU Run-Hong, ZHAO Wei-Jun, JING Wen-Mao, MA Jian, WU Xiu-Rong, ZHAO Jing-Zhong, MA Xue-E
    Chin J Plant Ecol. 2020, 44 (11):  1172-1183.  doi:10.17521/cjpe.2020.0177
    Abstract ( 848 )   Full Text ( 120 )   PDF (1626KB) ( 704 )   Save
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    Aims Exploring the spatial distribution pattern and the association among different developmental stages of Picea crassifolia populations can reveal the succession patterns of the populations, infer their potential ecological mechanisms, and thus provide guidance for the configuration, planting, forest management and management of the populations.
    Methods Based on the survey data of a P. crassifolia dynamic monitoring plot (10.2 hm2) in Dayekou basin, Qilian Mountains, China. The species composition and diameter structure of the community were analyzed, and the point pattern method was used to analyze the spatial distribution pattern and spatial correlation of P. crassifolia populations at different age stages through univariate pairwise correlation functions and bivariate pairwise correlation functions.
    Important findings The results showed that: (1) The diameter class structure of P. crassifolia population was an inverted “J” shape, indicating that the population was a growing population and the population was in good natural renewal status. (2) The individuals of four diameter classes in the P. crassifolia population were aggregated at a small scale, but as the spatial scale increased, the aggregation intensity gradually weakened and tended to be randomly distributed. Moreover, individuals of smaller diameter classes used to be aggregated, but as the diameter increased, they also tended to be randomly distributed. (3) The big trees in the P. crassifolia population were negatively correlated with other diameter classes at a small scale (<4 m). As the scale increased, the big trees and young trees showed a positive association and the correlation decreased with increasing scale. However, as the scale increased, big trees showed no or weakly negative correlation with small and medium trees. In addition, the spatial association of individuals with similar diameter classes showed positive or no association. As the difference between individual diameter classes increased, their spatial association changed to no or negative association. In conclusion, the spatial distribution patterns and association of P. crassifolia population in Dayekou Basin of Qilian Mountains varied with the spatial scale and developmental stage, which was the result of the combined effects of the population’s bioecological characteristics, intraspecific and interspecific relationships, and environmental conditions.

    Effects of waterlogging and increased soil nutrients on growth and reproduction of Polygonum hydropiper in the hydro-fluctuation belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region
    CHEN Yu-Han, LUO Yi-Fu, SUN Xin-Sheng, WEI Guan-Wen, HUANG Wen-Jun, LUO Fang-Li, YU Fei-Hai
    Chin J Plant Ecol. 2020, 44 (11):  1184-1194.  doi:10.17521/cjpe.2020.0159
    Abstract ( 721 )   Full Text ( 45 )   PDF (1285KB) ( 892 )   Save
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    Aims Flooding and soil nutrients are the main environmental factors that affect plant growth in the hydro-fluctuation belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (TGRR). Flooding intensity and concentration of soil nutrients experienced by riparian plants at different elevations of the hydro-fluctuation belt are different; therefore, we hypothesized that growth and reproductive responses of plants of the same species from different elevations to waterlogging and increased soil nutrients are also different.
    Methods In this study, the riparian species Polygonum hydropiper, which is widely distributed at low and high elevations of the hydro-fluctuation belt of the TGRR, was selected and its seeds were collected from natural populations. Effects of waterlogging and soil nutrients on growth and reproductive traits of P. hydropiper from high- and low-elevation areas were studied in a common-garden greenhouse experiment.
    Important findings Waterlogging significantly, or with marginal significance, decreased length and width of functional leaves, total branch number, leaf biomass, flower biomass, and total biomass of plants; low nutrient treatment significantly or marginal significantly decreased total node number, total branch number, root biomass, flower biomass, and total biomass of plants, indicating that both waterlogging and low soil nutrients inhibited growth and reproduction of P. hydropiper. Moreover, the interaction between waterlogging and soil nutrients significantly affected root biomass, showing higher root biomass accumulation at high soil nutrient conditions upon waterlogging. The high-elevation plants had significantly or marginal significantly higher leaf and root biomass than those from low elevation; however, flowering time of the low-elevation plants was significantly earlier, and reproduction allocation was higher than the high-elevation plants, indicating that resource allocation strategy was different between the high- and the low-elevation plants. The results indicate that growth and reproduction of P. hydropiper are inhibited by both waterlogging and soil nutrients, and this species has high adaptability at high soil nutrient conditions to waterlogging; meanwhile, low-elevation plants can adjust their growth and reproductive characteristics to improve their fitness under environmental stress.


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