Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Precipitation amount and frequency affect seedling emergence and growth of Reaumuria soongarica in northwestern China

  • Published:
Journal of Arid Land Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Climate change is shifting the amount and frequency of precipitation in many regions, which is expected to affect seedling recruitment across ecosystems. However, the combined effects of precipitation amount and frequency on seedling recruitment remain largely unknown. An understanding of the effects of precipitation amount and frequency and their interaction on seedling emergence and growth of typical desert plants is vital for managing populations of desert plants. We conducted two experiments to study the effects of variation in precipitation on Reaumuria soongarica (Pall.) Maxim. First, greenhouse experiments were conducted to examine the effects of three precipitation amount treatments (ambient, +30%, and –30%) and two precipitation frequency treatments (ambient and –50%) on seedling emergence. Second, the morphological responses of R. soongarica to changes in precipitation amount and frequency were tested in a controlled field experiment. Stage-specific changes in growth were monitored by sampling in different growth seasons. Our results showed that precipitation amount significantly affected germination, seedling emergence, and growth of R. soongarica, and there was a larger effect with decreased precipitation frequency compared with ambient. Germination and seedling emergence increased as precipitation increased under the same frequency of precipitation. The highest emergence percentage was obtained with a 30% increase in precipitation amount and a 50% reduction in precipitation frequency. Compared with ambient precipitation, a 30% increase in precipitation amount increased above- and below-ground biomass accumulation of R. soongarica during the growth season. A decrease of 30% in precipitation amount also resulted in an increase in below-ground biomass and root/shoot ratio in the early stages of the growth season, however, above- and below-ground biomass showed the opposite results at the end of the growth season, with larger effects on above-ground than below-ground biomass under decreased precipitation frequency. When precipitation frequency decreased by 50%, values of all growth traits increased for a given amount of precipitation. We concluded that precipitation frequency may be as important as precipitation amount to seedling emergence and growth of R. soongarica, and that understanding the effects of precipitation variability on seedling recruitment requires the integration of both precipitation amount and frequency. In particular, the combination of a 30% increase in precipitation amount and 50% reduction in precipitation frequency increased the emergence and growth of seedlings, suggesting that alteration of amount and frequency of precipitation caused by climate change may have significant effects on seedling recruitment of R. soongarica.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ambrose L G, Wilson S D. 2003. Emergence of the introduced grass Agropyron cristatum and the native grass Bouteloua gracilis in a mixed-grass prairie restoration. Restoration Ecology, 11(1): 110–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barchuk A H, Valiente-Banuet A, Díaz M P. 2005. Effect of shrubs and seasonal variability of rainfall on the establishment of Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco in two edaphically contrasting environments. Austral Ecology, 30(6): 695–705.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Böhm W. 1979. Methods of Studying Root Systems. New York: Springer-Verlag, 6–8.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Boscagli A, Sette B. 2001. Seed germination enhancement in Satureja montana L. ssp. Montana. Seed Science and Technology, 29(2): 347–355. Core Writing Team

    Google Scholar 

  • Pachauri R K, Meyer L A. 2014. Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC, 408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craine J M, Nippert J B, Elmore A J, et al. 2012. Timing of climate variability and grassland productivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(9): 3401–3405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalgleish H J, Koons D N, Adler P B. 2010. Can life-history traits predict the response of forb populations to changes in climate variability? Journal of Ecology, 98(1): 209–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Didiano T J, Johnson M T J, Duval T P. 2016. Disentangling the effects of precipitation amount and frequency on the performance of 14 grassland species. PLoS ONE, 11(9): e0162310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diffenbaugh N S, Giorgi F. 2012. Climate change hotspots in the CMIP5 global climate model ensemble. Climatic Change, 114(3–4): 813–822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diffenbaugh N S, Field C B. 2013. Changes in ecologically critical terrestrial climate conditions. Science, 341(6145): 486–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fay P A, Schultz M J. 2009. Germination, survival, and growth of grass and forb seedlings: effects of soil moisture variability. Acta Oecologica, 35(5): 679–684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Funk F A, Loydi A, Peter G. 2014. Effects of biological soil crusts and drought on emergence and survival of a Patagonian perennial grass in the Monte of Argentina. Journal of Arid Land, 6(6): 735–741.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao R R, Yang X J, Liu G F, et al. 2015. Effects of rainfall pattern on the growth and fecundity of a dominant dune annual in a semi-arid ecosystem. Plant and Soil, 389(1–2): 335–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geange S R, Briceño V F, Aitken N C, et al. 2017. Phenotypic plasticity and water availability: responses of alpine herb species along an elevation gradient. Climate Change Responses, 4: 5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gherardi L A, Sala O E. 2015. Enhanced precipitation variability decreases grass-and increases shrub-productivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(41): 12735–12740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson-Forty E V J, Barnett K L, Tissue D T, et al. 2016. Reducing rainfall amount has a greater negative effect on the productivity of grassland plant species than reducing rainfall frequency. Functional Plant Biology, 43(4): 380–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez-Aparicio L, Pérez-Ramos I M, Mendoza I, et al. 2008. Oak seedling survival and growth along resource gradients in Mediterranean forests: implications for regeneration in current and future environmental scenarios. Oikos, 117(11): 1683–1699.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heisler-White J L, Blair J M, Kelly E F, et al. 2009. Contingent productivity responses to more extreme rainfall regimes across a grassland biome. Global Change Biology, 15(12): 2894–2904.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoover D L, Knapp A K, Smith M D. 2014. Resistance and resilience of a grassland ecosystem to climate extremes. Ecology, 95(9): 2646–2656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hovenden M J, Newton P C D, Wills K E, et al. 2008. Influence of warming on soil water potential controls seedling mortality in perennial but not annual species in a temperate grassland. New Phytologist, 180(1): 143–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang M Y, Dai C, Ji W Y, et al. 2013. Biomass and its allocation in relation to temperature, precipitation, and soil nutrients in Inner Mongolia grasslands, China. PLoS ONE, 8(7): e69561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knapp A K, Carroll C J W, Denton E M, et al. 2015. Differential sensitivity to regional-scale drought in six central US grasslands. Oecologia, 177(4): 949–957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X H, Jiang D M, Alamusa, et al. 2012. Comparison of seed germination of four Artemisia Species (Asteraceae) in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Arid Land, 4(1): 36–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Z L, Zhang Y T, Yu D F. 2014. The influence of precipitation regimes and elevated CO2 on photosynthesis and biomass accumulation and partitioning in seedlings of the rhizomatous perennial grass Leymus chinensis. PLoS ONE, 9(8): e103633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y B, Wang G, Liu J, et al. 2007. Anatomical, morphological and metabolic acclimation in the resurrection plant Reaumuria soongorica during dehydration and rehydration. Journal of Arid Environments, 70(2): 183–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma J Y, Chen K, Xia D S, et al. 2007. Variation in foliar stable carbon isotope among populations of a desert plant, Reaumuria soongorica (pall.) maxim. in different environments. Journal of Arid Environments, 69(3): 365–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma N, Wang N A, Zhu J F, et al. 2011. Climate change around the badain jaran desert in recent 50 years. Journal of Desert Research, 31(6): 1541–1547. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Matesanz S, Gianoli E, Valladares F. 2010. Global change and the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in plants. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1206: 35–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miranda J D, Armas C, Padilla F M, et al. 2011. Climatic change and rainfall patterns: Effects on semi-arid plant communities of the Iberian Southeast. Journal of Arid Environments, 75(12): 1302–1309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicotra A B, Atkin O K, Bonser S P, et al. 2010. Plant phenotypic plasticity in a changing climate. Trends in Plant Science, 15(12): 684–692.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ponce-Campos G E, Moran M S, Huete A, et al. 2013. Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydroclimatic conditions. Nature, 494(7437): 349–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poorter L. 1999. Growth responses of 15 rain-forest tree species to a light gradient: the relative importance of morphological and physiological traits. Functional Ecology, 13(3): 396–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reyer C P O, Leuzinger S, Rammig A, et al. 2013. A plant's perspective of extremes: terrestrial plant responses to changing climatic variability. Global Change Biology, 19(1): 75–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson T M P, Gross K L. 2010. The impact of altered precipitation variability on annual weed species. American Journal of Botany, 97(10): 1625–1629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson T M P, La Pierre K J, Vadeboncoeur M A, et al. 2013. Seasonal, not annual precipitation drives community productivity across ecosystems. Oikos, 122(5): 727–738.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider A C, Lee T D, Kreiser M A, et al. 2014. Comparative and interactive effects of reduced precipitation frequency and volume on the growth and function of two perennial grassland species. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 175(6): 702–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwinning S, Sala O E. 2004. Hierarchy of responses to resource pulses in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Oecologia, 141(2): 211–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi Y, Yan X, Zhao P S, et al. 2013. Transcriptomic analysis of a tertiary relict plant, extreme xerophyte Reaumuria soongorica to identify genes related to drought adaptation. PLoS ONE, 8(5): e63993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi Z, Thomey M L, Mowll W, et al. 2014. Differential effects of extreme drought on production and respiration: synthesis and modeling analysis. Biogeosciences, 11(3): 621–633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomey M L, Collins S L, Vargas R, et al. 2011. Effect of precipitation variability on net primary production and soil respiration in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland. Global Change Biology, 17(4): 1505–1515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tobe K, Zhang L P, Omasa K. 2005. Seed germination and seedling emergence of three annuals growing on desert sand dunes in China. Annals of Botany, 95(4): 649–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres-Martínez L, Weldy P, Levy M, et al. 2017. Spatiotemporal heterogeneity in precipitation patterns explain population-level germination strategies in an edaphic specialist. Annals of Botany, 119(2): 253–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang K B, Li J P, Shangguan Z P, 2012. Biomass components and environmental controls in Ningxia grasslands. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 11(12): 2079–2087.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X H, Xiao H L, Chen G X, et al. 2011a. Isolation of high-quality RNA from Reaumuria soongorica, a desert plant rich in secondary metabolites. Molecular Biotechnology, 48(2): 165–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X H, Zhang T, Wen Z N, et al. 2011b. The chromosome number, karyotype and genome size of the desert plant diploid Reaumuria soongorica (Pall.) Maxim. Plant Cell Reports, 30(6): 955–964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westra S, Fowler H J, Evans J P, et al. 2014. Future changes to the intensity and frequency of short-duration extreme rainfall. Reviews of Geophysics, 52(3): 522–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White T A, Campbell B D, Kemp P D, et al. 2000. Sensitivity of three grassland communities to simulated extreme temperature and rainfall events. Global Change Biology, 6(6): 671–684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox K R, Von Fischer J C, Muscha J M, et al. 2015. Contrasting above-and belowground sensitivity of three Great Plains grasslands to altered rainfall regimes. Global Change Biology, 21(1): 335–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu D H, Su P X, Zhang R Y, et al. 2010. Photosynthetic parameters and carbon reserves of a resurrection plant Reaumuria soongorica during dehydration and rehydration. Plant Growth Regulation, 60(3): 183–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J Y, Cushman S A, Song X M, et al. 2015. Genetic diversity and drivers of genetic differentiation of Reaumuria soongorica of the Inner Mongolia plateau in China. Plant Ecology, 216(7): 925–937.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X J, Baskin C C, Baskin J M, et al. 2012. Seed mucilage improves seedling emergence of a sand desert shrub. PLoS ONE, 7(4): e34597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue T X, Zhao N, Ramsey R D, et al. 2013. Climate change trend in china, with improved accuracy. Climatic Change, 120(1–2): 137–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue X F, Zhang T H, Zhao X Y, et al. 2016. Effects of rainfall patterns on annual plants in Horqin Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia of China. Journal of Arid Land, 8(3): 389–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng Y J, Wang Y R, Zhuang G H, et al. 2004. Seed germination responses of Reaumuria soongorica and Zygophyllum xanthoxylum to drought stress and sowing depth. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 24(8): 1629–1634. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeppel M J B, Wilks J V, Lewis J D. 2014. Impacts of extreme precipitation and seasonal changes in precipitation on plants. Biogeosciences, 11(11): 3083–3093.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y G, Moran M S, Nearing M A, et al. 2013. Extreme precipitation patterns and reductions of terrestrial ecosystem production across biomes. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 118(1): 148–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Y J, Yang X J, Baskin C C, et al. 2014. Effects of amount and frequency of precipitation and sand burial on seed germination, seedling emergence and survival of the dune grass Leymus secalinus in semiarid China. Plant and Soil, 374(1–2): 399–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31560135, 41361100), and the Gansu Science and Technology Support Program (1604FKCA088). The authors are very grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editors for their critical review and comments which helped to improve and clarify the manuscript. We thank Dr. John Hugh SNYDER for language assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Lishan Shan & Wenzhi Zhao

  2. College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Lishan Shan, Yi Li, Zhengzhong Zhang & Tingting Xie

Authors
  1. Lishan Shan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wenzhi Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yi Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhengzhong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tingting Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lishan Shan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shan, L., Zhao, W., Li, Y. et al. Precipitation amount and frequency affect seedling emergence and growth of Reaumuria soongarica in northwestern China. J. Arid Land 10, 574–587 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-018-0013-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-018-0013-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation