Abstract
The response of vegetation productivity to precipitation is becoming a worldwide concern. Most reports on responses of vegetation to precipitation trends are based on the growth season. In the soil freeze/thaw process, the soil water phase and heat transport change can affect root growth, especially during the thawing process in early spring. A field experiment with increased precipitation (control, increased 25% and increased 50%) was conducted to measure the effects of soil water in early spring on above- and below-ground productivity in an alpine steppe over two growing seasons from June 2017 to September 2018. The increased 50% treatment significantly increased the soil moisture at the 10 cm depth, there was no difference in soil moisture between the increased 25% treatment and the control in the growing season, which was not consistent in the freeze/thaw process. Increased soil moisture during the non-growing season retarded root growth. Increased precipitation in the freezing-thawing period can partially offset the difference between the control and increased precipitation plots in both above- and below-ground biomass.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Data Availability Statement: Data supporting this research article are available from the corresponding author on request.
References
Abramoff RZ & Finzi AC (2015) Are above- and below-ground phenology in sync?. New Phytol 205: 1054–1061. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13111
Andresen LC & Michelsen A (2005) Off-season uptake of nitrogen in temperate heath vegetation. Oecologia 144: 585–597. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0044-1
Blume-Werry G, Wilson SD, Kreyling J & Milbau A (2015) The hidden season: growing season is 50% longer below than above ground along an arctic elevation gradient. New Phytol 209: 978–986. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13655
Bokhorst S, Bjerke JW, Bowles FW, et al. (2008) Impacts of extreme winter warming in the sub-Arctic: growing season responses of dwarf shrub heathland. Global Change Biol 14: 2603–2612. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01689.x
Buermann W, Bikash PR, Jung M, et al. (2013) Earlier springs decrease peak summer productivity in North American boreal forests. Environ Res Lett 8. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024027
Chelli S, Wellstein C, Campetella G, et al. (2017) Climate change response of vegetation across climatic zones in Italy. Clim Res 71: 249. https://doi.org/10.3354/001443
Chen H, Zhao X, Lin Q, et al. (2020) Spring watering interactively improves aboveground net primary productivity and soil microbial biomass in a semi-arid grassland of China. Catena 189: 104478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2020.104478
Coursolle C, Bigras FJ & Margolis HA (2002) Effects of Root Freezing on the Physiology and Growth of Picea glauca, Picea mariana and Pinus banksiana Seedlings Under Different Soil Moisture Regimes. Scandinavian J For Res 17: 206–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/028275802753742873
Diffenbaugh NS & Field CB (2013) Changes in Ecologically Critical Terrestrial Climate Conditions. Science 341: 486–492. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1237123
Dong Z, Driscoll CT, Campbell JL, et al. (2019) Projections of water, carbon, and nitrogen dynamics under future climate change in an alpine tundra ecosystem in the southern Rocky Mountains using a biogeochemical model. Sci Total Environ 650: 1451–1464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.151
Dorji T, Totland O, Moe SR, et al. (2013) Plant functional traits mediate reproductive phenology and success in response to experimental warming and snow addition in Tibet. Global Change Biol 19: 459–472. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12059
Dunne JA, Harte J & Taylor KJ (2003) Subalpine meadow flowering phenology responses to climate change: integrating experimental and gradient methods. Ecol Monogr 73: 69–86. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9615(2003)073[0069:SMFPRT]2.0.CO;2
Edwards KA, McCulloch J, Kershaw GP et al. (2006) Soil microbial and nutrient dynamics in a wet Arctic sedge meadow in late winter and early spring. Soil Biol Biochem 38: 2843–2851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2006.04.042
Fu G, Shen ZX & Zhang XZ (2018) Increased precipitation has stronger effects on plant production of an alpine meadow than does experimental warming in the Northern Tibetan Plateau. Agric For Meteorol 249: 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2017.11.017
Gherardi LA & Sala OE (2019) Effect of interannual precipitation variability on dryland productivity: A global synthesis. Global Change Biol 25: 269–276. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14480
Grogan P, Michelsen A, Ambus P & Jonasson S (2004) Freeze-thaw regime effects on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in subarctic heath tundra mesocosms. Soil Biol Biochem 36: 641–654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2003.12.007
Guderle M, Bachmann D, Milcu A, et al. (2018) Dynamic niche partitioning in root water uptake facilitates efficient water use in more diverse grassland plant communities. Funct Ecol 32: 214–227. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12948
Guo L, Chen J, Luedeling E, et al. (2018) Early-spring soil warming partially offsets the enhancement of alpine grassland aboveground productivity induced by warmer growing seasons on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant Soil 425: 177–188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3582-0
Bao HY, Kai Y, Wang CH (2017) Characteristics of GLDAS soil-moisture data on the Tibet Plateau. Sci Cold Arid Reg 9: 127–141. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1226.2017.00127
Hong J, Ma X, Yan Y, et al. (2018) Which root traits determine nitrogen uptake by alpine plant species on the Tibetan Plateau? Plant & Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3434-3
Hsu JS, Powell J & Adler PB (2012) Sensitivity of mean annual primary production to precipitation. Global Change Biol 18: 2246–2255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02687.x
Jackson S (2002) Rooting depths, lateral root spreads and below-ground/above-ground allometries of plants in water-limited ecosystems. J Ecol 90: 480–494. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2745.2002.00682.x
Ji ZM & Kang SC (2013) Double-nested dynamical downscaling experiments over the tibetan plateau and their projection of climate change under two RCP scenarios. J Atmos Sci 70: 1278–1290. https://doi.org/10.1175/Jas-D-12-0155.1
Kong D, Wang J, Wu H, et al. (2019) Nonlinearity of root trait relationships and the root economics spectrum. Nat Commun 10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10245-6
Kreyling J, Beierkuhnlein C, Pritsch K, et al. (2008) Recurrent soil freeze-thaw cycles enhance grassland productivity. New Phytol 177: 938–945. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x
Kuang X & Jiao JJ (2016) Review on climate change on the Tibetan Plateau during the last half century. J Geophys Res Atmos 121: 3979–4007. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015jd024728
Li CY, Peng F, Xue X, et al. (2018) Productivity and quality of alpine grassland vary with soil water availability under experimental warming. Front Plant Sci 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01790
Li W, Wu J, Bai E, et al. (2016a) Response of terrestrial nitrogen dynamics to snow cover change: A meta-analysis of experimental manipulation. Soil Biol Biochem 100: 51–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.05.018
Li X, Yao Z, Xiao J, et al. (2016b) Analysis of the spatial-temporal variation characteristics of precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau from 1961 through 2010. J Glaciol Geocryol.
Lu X, Fan J, Yan Y, et al. (2011). Soil water soluble organic carbon under three alpine grassland types in Northern Tibet, China. Afr J Agric Res 69: 2066–2071. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR11.322
Pausas JG & Austin MP (2001) Patterns of plant species richness in relation to different environments: An appraisal. J Veg Sci 12: 153–166. https://doi.org/10.2307/3236601
Piao S, Tan J, Chen A, et al. (2015) Leaf onset in the northern hemisphere triggered by daytime temperature. Nat Commun 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7911
Prevey JS & Seastedt TR (2014) Seasonality of precipitation interacts with exotic species to alter composition and phenology of a semi-arid grassland. J Ecol 102: 1549–1561. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12320
Ruan L & Robertson GP (2017) Reduced snow cover increases wintertime nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from an agricultural soil in the Upper US Midwest. Ecosystems 20: 917–927. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0077-9
Schuerings J, Jentsch A, Walter J, et al. (2014) Winter warming pulses differently affect plant performance in temperate heathland and grassland communities. Ecol Res 29: 561–570. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-014-1174-x
Skarpaas O, Meineri E, Bargmann T, et al. (2016) Biomass partitioning in grassland plants along independent gradients in temperature and precipitation. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 19: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2016.01.006
Sun J & Du W (2017) Effects of precipitation and temperature on net primary productivity and precipitation use efficiency across China’s grasslands. GIsci Remote Sens 54: 881–897. https://doi.org/10.1080/15481603.2017.1351147
Tennant D (1975) A Test of a Modified Line Intersect Method of Estimating Root Length. J Ecol 633: 995–1001. https://doi.org/10.1646/0006-3606
Thornley JHM and France J (2005) An open-ended logistic-based growth function. Ecol Model 1842–4: 257–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2004.10.007
Tierney GL, Fahey TJ, Groffman PM, et al. (2003) Environmental control of fine root dynamics in a northern hardwood forest. Global Change Biol 9: 670–679. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2003.00622.x
Weiner J (2004) Allocation, plasticity and allometry in plants. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 6: 207–215. https://doi.org/10.1078/1433-8319-00083
Wipf S, Stoeckli V & Bebi P (2009) Winter climate change in alpine tundra: plant responses to changes in snow depth and snowmelt timing. Clim Change 94: 105–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9546-x
Wolkovich E, Cook B & Allen J (2012) Warming experiments underpredict plant phenological responses to climate change. Nature 485: 494–497. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JG000718
Wu Z, Dijkstra P, Koch GW, et al. (2011) Responses of terrestrial ecosystems to temperature and precipitation change: a meta-analysis of experimental manipulation. Global Change Biol 17: 927–942. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02302.x
Xue X, Guo J, Han B, et al. (2009) The effect of climate warming and permafrost thaw on desertification in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geomorphology 108: 182–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.01.004
Yang K & Wang C (2019a) Seasonal persistence of soil moisture anomalies related to freeze-thaw over the Tibetan Plateau and prediction signal of summer precipitation in eastern China. Clim Dyn 53: 2411–2424. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-019-04867-1
Yang K & Wang C (2019b) Water storage effect of soil freeze-thaw process and its impacts on soil hydro-thermal regime variations. Agri For Meteorol 265: 280–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.11.011
Yang Y, Fang J, Ji C, et al. (2009). Above- and below-ground biomass allocation in Tibetan grasslands. J Veg Sci 201: 177–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2009.05566.x
Zhai D, Gao X, Li B, et al. (2022). Driving Climatic Factors at Critical Plant Developmental Stages for Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Alpine Grassland Productivity. Remote Sens 147. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14071564
Zhang T, Barry RG, Knowles K, et al. (2003). Distribution of seasonally and perennially frozen ground in the Northern Hemisphere. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Permafrost.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Exploration, the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National Natural Science Foundation, grant number 2019QZKK0404, XDA20020401, 41977284 and by the Doctoral Science Foundation of Henan Polytechnic University (B2019-019).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
WANG Xiao-dan and QIN Xiao-jing: Conceptualization; QIN Xiao-jing: Methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, writing—original draft preparation; HONG Jiang-tao: Writing—review and editing; NIE Xiao-jun: Visualization, supervision, project administration; WANG Xiao-dan: funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest: WANG Xiao-dan is a scientific editor of Journal of Mountain Science. He was not involved in the peer-review or handling of the manuscript. The authors have no other competing interests to disclose.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Qin, Xj., Nie, Xj., Wang, Xd. et al. Freeze-thaw process induced by increased precipitation affects root growth of alpine steppe on the Tibetan Plateau. J. Mt. Sci. 20, 3010–3017 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-8010-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-8010-0