文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Density affects plant size in the Gobi Desert

作者：Li, Yonghua[1,2,3] Xin, Zhiming[4,5] Yao, Bin[1,2,3] Duan, Ruibing[4,5] Dong, Xue[4,5] Bao, Yanfeng[1,2,3] Li, Xinle[4,5] Ma, Yuan[4,5] Huang, Yaru[4,5] Luo, Fengmin[4,5] Li, Xing[4,5] Wei, Xu[6] Jiang, Zi-Ru[7] Lozada-Gobilard, Sissi[8] Zhu, Jinlei[1,2,3]

第一作者：Li, Yonghua

通信作者：Zhu, JL[1]

机构：[1]Chinese Acad Forestry, Inst Ecol Conservat & Restorat, Beijing 100091, Peoples R China;[2]Gansu Dunhuang Desert Ecosyst Natl Observat & Res, Dunhuang 736200, Peoples R China;[3]Kumtag Desert Ecosyst Natl Observat & Res Stn, Dunhuang 736200, Peoples R China;[4]Chinese Acad Forestry, Expt Ctr Desert Forestry, Dengkou Cty 015200, Inner Mongolia, Peoples R China;[5]Inner Mongolia Dengkou Desert Ecosyst Natl Observa, Dengkou 015200, Peoples R China;[6]East China Normal Univ, Sch Life Sci, Shanghai 200241, Peoples R China;[7]Nagoya Univ, Grad Sch Bioagr Sci, Lab Forest Protect, Nagoya, Aichi 4648601, Japan;[8]Lund Univ, Dept Biol, Lund, Sweden

年份：2024

卷号：912

外文期刊名：SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

收录：;EI(收录号：20240215347075);Scopus(收录号：2-s2.0-85181584605);WOS:【SCI-EXPANDED(收录号:WOS:001148173000001)】；

基金：Thanks to Hao Yuguang, Liu Minghu and Zhang Jingbo for data collection. Funding: This work was supported by the Central Non-profit Research Institution of Chinese Academy of Forestry (Grant number CAFYBB2020ZE005, 2020) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number 32201634, 2022; 32101595, 2022; 32001374, 2021) .

语种：英文

外文关键词：Plant density; Plant height; Crown length; Crown width; Mean annual temperature; Mean annual precipitation

摘要：Plant size is a crucial functional trait with substantial implications in agronomy and forestry. Understanding the factors influencing plant size is essential for ecosystem management and restoration efforts. Various environ-mental factors and plant density play significant roles in plant size. However, how plant size responds to mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT), and density in the arid areas remains incomplete. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted comprehensive vegetation surveys in the Gobi Desert in north-western China with a MAP below 250 mm. We also collected climate data to disentangle the respective influences of climate and density on the community-weighted plant height, crown length, and crown width. Our obser-vations revealed that the community-weighted mean plant height, crown length, and width demonstrated a positive association with MAT but negative relationships with both MAP and density. These patterns can be attributed to the predominance of shrubs over herbs in arid regions, as shrubs tend to be larger in size. The proportion of shrubs increases with MAT, while it decreases with MAP and density, resulting in higher plant height and larger crown dimensions. Although both MAP and MAT affect plant size in the Gobi Desert, our findings highlight the stronger role of plant density in regulating plant size, indicating that the surrounding plant community and competition among individuals are crucial drivers of plant size patterns. Our findings provide valuable guidance for nature-based solutions for vegetation restoration and ecosystem management, highlighting the importance of considering plant density as a key factor when designing and implementing restoration strategies in arid areas.