Impact of artificially simulated precipitation patterns change on the growth and morphology of Reaumuria soongarica seedlings in Hexi Corridor of China

Yanfei Xie, Yi Li, Tingting Xie, Ruiling Meng and Zhiqiang Zhao
Additional contact information
Yanfei Xie: College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Yi Li: College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Tingting Xie: College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Ruiling Meng: College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Zhiqiang Zhao: College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Climate change has altered the existing pattern of precipitation and has an important impact on the resistance and adaptability of desert plants. However, the interactive impact and the main characteristics of changes in precipitation amount and precipitation frequency on desert plants are unclear. Reaumuria soongarica seedlings were treated by artificially simulating changes in precipitation (30% reduction and 30% increase) and its frequency (50% reduction). We first introduced three morphological indicators (i.e., main root length/plant height ratio ( RHR ), above-ground radial density ( ARD ), and below−ground radial density ( BRD )) and drew an abstract figure of seedling growth. This experiment confirmed the following: (1) The increase in precipitation noticeably increased the plant height, above-ground biomass, and total biomass of seedlings. (2) The plant height and the biomass of seedlings were more affected by precipitation amount than by precipitation frequency. No interaction was found between precipitation amount and precipitation frequency on the growth of seedlings. (3) The response of RHR to precipitation changes was extremely significant, increasing with decreasing precipitation and vice versa. (4) The ARD first increased then remained constant as precipitation increased, while ARD first decreased and then increased with decreasing precipitation. When precipitation increases, the BRD increases and the root system becomes relatively thicker and shorter, and vice versa. In this regard, R. soongarica seedlings mainly adapt to their resource supply by adjusting plant height, root length, thickness and biomass.

Keywords: climate change; desert ecosystems; precipitation patterns; growth and morphology; Reaumuria soongarica (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2439/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2439/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:6:p:2439-:d:334898

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().