Plant Functional Diversity Is Primarily Influenced by Exchangeable Cation Deposition in a Saline-Alkaline Coal-Mining Region in Northwestern China.

ABSTRACT: Artificial sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) addition experiments often fail to accurately simulate acid deposition in terms of type, composition, intensity, frequency, and duration, potentially leading to biased estimates of deposition impact on plant diversity. Consequently, studying plant diversity patterns around acid emission sources provides a more reliable alternative. Yet, this approach remains understudied in field research, particularly in saline-alkaline regions where high soil buffering capacity may attenuate plant sensitivity to acid deposition. Therefore, we investigated plant functional diversity (PFD) and analyzed its influencing factors in a desert coal-mining region in northwestern China characterized by high pH, abundant CaCO₃ content in soils, and increasing acid d

SUBMITTER: Li C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12834613 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature