Shifting plant species composition in response to climate change stabilizes grassland primary production.

ABSTRACT: The structure and function of alpine grassland ecosystems, including their extensive soil carbon stocks, are largely shaped by temperature. The Tibetan Plateau in particular has experienced significant warming over the past 50 y, and this warming trend is projected to intensify in the future. Such climate change will likely alter plant species composition and net primary production (NPP). Here we combined 32 y of observations and monitoring with a manipulative experiment of temperature and precipitation to explore the effects of changing climate on plant community structure and ecosystem function. First, long-term climate warming from 1983 to 2014, which occurred without systematic changes in precipitation, led to higher grass abundance and lower sedge abundance, but did not affect abovegr

SUBMITTER: Liu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5910805 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature