Life history responses of two ephemeral plant species to increased precipitation and nitrogen in the Gurbantunggut Desert.

ABSTRACT: Precipitation change and nitrogen deposition are not only hot topics of current global change but also the main environmental factors affecting plant growth in desert ecosystems. Thus, we performed an experiment of increased precipitation, nitrogen, and precipitation plus nitrogen on the ephemeral annual species Nepeta micrantha and Eremopyrum distans in the Gurbantunggut Desert. We aimed to determine the life history responses of N. micrantha and E. distans to environment changes, and the germination percentage of the offspring (seeds) was also tested in the laboratory. The results showed that increased nitrogen and precipitation plus nitrogen increased the growth of both plant species, whereas increased precipitation inhibited the growth of N. micrantha

SUBMITTER: Chen Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6330950 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature