Land Degradation Changes the Role of Above- and Belowground Competition in Regulating Plant Biomass Allocation in an Alpine Meadow.

ABSTRACT: The allocation pattern of plant biomass presents the strategy of the plant community to adopt environmental changes, while the driver of biomass allocation is still unclear in degraded alpine grassland ecosystems. To explore the issue, this study investigated the shoot-to-root (R/S) ratio, plant aboveground traits, and root competition of three functional groups (i.e., grasses, sedges, and forbs) at three degradation levels (i.e., no obvious degradation, ND; moderate degradation, MD; and severe degradation, SD) in an alpine meadow in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The relationships among plant aboveground traits, root competition, and R/S ratio were tested using the structural equation model (SEM). The results showed that the shoot and root biomass tended to decrease, but the R/S rat

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8850915 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature