Shrub-mediated effects on soil nitrogen determines shrub-herbaceous interactions in drylands of the Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Shrub promotes the survival, growth and reproduction of understory species by buffering the environmental extremes and improving limited resources (i.e., facilitation effect) in arid and semiarid regions. However, the importance of soil water and nutrient availability on shrub facilitation, and its trend along a drought gradient have been relatively less addressed in water-limited systems.

Methods

We investigated species richness, plant size, soil total nitrogen and dominant grass leaf δ¹³C within and outside the dominant leguminous cushion-like shrub Caragana versicolor along a water deficit gradient in drylands of Tibetan Plateau.

Results

We found that C. versicolor increased grass species richness but had a negative effect on a

SUBMITTER: Cui G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9950575 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature