河西走廊植被净初级生产力时空变化及其影响因子研究

干旱半干旱区植被NPP变化对全球碳循环有重要影响,该区域NPP对气候变化的响应表现出较大的时空异质性,其驱动机制并不十分清楚。选择中国河西走廊,利用随机森林算法估算了2002-2018年的NPP,基于偏导数法计算了气候与人类活动对NPP的影响。结果表明：（1）随机森林算法能较好的适用于干旱半干旱区NPP估算。（2）2002-2018年间河西走廊年NPP的平均值为153.32 gC m^-2 a^-1,总量为37.468 Tg C/a,呈东南向西北递减的分布特征,研究期间NPP呈2.37 gC m^-2 a^-1（P=0.09）增长趋势。（3）河西走廊NPP变化52.51%由气候因子贡献,47.49%由人类活动贡献。（4）在气候变化对NPP的影响中,降水主导了该区72.21%的区域,温度对NPP变化量的贡献占73.71%,前者影响着NPP变化格局,后者主导NPP变化数量。升温和增湿均有利于该区NPP增加,随着西北地区气候暖湿化,河西走廊植被会持续改善,该研究有助于理解干旱半干旱区NPP对气候变化的响应机制,为适应气候变化政策制定提供理论依据。     

水热波动和土地覆盖变化对东北地区植被NPP的相对影响

研究水热波动和土地覆盖变化对植被净初级生产力（Net Primary Productivity,NPP）的影响对于估算陆地碳循环及其驱动机制具有重要意义。利用MODIS遥感影像获得的时间序列NPP和土地覆盖产品,结合气象观测数据（气温和降水）,采用相关分析、回归分析和空间分析相结合的方法,研究2000-2015年东北地区植被NPP的时空变化特征,并定量评估水热波动和土地覆盖变化对该地区植被NPP的相对影响。研究结果表明,2000-2015年东北地区植被NPP呈波动上升趋势,从2000年的369.24 g C m^-2 a^-1增加到2015年的453.84 g C m^-2 a^-1,平均值是412.10 g C m^-2 a^-1,年际增加速率为4.54 g C m^-2 a^-1。近16年来东北地区年均植被NPP空间上呈现南高北低、东高西低的分布格局,整体变化趋势以增加为主,其中轻微增加面积占该地区总面积的45.9%。不同土地覆盖类型的年均NPP差异明显,其中灌木最高为400.34 g C m^-2 a^-1,草地最低为300.49 g C m^-2 a^-1。东北地区植被NPP与气温的相关性不明显,而与降水量主要表现为正效应。水热波动对该地区不同土地覆盖类型NPP总量变化的贡献大于土地覆盖变化的贡献,其中对森林和农田的贡献最大,均达到70%以上。     

气候变化与人类活动对内蒙古东部草地净初级生产力的影响

内蒙古东部草地是该区域的主体生态系统类型,属于脆弱的生态系统,对气候和人类活动反应敏感。基于土地覆被数据和改进CACS模型,估算得到的草地NPP,分析2000-2015年内蒙古东部草地和NPP时空格局与年际动态。进而,定义相对退化指数（RDI）,确定草地生产力变化过程中人类活动因素的贡献率,分析内蒙古东部地区2000-2015年RDI空间格局与年际动态。同时,分析16年间NPP和气候因子相关关系。结果表明：1）2000-2015年间,损失草地面积4743.80 km²,新增草地面积2705.57 km²。2）2000-2015年内蒙古东部地区草地植被平均NPP位于166.56-248.14 gC m^-2 a^-1之间,NPP在波动中呈现明显的上升趋势（3.65 gC m^-2 a^-1/a,R²=0.47）。3）2000-2015年RDI在16.64%-30.54%之间波动,RDI值呈缓慢下降趋势,表明人类活动对草地植被净初级生产力的干扰程度在下降。4）草地NPP变化主要是因为草地本身生产力下降。整体来看相关草地保护工作取得了阶段性进展,草地生境质量得到有效缓解,草地生态环境得到转变。     

气候变化和人类活动对中国陆地生态系统总初级生产力的影响厘定研究

总初级生产力（GPP）是生态系统植被光合作用生成有机物的能力表征,是生态系统服务功能的基础,关系到区域社会经济可持续发展及区域生态安全。基于生态系统过程模型CEVSA2,应用中分辨率成像光谱仪（MODIS）卫星遥感的叶面积指数数据产品（MCD15A2H）,以强迫法构建了遥感数据驱动的模型新版本——CEVSA-RS;基于CEVSA-RS模拟分析了气候变化和人类活动对中国陆地生态系统GPP时空变化的相对影响,从气候潜在总初级生产力（GPP_CL）和现实总初级生产力（GPP_RS）的大小和趋势两方面厘定了人类活动影响。2000至2017年全国平均潜在GPP （1016.36 gC m^-2a^-1）略高于对应现实GPP （962.85 gC m^-2a^-1）,但存在明显的空间分异：长江以南大部、秦岭、太行山脉以东以及大兴安岭以东和长白山地区等森林植被覆盖区,现实GPP高于潜在GPP;而西部草地及灌丛等地区现实GPP低于潜在GPP。全国GPP呈显著增加趋势（P<0.05）,其中现实GPP的增速（46.04 gC m^-210a^-1）高于潜在GPP的增速（41.46 gC m^-210a^-1）,人类活动影响促进GPP增长,主要体现在华南地区和华北平原等地;内蒙古东部、东北平原北部、青藏高原西部等地人类活动呈负面影响。人类活动影响大于气候影响的区域可达全国陆地面积的53%,其中西部生态相对脆弱的草地区人类活动仍为负面影响,这些地区以草定畜,发展草牧业和保护生态,仍然任重道远。     

连续氮添加14年对温带典型草原土壤碳氮组分及物理结构的影响

全球氮沉降对生态系统造成了深远的影响,研究长时间氮沉降对草地生态系统土壤理化特征的影响有助于加强生态系统对氮沉降响应的长效机制的理解。通过连续14年长期施加N0（0 g N m^-2 a^-1）、N2（2 g N m^-2 a^-1）、N4（4 g N m^-2 a^-1）、N8（8 g N m^-2 a^-1）、N16（16 g N m^-2 a^-1）、N32（32 g N m^-2 a^-1）六种浓度尿素模拟氮沉降,并将土壤分成0-10、10-20和20-40 cm三个深度土层,研究温带草原生态系统土壤碳氮组分及物理结构对氮添加的响应及其相互关系,结果表明：（1）氮添加显著降低0-10 cm土壤酸碱度及土壤微生物量碳含量,N32相比N0分别下降了27.63%和58.40%（P<0.05）;各土层总有机碳和全氮含量对氮添加处理无显著响应,0-10 cm土层显著高于20-40 cm土层。（2）同一土层深度不同梯度氮添加处理显著增加土壤无机氮离子含量（P<0.05）,0-10 cm土层铵态氮含量N32相比N0增加了88.72%,20-40 cm土层硝态氮含量N32相比N0增加了19.55倍,土壤深度与氮添加对无机氮离子含量影响具有显著的交互效应。（3）同一土壤深度不同梯度氮添加处理土壤粒度分形维数及土壤团聚体差异不显著,相关分析表明土壤碳氮元素含量与土壤结构显著相关。土壤碳氮组分在适宜浓度氮添加的增加趋势说明氮添加在一定程度上可能促进土壤理化性质的改良,氮添加对土壤物理结构的影响还需要进一步的深入研究。     

滇中亚高山地带性植被凋落物分解对模拟氮沉降的响应

模拟氮（N）沉降对凋落物分解特征的影响对研究森林生态系统物质循环响应大气N沉降的内在机理和应对N沉降全球化具有重要意义。从2018年2月至2019年1月，对滇中亚高山常绿阔叶林（Evergreen broad-leaf forest）和高山栎林（Quercus semecarpifolia forest）两种地带性植被进行模拟N沉降试验，利用尼龙网袋法对两种林型凋落叶和凋落枝进行原位分解试验，N沉降处理水平分别为对照CK（Control check，0 g N m^-2 a^-1）、低氮LN（Low nitrogen，5 g N m^-2 a^-1）、中氮MN（Medium nitrogen，15 g N m^-2 a^-1）和高氮HN（High nitrogen，30 g N m^-2 a^-1）。结果表明：常绿阔叶林凋落叶和凋落枝分解率分别为44.84%和21.96%，均高于高山栎林的35.97%（凋落叶）和17.51%（凋落枝）；N沉降处理使得常绿阔叶林和高山栎林的凋落叶和凋落枝质量损失95%的时间在对照（CK）的基础上均有一定程度的增加，其中以HN处理下最为显著；经过1年的分解，两种林型凋落叶、枝纤维素和木质素降解均受到N沉降的抑制作用；两种林型中凋落物质量残留率、纤维素和木质素残留率三者间呈极显著正相关。针对滇中亚高山区域范围内的两种地带性植被，凋落物分解对N沉降的响应方向主要取决于凋落物基质质量，其中尤以纤维素和木质素为重要影响因素。     

降水量与氮添加对荒漠草原生态系统碳交换的影响

为深入了解降水格局改变和氮沉降增加对荒漠草原生态系统碳交换的影响机制，于2017年在宁夏荒漠草原设立了降水量变化（减少50%、减少30%、自然降水量、增加30%以及增加50%）和氮添加（0和5 g m^-2 a^-1）的野外试验，研究了2019年生长季（5-10月份）净生态系统碳交换（Net ecosystem carbon exchange，NEE）、生态系统呼吸（Ecosystem respiration，ER）和总生态系统生产力（Gross ecosystem productivity，GEP）的时间动态，分析了三者与植被组成以及土壤属性的关系。NEE、ER和GEP日动态和月动态均呈先增加后降低，NEE在整个生长季表现为净生态系统碳吸收。0和5 g m^-2 a^-1氮添加下，减少降水量显著降低了NEE、ER和GEP （P<0.05），增加30%降水量显著提高了三者（P<0.05）。相同降水量条件下，氮添加不同程度地提高了NEE、ER和GEP，且其效应在增加50%降水量时较为明显。净生态系统碳吸收（-NEE）、ER和GEP与群落生物量、牛枝子（Lespedeza potaninii）以及草木樨状黄芪（Astragalus melilotoides）生物量正相关。三者亦随Patrick丰富度指数和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数的增加而增加。本文结果意味着，减少降水量降低了土壤水分和养分有效性、抑制了植物生长，从而降低了生态系统碳交换。适量增加降水量则可能通过提高土壤含水量、刺激土壤酶活性、调节土壤C ： N ： P平衡特征等途径，促进了植物生长和物种多样性，从而提高了生态系统碳汇功能；氮添加亦促进了生态系统碳交换，但其与降水的交互作用尚不明显，需通过长期观测进行深入探讨。     

近20年防风固沙重点生态功能区植被动态分析

植被是影响防风固沙生态功能的关键指标,也是检验防风固沙区生态保护成效的重要依据。由2010年国务院《全国主体功能区规划》划定的防风固沙类国家重点生态功能区、国家重点生态功能区转移支付县域综合确定研究范围。基于2000-2019年中分辨率成像光谱仪（MODIS）的叶面积指数（LAI）产品,从生态区和像元两个尺度分析近20年防风固沙重点生态功能区植被的时空变化趋势,并进一步探索气候因子对LAI的影响,以期揭示我国北方风沙区生态系统防风固沙功能的现状,为今后生态保护提供支撑。研究结果表明,2000-2019年间,研究区LAI年平均值呈现东高西低的空间格局,随着时间推移有显著增加趋势,平均增幅为0.03 m² m^-2（10a）^-1（P<0.01）。在生态区尺度,LAI在8个生态功能区均表现出不同程度的增长,且2010-2019年间LAI的增长速率高于2000-2009年的,其中,科尔沁草原生态功能区在20年间呈现最为显著的增加趋势,区域平均增幅为0.1154 m² m^-2（10a）^-1（P<0.01）。在像元尺度,近20年LAI显著增长（P<0.05）的区域面积占整个研究区植被面积的41.6%,其中,83.7%的LAI增长区域为草地,11.2%为耕地。增长区域主要集中在研究区东部,呈片状分布,研究区西部的LAI也有一定程度的增长,增长区域呈带状分布。2010-2019年LAI增长的区域面积为7.7%,明显大于2000-2009年LAI增长的区域面积。气候因子对研究区植被的影响为：研究区东部降水的增加对当地植被生长有正向的促进作用,而温度的影响则在整个研究区都较弱。除自然因素外,人为因素（防风固沙政策实施、农业技术进步等）对防风固沙功能区植被状况的改善也至关重要。研究区LAI的显著增加表明我国北方防风固沙屏障的生态功能在近20年有一定程度的提高。     

近20年来西南地区植被净初级生产力时空变化与影响因素及其对生态工程响应

植被净初级生产力（NPP）是研究陆地生态系统中物质和能量转换的重要指标，NPP的空间分布与区域气候、植被生长以及人类活动等因素息息相关，其变化能反映植被群落的生产能力，是生态系统功能和结构变化的重要表征。近20年来，中国西南地区植被NPP呈现增长趋势。然而，目前对NPP时空变化格局及潜在原因尚不清楚。因此，利用2001-2018年间MODIS-NPP、岩性、气候、土地利用、造林面积和石漠化治理情况等数据，对西南地区植被NPP的时空变化趋势及其成因进行了分析。结果发现：（1）2001-2018年间，中国西南地区植被NPP总体呈增长趋势，突变分析结果显示，2012-2018年间NPP的增长速度（5.13 gC m^-2a^-1）比2001-2011年更快（1.78 gC m^-2a^-1），在两个时段，岩溶区NPP增长速度都高于非岩溶区；（2）对西南地区植被NPP变化与气候因子的相关分析结果显示，2001-2011年与2012-2018年两个时间段内NPP与温度的平均相关性（R=0.19，0.26）要高于NPP与降水的平均相关性（R=0.07，0.05），表明西南地区植被NPP更容易受到温度的影响；（3）对两个时期土地利用变化下NPP总量的变化情况的研究结果显示，2001-2011年期间城市用地面积增加使得NPP总量下降，而2012-2018年未利用地面积增长造成了NPP总量下降；（4）2001-2018年西南地区累计造林面积与NPP存在显著正相关性（R=0.7，P<0.05），说明"退耕还林"工程实施促进了西南地区NPP增长。对石漠化面积统计结果表明，2011年后石漠化面积显著减少，这与NPP的突变点一致，表明石漠化治理对西南地区NPP增长有重要促进作用。     

1982-2010年中国草地净初级生产力时空动态及其与气候因子的关系

植被净初级生产力（NPP）及其与气候变化的响应研究是全球变化的核心内容之一。论文基于长时间序列遥感数据和气象数据,通过光能利用率模型（Carnegie-Ames-Stanford approach, CASA模型）模拟了1982-2010 年中国草地NPP,进而分析其时空变化特征及其与气候水热因子的相关性。结果表明：（1）1982-2010年中国草地年平均NPP为282.0 gC m^-2a^-1,年总NPP的多年平均值为988.3 TgC;空间分布上呈现东南部高西北部低的特征。（2）近30年中国草地NPP增加速率为0.6 gC m^-2a^-1,呈增加趋势的面积占中国草地总面积的67.2%;总体上,中国草地NPP呈极显著和显著增加的比例（35.8%、8.0%）大于呈极显著和显著减少的比例（5.8%、4.8%）;NPP明显增加的区域主要包括青藏高原西部、阿拉善高原、新疆西部;明显降低的区域主要分布在内蒙古地区;不同年代际和不同草地类型的NPP变化趋势差异明显。（3）草地NPP与降水量的相关性高于与温度的相关性。不同草地类型NPP对气温、降水量的响应程度不同,其中温性荒漠草原 、温性草原、温性草甸草原的NPP与降水量均达到显著正相关（P<0.05）。     

Impact of rainfall manipulations and biotic controls on soil respiration in Mediterranean and desert ecosystems along an aridity gradient

Spatially heterogeneous ecosystems form a majority of land types in the vast drylands of the globe. To evaluate climate‐change effects on CO₂ fluxes in such ecosystems, it is critical to understand the relative responses of each ecosystem component (microsite). We investigated soil respiration (R_s) at four sites along an aridity gradient (90–780 mm mean annual precipitation, MAP) during almost 2 years. In addition, R_s was measured in rainfall manipulations plots at the two central sites where ～30% droughting and ～30% water supplementation treatments were used over 5 years. Annual R_s was higher by 23% under shrub canopies compared with herbaceous gaps between shrubs, but R_s at both microsites responded similarly to rainfall reduction. Decreasing precipitation and soil water content along the aridity gradient and across rainfall manipulations resulted in a progressive decline in R_s at both microsites, i.e. the drier the conditions, the larger was the effect of reduction in water availability on R_s. Annual R_s on the ecosystem scale decreased at a slope of 256/MAP g C m^?2 yr^?1 mm^?1 (r²=0.97). The reduction in R_s amounted to 77% along the aridity gradient and to 16% across rainfall manipulations. Soil organic carbon (SOC) decreased with declining precipitation, and variation in SOC stocks explained 77% of the variation in annual R_s across sites, rainfall manipulations and microsites. This study shows that rainfall manipulations over several years are a useful tool for experimentally predicting climate‐change effects on CO₂ fluxes for time scales (such as approximated by aridity gradients) that are beyond common research periods. Rainfall reduction decreases rates of R_s not only by lowering biological activity, but also by drastically reducing shrub cover. We postulate that future climate change in heterogeneous ecosystems, such as Mediterranean and deserts shrublands will have a major impact on R_s by feedbacks through changes in vegetation structure.     

Aridity Induces Nonlinear Effects of Human Disturbance on Precipitation-Use Efficiency of Iberian Woodlands

The effects of ecosystem degradation are pervasive worldwide and increasingly concerning under the present context of global changes in climate and land use. Theoretical studies and empirical evidence increasingly suggest that drylands are particularly prone to develop nonlinear functional changes in response to climate variations and human disturbance. Precipitation-use efficiency (PUE) represents the ratio of vegetation production to precipitation and provides a tool for evaluating human and climate impacts on landscape functionality. Holm oak (Quercus ilex) woodlands are one of the most conspicuous dry forest ecosystems in the western Mediterranean basin and present a variety of degraded states, due to their long history of human use. We studied the response of Iberian holm oak woodlands to human disturbance along an aridity gradient (that is, semi-arid, dry-transition and sub-humid conditions) using PUE estimations from enhanced vegetation index (EVI) observations of the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Our results indicated that PUE decreased linearly with disturbance intensity in sub-humid holm oak woodlands, but showed accelerated, nonlinear reductions with increased disturbance intensity in semi-arid and dry-transition holm oak sites. The impact of disturbance on PUE was larger for dry years than for wet years, and these differences increased with aridity from sub-humid to dry-transition and semi-arid holm oak woodlands. Therefore, aridity may also interact with ecosystem degradation in holm oak woodlands by reducing the landscape ability to buffer large changes in vegetation production caused by climate variability.     

Anthropogenic and climatic impacts on surface pollen assemblages along a precipitation gradient in north‐eastern China

Aim To understand the scenarios of ‘anthropogenic biomes’ that integrate human and ecological systems, we need to explore the impacts of climate and human disturbance on vegetation in the past and present. Interactions among surface pollen, modern vegetation and human activities along climate and land‐use gradients are tested to evaluate the natural and anthropogenic forces shaping the modern vegetation, and hence to aid the reconstruction of vegetation and climate in the past. This in turn will help with future predictions. Location The North‐east China Transect (NECT) in north‐eastern China. Methods We analysed 33 surface pollen samples and 213 quadrats across four vegetation zones along the moisture/land‐use gradients of the NECT. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) of 52 pollen taxa and three environmental variables were used to distinguish anthropogenic and climatic factors that affect surface pollen assemblages along the NECT. Results The 33 surface samples are divided into four pollen zones (forest, meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe) corresponding to major vegetation types in the NECT. Variations in pollen ratios of fern/herb (F/H), Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae (A/C) and arboreal pollen/non‐arboreal pollen (AP/NAP) represent the vegetation and precipitation gradient along the NECT. DCA and RDA analyses suggest that surface pollen assemblages are significantly influenced by the precipitation gradient. Changes in the abundance of Chenopodiaceae pollen are related to both human activities and precipitation. Main conclusions Surface pollen assemblages, fossil pollen records, archaeological evidence and historical documents in northern China show that a large increase of Chenopodiaceae pollen indicates human‐caused vegetation degradation in sandy habitats. The A/C ratio is a good indicator of climatic aridity, but should be used in conjunction with multiple proxies of human activities and climate change in the pollen‐based reconstruction of anthropogenic biomes.     

Contrasting ecosystem vegetation response in global drylands under drying and wetting conditions

Increasing aridity is one major consequence of ongoing global climate change and is expected to cause widespread changes in key ecosystem attributes, functions, and dynamics. This is especially the case in naturally vulnerable ecosystems, such as drylands. While we have an overall understanding of past aridity trends, the linkage between temporal dynamics in aridity and dryland ecosystem responses remain largely unknown. Here, we examined recent trends in aridity over the past two decades within global drylands as a basis for exploring the response of ecosystem state variables associated with land and atmosphere processes (e.g., vegetation cover, vegetation functioning, soil water availability, land cover, burned area, and vapor-pressure deficit) to these trends. We identified five clusters, characterizing spatiotemporal patterns in aridity between 2000 and 2020. Overall, we observe that 44.5% of all areas are getting dryer, 31.6% getting wetter, and 23.8% have no trends in aridity. Our results show strongest correlations between trends in ecosystem state variables and aridity in clusters with increasing aridity, which matches expectations of systemic acclimatization of the ecosystem to a reduction in water availability/water stress. Trends in vegetation (expressed by leaf area index [LAI]) are affected differently by potential driving factors (e.g., environmental, and climatic factors, soil properties, and population density) in areas experiencing water-related stress as compared to areas not exposed to water-related stress. Canopy height for example, has a positive impact on trends in LAI when the system is stressed but does not impact the trends in non-stressed systems. Conversely, opposite relationships were found for soil parameters such as root-zone water storage capacity and organic carbon density. How potential driving factors impact dryland vegetation differently depending on water-related stress (or no stress) is important, for example within management strategies to maintain and restore dryland vegetation.     

Vegetation recovery and recent degradation in different karst landforms of southwest China over the past two decades using GEE satellite archives

Over the past two decades, eco-engineering has been recognized as an important restoration approach to promote vegetation regrowth and greenness in a widespread rocky desertification land of southwest China. However, it remains unclear of recovery patterns and dominating drivers in different types of karst landforms. Here we use multi-satellite archives based on Google Earth Engine (GEE) to reveal the rapid greening process although encountered severe drought, especially in Karst Peak-Cluster Depression (+0.0035y⁻¹) and Karst Trough Valley (+0.0035y⁻¹) influenced by subtropical monsoon climate and afforestation endeavor, while degradation happened recently at non-karst areas of west highland in Karst Fault Basin (−0.0043y⁻¹ since 2006) and Karst Plateau (−0.0039y⁻¹ since 2014) influenced by decreasing rainfall. Afforestation project and sloping land conversion program is found to play crucial part in explaining a large part of the greening trend in Peak-Cluster Depression and Trough Valley but not in other landforms, suggesting that geomorphic heterogeneity should be further considered in restoration implementation and vegetation assessment, in conjunction with climate change and anthropogenic factors. Our study provides a helpful perspective for karst conservation priorities of various rocky desertification region ecosystems.     

Threshold responses of soil gross nitrogen transformation rates to aridity gradient

The responses of soil nitrogen (N) transformations to climate change are crucial for biome productivity prediction under global change. However, little is known about the responses of soil gross N transformation rates to drought gradient. Along an aridity gradient across the 2700 km transect of drylands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, this study measured three main soil gross N transformation rates in both topsoil (0–10 cm) and subsoil (20–30 cm) using the laboratorial ¹⁵N labeling. The relevant soil abiotic and biotic variables were also determined. The results showed that gross N mineralization and nitrification rates steeply decreased with increasing aridity when aridity was less than 0.5 but just slightly decreased with increasing aridity when aridity was larger than 0.5 at both soil layers. In topsoil, the decreases of the two gross rates were accompanied by the similar decreased patterns of soil total N content and microbial biomass carbon with increasing aridity (p < .05). In subsoil, although the decreased pattern of soil total N with increasing aridity was still similar to the decreases of the two gross rates (p < .05), microbial biomass carbon did not change (p > .05). Instead, bacteria and ammonia oxidizing archaea abundances decreased with increasing aridity when aridity was larger than 0.5 (p < .05). With an aridity threshold of 0.6, gross N immobilization rate increased with increasing aridity in wetter region (aridity < 0.6) accompanied with an increased bacteria/fungi ratio, but decreased with increasing aridity in drier region (aridity > 0.6) where mineral N and microbial biomass N also decreased at both soil layers (p < .05). This study provided new insight to understand the differential responses of soil N transformation to drought gradient. The threshold responses of the gross N transformation rates to aridity gradient should be noted in biogeochemical models to better predict N cycling and manage land in the context of global change.     

Diversity of Saxicolous Lichens along an Aridity Gradient in Central México

Lichens are symbiotic organisms that comprise a fungus and a photosynthetic partner wich are recognized as a good indicator of climate change. However, our understanding of how aridity affects the diversity of saxicolous lichens in drylands is still limited. To evaluate the relationship between saxicolous lichen diversity and aridity in a central México dryland, a geographical transect was established of 100 km to build an aridity gradient in the semiarid zone of the State of Querétaro, Mexico, comprising ten sampling sites with a 10 km separation. Species richness, abundance and diversity of soil lichen species were recorded using two sampling methods: the quadrat-intercept and the line-intercept method, to compare their performance in assessing soil lichen diversity in drylands. The number of species and Shannon diversity of saxicolous lichens were higher at intermediate values of the aridity index (AI = 0.10–0.34). Quadrat intercept and point intercept methods gave quite similar results, which means that the selected method does not influence the results in a significant way. This study confirms the role of saxicolous lichens as climate change indicators and reveals the importance of the sampling method selection in the evaluation of different parameters of soil lichen diversity in drylands.     

Tropical surface temperature response to vegetation cover changes and the role of drylands

Vegetation cover creates competing effects on land surface temperature: it typically cools through enhancing energy dissipation and warms via decreasing surface albedo. Global vegetation has been previously found to overall net cool land surfaces with cooling contributions from temperate and tropical vegetation and warming contributions from boreal vegetation. Recent studies suggest that dryland vegetation across the tropics strongly contributes to this global net cooling feedback. However, observation-based vegetation-temperature interaction studies have been limited in the tropics, especially in their widespread drylands. Theoretical considerations also call into question the ability of dryland vegetation to strongly cool the surface under low water availability. Here, we use satellite observations to investigate how tropical vegetation cover influences the surface energy balance. We find that while increased vegetation cover would impart net cooling feedbacks across the tropics, net vegetal cooling effects are subdued in drylands. Using observations, we determine that dryland plants have less ability to cool the surface due to their cooling pathways being reduced by aridity, overall less efficient dissipation of turbulent energy, and their tendency to strongly increase solar radiation absorption. As a result, while proportional greening across the tropics would create an overall biophysical cooling feedback, dryland tropical vegetation reduces the overall tropical surface cooling magnitude by at least 14%, instead of enhancing cooling as suggested by previous global studies.     

Grazing Gradient versus Restoration Succession of Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel. Grassland in Inner Mongolia

Grazing‐induced degradation of grasslands is the primary impediment to the socioeconomic development of Inner Mongolia. It affects the entire environment of northern China. Understanding grassland dynamics is necessary for restoration and sustainable management of these degraded ecosystems. The recovery dynamics of a degraded Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel. grassland after removal of grazing was studied in comparison with its spatial variation along a grazing gradient, using its climax community as a benchmark. The species composition, diversity, and biomass of the grassland vegetation, as well as the attributes (height, density, and individual mass) of major species, were examined on the eight sites along the grazing gradient and in the recovering grassland over 11 years. The spatial pattern of grassland vegetation along the grazing gradient closely reflected its recovery trajectory over time. Both the spatial and the temporal processes exhibited the same shift in species dominance in association with grazing removal or less grazing intensity. Grassland degradation was accompanied by an increase in species density and a decrease in species size; this trend was reversed during recovery. This result suggested that the degraded grassland is highly resilient and that restoration could occur naturally by reducing or excluding grazing animals. However, some differences existed between the spatial and the temporal processes. Species richness was high on the light‐ or no‐grazing sites along the gradient, but varied little during the recovery of the degraded grassland. Species evenness was high under moderate to light grazing along the gradient and was high at the beginning of the recovery period but not at the end. Although standing biomass improved significantly during the recovery period, it did not change significantly along the grazing gradient. These observed discrepancies were related to the intrinsic difference in the spatial versus temporal processes and are discussed together with the advantage/disadvantage of the grazing gradient versus dynamic monitoring methods in grassland dynamics studies.     

Recent greening of grasslands in northern China driven by increasing precipitation

近年中国北方草地变绿受降水增加的驱动 中国北方的暖湿化是近期的热点话题,然而其对植被生长的影响仍不清楚。本研究基于长时间序列(1982–2018年)数据,研究了归一化植被指数(NDVI)的时间动态及其气候驱动因子之间的关系,以探索近年来气候的暖湿化是否会导致该区植被变绿。我们采用分段回归探测了NDVI的变化趋势是否存在转变点,用Pearson相关分析描述了植被指数与气候因子的关系。最后,采用逐步多元回归方法研究了气候因子对NDVI时间变化的贡献率。研究结果表明,NDVI时间变化趋势的转变点出现在2008年,GIMMS NDVI在1982–2008年略有增加,上升速率为0.00022 yr⁻¹,在2008–2015年上升速率达到0.002 yr⁻¹,MODIS NDVI在2008–2018年上升速率为0.0018 yr⁻¹。降水是NDVI变化的主要驱动因子,气温和饱和水汽压差(VPD)对NDVI的变化影响较小。总体看来,NDVI时间序列变化趋势存在转变点,并且近期气候的暖湿化主导了中国北方草地植被变绿,这为今后更好地预测该地区气候变化下的植被覆盖变化提供了依据。