极端降水和极端干旱事件对草原生态系统的影响

当前人类活动的加剧显著地影响着全球大气循环的格局。大气循环的多个模型均预测未来全球气候变化的显著特征是极端降水事件和极端干旱事件发生的频率会显著增加。水分是干旱、半干旱区草原植物生长发育的限制性资源, 而草原生态系统是陆地生态系统中对降水格局变化非常敏感的系统。但是, 关于极端降水事件和极端干旱事件对草原生态系统结构和功能的影响还是以分散的个案研究为主, 甚至关于极端气候事件的定义迄今也不尽相同。为此, 该文在分析极端气候事件定义及其研究方法的基础上, 总结了极端降水事件和极端干旱事件对草原生态系统土壤水分和养分状况、植物生长发育和生理特性、群落结构、生产力和碳循环过程的影响, 并提出了未来极端气候事件研究中应重点关注的5个重要方向, 以及控制试验研究的2个关键科学问题, 对开展全球变化背景下草原生态系统对极端气候事件响应机制的研究具有指导意义。     

干旱、半干旱环境降水脉动对生态系统的影响

干旱、半干旱环境降水事件通常以脉动的形式发生,其发生时间、持续时间以及降水强度均具有较大变异性,降水事件的间断性和不可预知特征导致土壤水分与养分等关键资源的获得也呈不连续的脉动状态.资源脉动对生态系统的影响涉及个体、种群、甚至群落各个尺度.本文从干旱、半干旱环境资源脉动对生态系统的影响,以及生态系统对脉动事件的响应两方面系统综述了近年来的最新研究进展.指出国内外在资源脉动特征对生态系统的影响、不同生态系统资源脉动效应之间存在的差异、影响资源脉动持续时间的生态水文机制、资源可获得性对生态过程的影响等方面的研究尚处于尝试阶段,在全球气候变化、降水格局显著改变背景下,干旱区不同时空尺度资源脉动影响和生态系统响应是未来的研究重点.     

全球气候变化下植物水分利用效率研究进展

气候变化是20世纪80年代以来全球最为关注的环境问题之一,显著影响着植物的生产力以及水分运移和利用格局,改变植物个体、群落及生态系统的水分利用效率（WUE）,最终影响植被分布格局和群落结构.开展植物WUE的研究有助于理解和预测陆地植被对全球变化的响应和适应对策,从而为应对全球变化提供新的依据.本文从叶片、个体、群体或生态系统等不同尺度简要介绍了植物水分利用效率的概念及测定方法,着重综述了气候变暖、CO₂浓度升高、降水变化和氮沉降等重要气候因子及其复合作用对植物WUE的影响研究进展,以及不同立地条件下植物WUE变化特征及生存适应策略,指出当前研究中存在的问题,并对全球气候变化下植物WUE的研究进行展望.     

日尺度下水热因子变化对青藏高原高寒草原生产力的影响特征

温度和降水变化显著影响高寒生态系统植被生长和系统功能。草地生产力作为草地系统功能强弱的重要体现,对气候变化,特别是温度和降水变化十分敏感。探究高寒草原生产力如何响应气候变化,对预测未来气候变化情景下高寒草地系统功能变化意义重大。前期研究大都从年或季节尺度探究气候变化对草地生产力的影响特征,缺乏更精细时间尺度的关联分析。本研究基于1997—2020年青藏高原高寒草原长期植被观测数据及相应气候资料,应用简单线性回归及偏最小二乘回归法(Partial Least Squares regression, PLS)探究了研究区草地地上净初级生产力对日尺度温度和降水变化响应特征。结果表明：(1)近24 a来研究区年平均气温和降水量分别以0.03℃/a和4.36 mm/a的速率显著升高;(2)近24 a来研究区草地生产力显著升高(增幅为5.24 g m^-2 a^-1),且与年平均温度和降水量呈显著正相关关系;(3)日尺度分析表明,不同阶段温度和降水变化对草地生产力的影响不同,其中5—8月和9—10月的温度及5—7月和9—11月的降水是影响研究区草地生产力的气...     

青藏高原草地生态系统对气候变化的响应

青藏高原高寒草地生态系统对气候变化高度敏感,其如何响应和反馈气候变化一直以来受到极大关注.本文系统综述了近5年来有关青藏高原草地生态系统在物候、生产力、碳循环等方面对气候变化的响应过程以及应对气候变化的适应性管理的最新研究成果,发现气候变化对高寒草地生态系统的诸多影响还存在很大的不确定性.多数研究结果表明,增温使高寒草甸的植被物候提前和初级生产力水平提高,而高寒草原有相反的影响趋势,说明不同地域、不同群落类型对不同季节温度变化的响应模式不同.而气候变化对物种多样性和碳循环有关过程的影响结果尚没有一致的结论,时空尺度和方法上的差异可能是导致不同结果的主要原因.因此,建议在增强时空异质性的响应与反馈研究的同时,更需要加强生态过程和机理的研究.     

全球降水格局变化下土壤氮循环研究进展

自然和人为因素导致全球降水格局发生改变,降水变化势必影响土壤氮循环,从而影响陆地生态系统生产力和多样性,然而不同降水变化类型对土壤氮循环的影响仍然缺乏足够的认识。因此,本文综合分析了全球和我国降水格局变化特征,简要介绍了6种降水格局变化下土壤氮循环的研究方法（长期降水固定观测、野外降水控制实验、自然降水梯度、室内培养、模型和遥感）,系统综述了3种降水变化类型（降水波动、干旱、干湿交替）,以及降水与温度、氮沉降等交互作用对土壤氮循环影响的研究进展与存在的问题,并展望了未来研究方向,为评估和预测未来降水变化对陆地生态系统功能的影响提供理论依据。     

Are regional precipitation–productivity relationships robust to decadal-scale dry period?

降水-生产力的空间关系是否稳定不变？ 降水是全球陆地生态系统中植被生长和净初级生产力的主要驱动因素。因此,探究降水和生产力关系有助于深入了解气候变化如何改变生态系统功能。降水-生产力的空间关系在全球不同草地上非常相似,但在连续多年气候异常的情况下,这种关系是否会发生变化以及如何变化尚不清楚。本研究利用 利用中国北方温带草地长达10年低于多年平均降水的时期,基于遥感植被指数数据,量化了区域尺度上降水-植被生产力关系在持续多年的干湿期之间将如何变化。结果表明,在连续10年的干期,降水-生产力空间相关性急剧下降,而该空间关系的下降主要是由于不同草原类型对干旱的响应在空间上存在高度的异质性,即不同生态系统对干旱的响应程度存在差异。因此,如果未来气候变化进一步加剧全球草地的干旱,那么基于历史时期(平水期)得到的降水-生产力空间关系推测区域尺度植被生产力可能导致误差。     

增温增水对草地生态系统碳循环关键过程的影响

生态系统碳循环是生态系统过程的重要组成部分,对碳循环关键过程机理的研究有助于更好地理解生态系统过程。目前,气候变化（全球变暖、降水时空格局变化）对草地生态系统过程产生了重要的影响。综述了气候变化（温度和降水变化）对草地生态系统碳循环关键过程（植物生产力、植物物候、植物根系周转、生态系统呼吸和生态系统净碳交换）的影响,在此基础上指出了目前气候变化（温度和降水变化）控制试验研究的不足,并进一步提出了今后应该加强研究的方向。     

土地利用约束下中国东部南北样带生产力和植被分布对全球变化的响应

对现有的区域植被动态模拟模型进行了改进,使之包含了土地利用分布格局对植被和生态系统相关过程的影响.改进后的模型被用于研究中国东部南北样带(NSTEC)植被和净第一性生产力对未来气候变化的响应.模拟结果显示土地利用格局对未来气候条件下植被分布的变迁和生产力形成过程有非常显著的影响.与没有土地利用约束的情形相比较,土地利用作为限制条件缓减了植被类型之间的竞争,从而减少了模拟的样带区域内常绿阔叶林,但增加了模拟灌木和草地的分布.土地利用约束使得模拟得到的当前条件下的净第一性生产力更为接近实际情况,且未来气候条件下的生产力改变量更为可信.对未来CO2倍增条件下7个大气环流模型预测的气候情景的模拟结果表明:落叶阔叶林将显著增加,但针叶林、灌木和草原的分布将下降.未来气候条件下NSTEC样带的净第一性生产力总量将增加.预测样带北部的净第一性生产力的变化范围大于样带南部.温度变化比降水变化对样带的生产力具有更强的控制.     

气候变化对雌雄异株植物影响的研究进展

雌雄异株植物作为陆地生态系统的重要组成部分,在维持生态系统结构和功能稳定性方面发挥着关键作用。但是,由于雌雄异株植物的不同性别植株在形态特征、生理特征和资源分配等方面均存在明显差异,至今对全球气候变化背景下雌雄植物的性别差异响应机制的认识仍十分有限。本文综述了全球变暖、降水变化和大气CO2浓度升高等主要气候因子变化对雌雄异株植物的影响,探讨了雌雄异株植物对气候变化响应的性别差异,提出了未来雌雄异株植物与气候变化关系研究的重点,以期为揭示陆地生态系统结构和功能稳定性对气候变化的响应机制提供参考依据。     

Climate change experiments in temperate grasslands: synthesis and future directions

The immediate need to understand the complex responses of grasslands to climate change, to ensure food supplies and to mitigate future climate change through carbon sequestration, necessitate a global, synthesized approach. Numerous manipulative experiments have altered temperature or precipitation, often in conjunction with other interacting factors such as grazing, to understand potential effects of climate change on the ecological integrity of temperate grasslands and understand the mechanisms of change. Although the different ways in which temperature and precipitation may change to effect grasslands were well represented, variability in methodology limited generalizations. Results from these experiments were also largely mixed and complex; thus, a broad understanding of temperate grassland responses to these factors remains elusive. A collaboration based on a set of globally dispersed, inexpensive experiments with consistent methodology would provide the data needed to better understand responses of temperate grassland to climate change.     

Asymmetric responses of primary productivity to precipitation extremes: A synthesis of grassland precipitation manipulation experiments

Climatic changes are altering Earth's hydrological cycle, resulting in altered precipitation amounts, increased interannual variability of precipitation, and more frequent extreme precipitation events. These trends will likely continue into the future, having substantial impacts on net primary productivity (NPP) and associated ecosystem services such as food production and carbon sequestration. Frequently, experimental manipulations of precipitation have linked altered precipitation regimes to changes in NPP. Yet, findings have been diverse and substantial uncertainty still surrounds generalities describing patterns of ecosystem sensitivity to altered precipitation. Additionally, we do not know whether previously observed correlations between NPP and precipitation remain accurate when precipitation changes become extreme. We synthesized results from 83 case studies of experimental precipitation manipulations in grasslands worldwide. We used meta‐analytical techniques to search for generalities and asymmetries of aboveground NPP (ANPP) and belowground NPP (BNPP) responses to both the direction and magnitude of precipitation change. Sensitivity (i.e., productivity response standardized by the amount of precipitation change) of BNPP was similar under precipitation additions and reductions, but ANPP was more sensitive to precipitation additions than reductions; this was especially evident in drier ecosystems. Additionally, overall relationships between the magnitude of productivity responses and the magnitude of precipitation change were saturating in form. The saturating form of this relationship was likely driven by ANPP responses to very extreme precipitation increases, although there were limited studies imposing extreme precipitation change, and there was considerable variation among experiments. This highlights the importance of incorporating gradients of manipulations, ranging from extreme drought to extreme precipitation increases into future climate change experiments. Additionally, policy and land management decisions related to global change scenarios should consider how ANPP and BNPP responses may differ, and that ecosystem responses to extreme events might not be predicted from relationships found under moderate environmental changes.     

新疆草地净初级生产力(NPP)空间分布格局及其对气候变化的响应

分析植被物候与净初级生产力对气候变化的响应一直是研究全球变化的核心内容之一。新疆草地生态系统极为脆弱,对气候和环境变化的影响十分敏感,在新疆地区开展草地物候和净初级生产力及其对气候变化的响应有着独特的意义。基于遥感数据和野外台站实测数据,利用CASA模型模拟了新疆草地植被净初级生产力(NPP),阐述了2001—2014年新疆地区草地的NPP的空间格局及与气象因子的关系。(1)通过实测生物量精度检验表明,CASA模型基本可以反映新疆地区草地植被NPP。(2)2001—2014年新疆草地NPP平均值为102.49 gC m^-2 a^-1。不同草地类型的NPPA存在明显差异。其中,山地草甸平均NPP最高,达到252.37 gC m^-2 a^-1;温性草甸草原次之,为204.93 gC m^-2 a^-1。高寒荒漠和温性荒漠的平均NPP最低,分别为43.94 gC m^-2 a^-1,53.11 gC m^-2 ...     

Impacts of altered precipitation regimes on soil communities and biogeochemistry in arid and semi‐arid ecosystems

Altered precipitation patterns resulting from climate change will have particularly significant consequences in water‐limited ecosystems, such as arid to semi‐arid ecosystems, where discontinuous inputs of water control biological processes. Given that these ecosystems cover more than a third of Earth's terrestrial surface, it is important to understand how they respond to such alterations. Altered water availability may impact both aboveground and belowground communities and the interactions between these, with potential impacts on ecosystem functioning; however, most studies to date have focused exclusively on vegetation responses to altered precipitation regimes. To synthesize our understanding of potential climate change impacts on dryland ecosystems, we present here a review of current literature that reports the effects of precipitation events and altered precipitation regimes on belowground biota and biogeochemical cycling. Increased precipitation generally increases microbial biomass and fungal:bacterial ratio. Few studies report responses to reduced precipitation but the effects likely counter those of increased precipitation. Altered precipitation regimes have also been found to alter microbial community composition but broader generalizations are difficult to make. Changes in event size and frequency influences invertebrate activity and density with cascading impacts on the soil food web, which will likely impact carbon and nutrient pools. The long‐term implications for biogeochemical cycling are inconclusive but several studies suggest that increased aridity may cause decoupling of carbon and nutrient cycling. We propose a new conceptual framework that incorporates hierarchical biotic responses to individual precipitation events more explicitly, including moderation of microbial activity and biomass by invertebrate grazing, and use this framework to make some predictions on impacts of altered precipitation regimes in terms of event size and frequency as well as mean annual precipitation. While our understanding of dryland ecosystems is improving, there is still a great need for longer term in situ manipulations of precipitation regime to test our model.     

青藏高原高寒草地退化对土壤及微生物化学计量特征的影响

草地是我国陆地生态系统的重要组成部分, 具有重要的生产和生态功能。过去几十年来, 受气候变化和过度放牧等因素影响, 我国90%的天然草地发生不同程度退化。草地退化打破了土壤养分平衡, 影响草地生态系统的结构和功能。该研究以青藏高原高寒草地为研究对象, 基于三江源区多点采样和整个青藏高原高寒草地的meta分析相结合的手段, 解析了表层0-10 cm土壤和微生物碳氮磷含量及其化学计量特征随不同草地退化程度(未退化、中度和重度退化)的变化规律。结果显示, 草地退化整体上降低土壤有机碳、总氮和总磷含量及其化学计量比。土壤微生物碳氮含量随着退化程度的加剧而下降, 微生物磷含量不受退化的影响。微生物碳氮磷化学计量比沿退化梯度没有显著的变化规律, 且土壤和微生物元素化学计量比之间未呈现显著相关关系。以上结果表明, 草地退化致使土壤养分化学计量关系发生显著改变, 微生物群落自身却能维持一定的养分平衡。在长时间尺度上, 基于养分平衡的土壤质量提升技术可有效地促进退化高寒草地恢复, 改善其生态系统服务功能。     

Unexpected patterns of sensitivity to drought in three semi-arid grasslands

Global climate models forecast an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including severe droughts. Based on multi-year relationships between precipitation amount and aboveground annual net primary production (ANPP), semi-arid grasslands are projected to be among the most sensitive ecosystems to changes in precipitation. To assess sensitivity to drought, as well as variability within the shortgrass steppe biome, we imposed moderate and severe rainfall reductions for two growing seasons in three undisturbed grasslands that varied in soil type and climate. We predicted strong drought-induced reductions in ANPP at all sites and greater sensitivity to drought in sites with lower average precipitation, consistent with continental-scale patterns. Identical experimental infrastructure at each site reduced growing season rainfall events by 50 or 80%, and significantly reduced average soil moisture in both years (by 21 and 46% of control levels, respectively). Despite reductions in soil moisture, ANPP responses varied unexpectedly-from no reduction in ANPP to a 51% decrease. Although sensitivity to drought was highest in the semi-arid grassland with lowest mean annual precipitation, patterns in responses to drought across these grasslands were also strongly related to rainfall event size. When growing season rainfall patterns were dominated by many smaller events, ANPP was significantly reduced by drought but not when rainfall patterns were characterized by large rain events. This interaction between drought sensitivity and rainfall event size suggests that ANPP responses to future droughts may be reduced if growing season rainfall regimes also become more extreme.     

Contrasting above‐ and belowground sensitivity of three Great Plains grasslands to altered rainfall regimes

Intensification of the global hydrological cycle with atmospheric warming is expected to increase interannual variation in precipitation amount and the frequency of extreme precipitation events. Although studies in grasslands have shown sensitivity of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) to both precipitation amount and event size, we lack equivalent knowledge for responses of belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) and NPP. We conducted a 2‐year experiment in three US Great Plains grasslands – the C₄‐dominated shortgrass prairie (SGP; low ANPP) and tallgrass prairie (TGP; high ANPP), and the C₃‐dominated northern mixed grass prairie (NMP; intermediate ANPP) – to test three predictions: (i) both ANPP and BNPP responses to increased precipitation amount would vary inversely with mean annual precipitation (MAP) and site productivity; (ii) increased numbers of extreme rainfall events during high‐rainfall years would affect high and low MAP sites differently; and (iii) responses belowground would mirror those aboveground. We increased growing season precipitation by as much as 50% by augmenting natural rainfall via (i) many (11–13) small or (ii) fewer (3–5) large watering events, with the latter coinciding with naturally occurring large storms. Both ANPP and BNPP increased with water addition in the two C₄ grasslands, with greater ANPP sensitivity in TGP, but greater BNPP and NPP sensitivity in SGP. ANPP and BNPP did not respond to any rainfall manipulations in the C₃‐dominated NMP. Consistent with previous studies, fewer larger (extreme) rainfall events increased ANPP relative to many small events in SGP, but event size had no effect in TGP. Neither system responded consistently above‐ and belowground to event size; consequently, total NPP was insensitive to event size. The diversity of responses observed in these three grassland types underscores the challenge of predicting responses relevant to C cycling to forecast changes in precipitation regimes even within relatively homogeneous biomes such as grasslands.     

Physiology-based prognostic modeling of the influence of changes in precipitation on a keystone dryland plant species

Fluctuations in mean annual precipitation (MAP) will strongly influence the ecology of dryland ecosystems in the future, yet, because individual precipitation events drive growth and resource availability for many dryland organisms, changes in intra-annual precipitation may disproportionately influence future dryland processes. This work examines the hypothesis that intra-annual precipitation changes will drive dryland productivity to a greater extent than changes to MAP. To test this hypothesis, we created a physiology-based model to predict the effects of precipitation change on a widespread biocrust moss that regulates soil structure, water retention, and nutrient cycling in drylands. First, we used the model to examine moss productivity over the next 100 years driven by alterations in MAP by ±10, 20 and 30 %, and changes in intra-annual precipitation (event size and frequency). Productivity increased as a function of MAP, but differed among simulations where intra-annual precipitation was manipulated under constant MAP. Supporting our hypothesis, this demonstrates that, even if MAP does not change, changes in the features of individual precipitation events can strongly influence long-term performance. Second, we used the model to examine 100-year productivity based on projected dryland precipitation from published global and regional models. These simulations predicted 25–63 % reductions in productivity and increased moss mortality rates, declines that will likely alter water and nutrient cycling in dryland ecosystems. Intra-annual precipitation in model-based simulations was a stronger predictor of productivity compared to MAP, further supporting our hypothesis, and illustrating that intra-annual precipitation patterns may dominate dryland responses to altered precipitation in a future climate.     

Spatial patterns of soil and ecosystem respiration regulated by biological and environmental variables along a precipitation gradient in semi-arid grasslands in China

Precipitation is a key environmental factor in determining ecosystem structure and function. Knowledge of how soil and ecosystem respiration responds to climate change (e.g., precipitation) and human activities (e.g., grazing or clipping) is crucial for assessing the impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems and for improving model simulations and predictions of future global carbon (C) cycling in response to human activities. In this study, we examined the spatial patterns of soil and ecosystem respiration along a precipitation gradient from 167.7 to 398.1 mm in a semi-arid grassland. Our results showed that soil and ecosystem respiration increased linearly with increasing mean annual precipitation. The trends were similar to those of shoot biomass, litter and soil total C content along the precipitation gradient. Our results indicated that precipitation was the primary controlling factor in determining the spatial pattern of soil and ecosystem respiration in semi-arid grasslands in China. The linear/nonlinear relationships in this study describing the variations of the ecosystem carbon process with precipitation can be useful for model development, parameterization and validation at the regional scale to improve predictions of how carbon processes in grasslands respond to climate change, land use and grassland management.     

荒漠草原与典型草原NPP、碳积累对不同降雨年份和利用方式的响应

不同草原利用方式正在影响着内蒙古的草原生态系统,而且在未来降水空间格局变化的背景下,它们共同决定了生态系统植被类型、净初级生产力(NPP)和生态系统碳积累。选取内蒙古中部两个重要的草地类型:荒漠草原和典型草原,研究不同草原利用方式(围栏禁牧、划区轮牧、割草、自由放牧)植物群落在降雨量不同的两个生长季节地上(ANPP)、地下净初级生产力(BNPP)的变化,同时也评估了植物群落的碳积累,研究结果表明:1)在降雨量亏缺年份,与围封相比,荒漠草原自由放牧区ANPP、BNPP及碳积累分别下降了57.1%、51.7%和56.0%,而典型草原自由放牧区分别下降了18.4%、25.1%和17.9%。2)在降雨量充足年份,与围封相比,荒漠草原划区轮牧区ANPP、BNPP以及碳积累分别增加了18.2%、9.8%和21.9%,而典型草原各处理下围封禁牧区ANPP仍是最高;3)两种草地类型下,降雨量对自由放牧的调控作用高于其它草地利用方式;4)荒漠草原ANPP在丰雨年是欠雨年的2倍,而典型草原仅增加了79.0%,降雨量对荒漠草原生产力的季节调控作用远高于典型草原。在未来全球气候变暖和降水格局变化的情况下,荒漠草原降雨量是影响荒漠植物群落NPP和碳积累的主导因子。