科尔沁沙质草地植物群落高度空间异质性对不同放牧方式的响应

放牧是影响草地植被空间异质性的重要生物驱动因素。大型草食动物会通过采食、践踏和排泄粪便等方式影响草地植被空间异质性。同时,植物群落高度是重要的草地结构参数,但目前关于不同放牧方式对草地植物群落高度空间异质性的研究较少。该研究基于传统及地统计学方法,设置未放牧(NG)、牛单牧(CG)、羊单牧(SG)、牛羊混牧(MG) 4种处理,探究科尔沁沙质草地植物群落高度空间异质性对不同放牧方式的响应。结果表明:研究样地内植物群落平均高度为SG (38.86 cm)> NG(21.01 cm)> MG (17.29 cm)> CG (13.36 cm)。各处理下变异系数的结果均为中等变异,且变异范围在37.82%–66.97%之间,依次为NG> MG> CG> SG。通过对半方差函数参数进行最适模型拟合, NG、MG、CG、SG 4种处理分别对应球状模型、指数模型、线性模型、线性模型,且结构比大小为MG (82.7%)> NG (80.3%)> SG (40.2%)> CG (39.1%)。此外,采用Kriging插值法和分形维数对研究样地内植物群...

Response of spatial heterogeneity of plant community height to different herbivore assemblages in Horqin sandy grassland

Aims Grazing, as one of the important biological driving factors, plays a key role in the spatial heterogeneity of grassland plant community. Large herbivores can affect the spatial heterogeneity of grassland plant community by foraging, trampling and excreting dung. At the same time, plant community height is a key parameter to describe the structure of grassland. However, little attention has been paid to exploring the spatial heterogeneity of plant community height under different herbivore assemblages. Aim to this issue, this work examined the response of the spatial heterogeneity of plant community height to different herbivore assemblages in Horqin sandy grassland, which is helpful to better understand the importance of grazing in maintaining spatial heterogeneity of grassland plant community and promote grassland animal biodiversity.