Elizabeth J. Jacobo^1,#,*, Adriana M. Rodríguez^2,#

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.6, pp. 1179-1202, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.050928

Abstract The Flooding Pampa grasslands are the last remnant of the Rio de la Plata grasslands in Argentina. Anthropogenic interventions have led to severe degradation and, as a result, the ecosystem services provided by the grasslands are declining, in terms of provisioning, regulating, and supporting services. We synthesized the existing literature on the ecosystem goods and services provided by these grasslands under grazing in different conditions and conservation status. We found that plant and animal diversity and primary production are the most studied ecosystem services, while climate regulation, water supply, nutrient cycling, meat production and erosion… More >

Quiroga Mendiola Mariana^1,2,*, Tálamo Andrés^3,4

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.5, pp. 1067-1080, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.050556

Abstract The Puna grasslands support grazing systems that produce meat and wool in multi-species herds, especially from llama (Lama glama) and sheep. However, it is yet unknown whether grazing pressure can modify grassland structure and Plant Functional Types diversity and cover in Puna grasslands. We analyzed the relationship between grazing pressure and Plant Functional Types by comparing transects located near stockyards (high grazing pressure) and far from them (low pressure) and by evaluating the relationship between the Plant Functional Types cover to a Grazing Pressure Index (GPI). This index incorporates the heterogeneity of traditional pastoral management. At… More >

Biying Qiu^1,2, Niwu Te², Lin Song², Yuan Shi², Chuan Qiu², Xiaoan Zuo³, Qiang Yu⁴, Jianqiang Qian⁵, Zhengwen Wang², Honghui Wu^6,7, Wentao Luo^2,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.4, pp. 831-841, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.047560

Abstract The responses of ecosystem nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to drought are an important component of global change studies. However, previous studies were more often based on site-specific experiments, introducing a significant uncertainty to synthesis and site comparisons. We investigated the responses of vegetation and soil nutrients to drought using a network experiment of temperate grasslands in Northern China. Drought treatment (66% reduction in growing season precipitation) was imposed by erecting rainout shelters, respectively, at the driest, intermediate, and wettest sites. We found that vegetation nutrient concentrations increased but soil nutrient concentrations decreased along the… More >

Ruochen Wang^1,#, Jianjun Dong^2,#, Lishan Jin³, Yuyan Sun³, Taogetao Baoyin², Xiumei Wang^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.2, pp. 387-411, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.047573

Abstract Grassland biomass is an important parameter of grassland ecosystems. The complexity of the grassland canopy vegetation spectrum makes the long-term assessment of grassland growth a challenge. Few studies have explored the original spectral information of typical grasslands in Inner Mongolia and examined the influence of spectral information on aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation. In order to improve the accuracy of vegetation index inversion of grassland AGB, this study combined ground and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) remote sensing technology and screened sensitive bands through ground hyperspectral data transformation and correlation analysis. The narrow band vegetation indices were… More >

Shiqi Luo^1,3, Wenbo Chen^2,3,*, Lei He⁴, Qiongbing Xiong^1,3

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.2, pp. 455-470, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.022466

Abstract As one of the basic theories of biodiversity conservation, island biogeography has been widely accepted in the past decades. Originally, island biogeography was put forward and applied in oceanic environments. But later on, it was found out that the application was not only limited to oceanic islands, but also in terrestrial environments with relatively isolated conditions. In terms of biodiversity level, island biogeography generally focuses on a small scale, such as species diversity and genetic diversity. The studies of biodiversity on a large-scale based on island biogeography, such as ecosystem and landscape scales, were seldomly… More >

Yajie Liu, Yunhui Zhou, Linlin Fang, Chunxue Yang^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.1, pp. 297-310, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.023152

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can form symbiosis with 90% of the vascular plants and play important roles in ecosystem. To realize the AM fungal colonization at different succession stages in saline-alkali land and screen AM fungi species with great functions, roots and soil samples were collected from the three succession stages of Songnen saline-alkali grassland. The soil properties and AM fungal colonization were measured, and the fungus distributed extensively in three stages was annotated by sequencing for AML1/AML2 target, subsequently, maize was selected as the host to verify its colonization. The results showed that the soil

… More >

YAJIE LIU, LINLIN FANG, CHUNXUE YANG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.11, pp. 2475-2488, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.021477

Abstract Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are widely distributed in various habitats, and the community composition varies in response to the changing environmental conditions. To explore the response of community composition to the succession of saline-alkali land, soil samples were collected from three succession stages of Songnen saline-alkali grassland. Subsequently, the soil characteristics were determined and the AM fungi in soil samples were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. Then, the response relationship between community composition and soil characteristics was studied by Canonical correlation and Pearson analyses. The soil properties improved with the succession of saline-alkali grassland. There was… More >

YUNHUI ZHOU, YAJIE LIU, WENNA ZHAO, FEI CHEN, YUDAN WANG, CHUNXUE YANG

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.11, pp. 2465-2474, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.021016

Abstract Salinization has led to the deterioration of the ecological environment, affected the growth of plants, and hindered the development of agriculture and forestry. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, as important soil microorganisms, play significant physiological and ecological roles in promoting plant nutrient absorption and improving soil structure. Puccinellia tenuiflora (Turcz.) Scribn. et Merr. in Songnen saline-alkaline grassland was selected as the research object to observe AM fungal colonization of the roots and explore the species and diversity of AM fungi in symbiotic association with P. tenuiflora. This study showed that AM fungi colonized in P. tenuiflora roots and formed… More >

Chunxue Yang^*, Yajie Liu, Wenna Zhao, Na Wang

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.90, No.3, pp. 719-729, 2021, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2021.015024

Abstract To understand arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi resources and develop AM fungal species in ornamental plants with saline-alkaline tolerances, Iris lactea, which grows in the Songnen saline-alkaline grassland with a high ornamental value, was selected as the experimental material, and the colonization characteristics of its roots and the AM fungal diversity in its rhizosphere were explored. The results of the observations and calculations of mycorrhizae from ten different samples showed that AM fungi colonized the roots of I. lactea and formed Arum-type mycorrhizal structures. There was a significant correlation between soil spore density and pH value, while the colonization… More >

Zhou C^1,2, C Busso³, J Liu¹, YG Yang¹, Y Sun¹, YZ Fang¹, QQ Zhang¹, YB Zhou^1,4, YN Wang^1,4, Z Zhang^4,5, ZW Wang⁶, YF Yang²

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.85, pp. 125-130, 2016, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2016.85.125

Abstract The objective of this study was to analyze the relationships between total aboveground plant biomass versus altitude, latitude, longitude, mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and species diversity. Simple linear regression analysis was used to study these relationships. Results showed that altitude was significantly, positively (R²= 0.038, P<0.01) related with total plant aboveground biomass. Meanwhile, when longitude (R²= 0.124, P<0.001) and latitude (R²= 0.221, P<0.001) increased, total aboveground biomass decreased. The relationship between biomass and mean annual precipitation was significantly, positively linear (R²= 0.149, P<0.001). Mean annual temperature was significantly, negatively correlated with biomass (R²= 0.145, P<0.001). The More >