Plant community structure responds strongly to anthropogenic disturbances, which greatly influence community stability. The changes in community structure, aboveground biomass(AGB), biodiversity and community stability associated with different management practices were studied with a three-year field investigation in a temperate steppe of Inner Mongolia, China. The species richness, Shannon-Wiener index, evenness, plant functional type abundance, AGB, temporal community stability, summed covariance, scaling coefficient and dominant species stability were compared among areas subjected to long-term reservation(R), long-term grazing(G), mowing since enclosure in 2008(M) and grazing enclosure since 2008(E). Site R had higher perennial grass abundance and lower species richness than sites G, M and E, although the AGB was not significantly different among the four sites. The species structure varied from a single dominant species at site R to multiple dominant species at sites G, M and E. The long-term reservation grassland had lower biodiversity but higher stability, whereas the enclosed grassland with/without mowing had higher biodiversity but lower stability. Different stability mechanisms, such as the compensatory dynamics, mean-variance scaling and dominant species stability were examined. Results showed that community stability was most closely related to the relative stability of the dominant species, which supports the biomass ratio hypothesis proposed by Grime.
草地利用方式影响植被群落结构和土壤微环境,制约草地生态系统碳循环。该文通过测定温带草原在放牧、割草、围封3种利用方式下湿润年(2012年)和干旱年(2011年)的凋落物产量、质量及其分解速率和土壤碳通量,分析了草地利用方式对土壤呼吸和凋落物的影响,探讨了凋落物对土壤呼吸的贡献机制。结果表明:在干旱年份,放牧样地土壤呼吸最大,分别达到割草和围封样地的1.5倍和1.29倍;在湿润年份,割草样地土壤呼吸最大,为309 g C·m–2·a–1,明显高于放牧样地和围封样地。不论干旱年还是湿润年,围封样地凋落物产量都大于放牧样地和割草样地。3种利用方式下湿润年土壤呼吸和凋落物分解均比干旱年增强。因此,水分是温带草原植物生长和生态系统碳循环的主要限制因子,草地利用方式则显著影响凋落物生产和分解。进一步分析表明,经过两年的分解,同一样地内凋落物质量C:N下降,N含量和木质素:N升高,土壤呼吸与凋落物产量、凋落物分解速率以及木质素:N正相关,而与凋落物C:N负相关。
