Factors that alter the relative importance of abiotic and biotic drivers on the fertile island in a desert-oasis ecotone

Abstract

Dryland vegetation forms a “fertile island effect” due to water and nutrient retention. However, there has been little research on the mechanism underlying C-, N-, P-accumulation and overall fertile island at the community level. We therefore presented the systematic investigation on this issue through the survey in desert-oasis ecotone. The survey covering the vegetation composition, plant height, crown area and vegetation cover. The main parameters measured included soil moisture, soil pH, soil salinity and nine soil indicators related to C, N and P cycling. The results revealed that the effect of fertile island was directly relevant to either soil moisture or pH. This effect was more obvious with the increase of soil moisture and the decrease of pH value. In addition, the plant diversity was believed to be the main biotic driven factor for fertile island. Furthermore, the results also indicated that both the soil moisture and plant diversity would accelerate the accumulation of P and N, while the pH played the negative effect. The other main observation obtained was that the vegetation cover had positive effect on accumulation of C. As a result, the mechanisms related to drought and salinization could drive the difference of C-, N- and P-accumulation. The main findings also provided an effective reference to better understand the mechanism of fertile island and its desertification procedure in desert-oasis ecotone.