Abstract
Climate change has altered the existing pattern of precipitation and has an important impact on the resistance and adaptability of desert plants. However, the interactive impact and the main characteristics of changes in precipitation amount and precipitation frequency on desert plants are unclear. Reaumuria soongarica seedlings were treated by artificially simulating changes in precipitation (30% reduction and 30% increase) and its frequency (50% reduction). We first introduced three morphological indicators (i.e., main root length/plant height ratio (RHR), above-ground radial density (ARD), and below−ground radial density (BRD)) and drew an abstract figure of seedling growth. This experiment confirmed the following: (1) The increase in precipitation noticeably increased the plant height, above-ground biomass, and total biomass of seedlings. (2) The plant height and the biomass of seedlings were more affected by precipitation amount than by precipitation frequency. No interaction was found between precipitation amount and precipitation frequency on the growth of seedlings. (3) The response of RHR to precipitation changes was extremely significant, increasing with decreasing precipitation and vice versa. (4) The ARD first increased then remained constant as precipitation increased, while ARD first decreased and then increased with decreasing precipitation. When precipitation increases, the BRD increases and the root system becomes relatively thicker and shorter, and vice versa. In this regard, R. soongarica seedlings mainly adapt to their resource supply by adjusting plant height, root length, thickness and biomass.
Highlights
Climate change is altering existing precipitation patterns [1,2]
We aim to answer the following questions: (1) What is the impact of precipitation pattern changes on the morphological characteristics of R. soongarica seedlings? (2) Can increasing precipitation and decreasing precipitation frequency promote the growth of R. soongarica seedlings? (3) What is the adaptive strategy of R. soongarica seedlings to precipitation pattern changes?
When the precipitation increased by 30% (W+) and the frequency of precipitation was three times per month (F−), the plant height was the highest (Figure 4)
Summary
Climate change is altering existing precipitation patterns [1,2]. The time and intensity of precipitation may change [3]. The interactive impact and the main characteristics of changes in precipitation amount and precipitation frequency to desert ecological are unclear Due to their morphological and functional characteristics, plants show their conservation or alteration status in every moment. Plants can be considered general biological indicators of the environment where they develop, especially in largescale plant communities [5]. This makes it possible that artificial simulated precipitation patterns change, as the anthropogenic disturbance was used to predict the possible impact of precipitation pattern changes in the future on desert plants and can be observed at different scales and grains of definition
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