Sugars Will Eventually Be Exported Transporters (SWEETs) are involved in plant growth and development, particularly in resistance to adverse environments. Achnatherum splendens (Trin.) Nevski exhibits rhizosheath formation and demonstrates notable salt and drought tolerance. We identified 31 sugar transporter family genes (AsSWEETs) from the Achnatherum splendens genome in the NCBI database and performed bioinformatics analyses, including gene structure, subcellular localization, conserved sequences, promoter cis-acting elements, phylogenetic relationships, and chromosomal localization. The 31 AsSWEET genes are distributed across 13 chromosomes, encoding peptides ranging from 375 to 1353 amino acids. Their predicted molecular weights range from 31,499.38 to 109,286.91 Da, with isoelectric points (pI) between 4.78 and 5.21. The aliphatic index values range from 13.59 to 24.19, and the grand average of hydropathicity (GRAVY) values range from 0.663 to 1.664. An analysis of promoter cis-acting elements reveals that all 31 AsSWEET genes contain multiple elements related to light, stress, and hormone responses. Subcellular localization predictions indicate that most genes in this family are localized to the plasma membrane or tonoplast, with AsSWEET12-2 and AsSWEET3b localized in chloroplasts and AsSWEET2b-2 in the nucleus. qRT-PCR results show that AsSWEET13-1, AsSWEET13-3, and AsSWEET1a exhibit upregulated expression in response to salt and drought stress in the roots of Achnatherum splendens. These genes may serve as candidate genes for investigating the stress resistance mechanisms of Achnatherum splendens. The findings provide a theoretical basis for further research on stress resistance mechanisms and candidate gene identification under salt and drought stress in Achnatherum splendens.

Relationships between leaf morphologies and stomatal traits of Achnatherum splendens under different soil moistures in semiarid Northern China.

Grassland ecosystems play a crucial role in sustaining the stability of global ecosystem functions. However, the plant communities of grasslands exhibit spatially heterogeneous stability patterns such as vegetation patches influenced by human disturbances, herbivore activities, and climatic and topographic factors. This study investigated the vegetation dynamics in the Thymus mongolicus steppe in Bairin Right Banner, Inner Mongolia, analyzing the structural characteristics, species diversity, and community stability across six vegetation patches. Our findings revealed that patches dominated by grasses exhibited the highest values in coverage, height, density, and aboveground biomass. Besides, species diversity indices were highest in Achnatherum splendens patches and Festuca litvinovii patches, followed by Thymus mongolicus communities and Leymus chinensis patches, while the lowest diversity indices were observed in Artemisia frigida patches and Convolvulus ammannii patches. The order of community stability from high to low was Leymus chinensis patches, Festuca litvinovii patches, Achnatherum splendens patches, Convolvulus ammannii patches, Artemisia frigida patches, and Thymus mongolicus communities. Both the Patrick richness index and Margalef index showed a significant positive correlation with community stability (p < 0.05), indicating that plant communities with a higher species diversity tend to be more stable. These results emphasize the critical role of plant diversity in mediating community stability and contribute to the development of more effective grassland conservation and restoration strategies to maintain the health and sustainability of grassland ecosystems.

This study aimed to reveal the effects of crude oil addition on the characteristics of soil microbial communities and ecosystem multifunctionality in Achnatherum splendens and Pennisetum alopecuroides. Specifically, it explored how crude oil addition influences the relationship between soil nutrient regulation, microbial community characteristics, and ecosystem multifunctionality. The results indicated that as crude oil addition increased, the Shannon index and Chao1 index for soil bacteria and fungi in both Achnatherum splendens and Pennisetum alopecuroides increased. Conversely, while the Shannon index for soil archaea in both species increased, the Chao1 index decreased. The ecological network analysis indicated that a strong collaborative relationship existed between species in the soil bacterial communities of Achnatherum splendens and Pennisetum alopecuroides exposed to 10 g/kg crude oil, as well as between species in the soil fungal and archaeal communities of Achnatherum splendens exposed to 40 g/kg crude oil. A strong collaborative relationship was also observed between species in the soil fungal and archaeal communities of Pennisetum alopecuroides exposed to 10 g/kg crude oil. The bacterial and fungal communities exerted a significant direct negative regulatory effect on the soil ecosystem multifunctionality of Achnatherum splendens and Pennisetum alopecuroides, while the archaeal communities had a significant direct positive regulatory effect. Additionally, the multifunctionality index of the soil ecosystem in Achnatherum splendens and Pennisetum showed a significant decline with increasing crude oil addition. This is likely due to the higher toxicity of high-concentration crude oil, which negatively impacts the soil biological community, leading to reduced biodiversity and disruptions in nutrient cycles. This study explores the characteristics of bacterial, fungal, and archaeal communities and ecosystem multifunctionality under different levels of crude oil, which can provide theoretical support for evaluating the restoration of Achnatherum splendens and Pennisetum alopecuroides from crude oil pollution.

To study the possible effect of 3Н on the cytogenetic parameters of plants, studies were conducted on plants growing in the ground water discharge zone with a high content of 3Н. Cytogenetic parameters of chee grass (Achnatherum splendens) have been studied. The effects of 3Н on the cytogenetic structure of plants were evaluated. In the course of research, the effect of 3Н on the cytogenetic effects of chee grass (Achnatherum splendens) at the studied concentrations in this experiment was revealed.

Coal mining has significantly degraded the ecological environment, and the ecosystem structure of the southern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains is complex, with drought, low rainfall, and ecological fragility increasing the difficulty of ecological restoration. There are few studies on the selection of suitable pioneer species for the restoration of mining areas on the south slope of Tianshan Mountain. In this study, we investigated the artificial restoration of vegetation in the damaged areas of nine representative coal mines on the south slope of the Tianshan Mountains. We categorized the coal mines into three classes based on elevation. Using a combination of the entropy weight method and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), indicators such as the diversity index and vegetation cover were selected to compare the recovery of vegetation in the mining area and screen for suitable pioneer species in ecologically damaged areas. The results show the following: (1) Based on the entropy weight TOPSIS findings, Run Hua coal mine, Da Wanqi coal mine, and Ke Xing coal mine are the highest-scoring coal mines among different types of coal mines. (2) Based on the score results and species rankings, species combinations including Agropyron cristatum, Achnatherum splendens, Medicago sativa Linn, and Halogeton glomeratus are recommended for altitudes below 1500 m. For altitudes between 1500 m and 2000 m, combinations including Festuca elata Keng ex E, Agropyron cristatum, Halogeton glomeratus, and Artemisia sieversiana Ehrhart ex Willd are recommended; similarly, combinations including Agropyron cristatum, Achnatherum splendens, Seriphidium kaschgaricum, and Halogeton glomeratus are recommended for elevations above 2000 m. This study discusses the recovery of artificial vegetation communities within 2 years, with a view to providing a theoretical basis and data support for the recovery of the remaining ecologically damaged areas of the same types.

The security of water resources in the desert steppe ecosystem faces threats due to large-scale vegetation restoration. Dynamic changes in soil moisture result from the interplay of precipitation replenishment and evapotranspiration depletion, both directly regulated by vegetation and soil. To achieve sustainable vegetation restoration, understanding the quantifiable impacts of precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil, and vegetation on spatiotemporal soil moisture dynamics is crucial. However, these effects remain insufficiently understood. In this study, against the background of an extreme drought from 2020 to 2022, four typical herbaceous plant communities—Agropyron mongolicum, Sophora alopecuroides, Stipa breviflora, and Achnatherum splendens—were selected for investigation in Yanchi County, Ningxia Province, Northwest China. We analyzed dynamic changes in soil moisture at 0–120 cm during depletion, recovery, and stability periods, quantifying the relative contributions of precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil clay/sand ratio (C/S), and biomass to soil moisture dynamics. The results showed that the 0–120 cm soil moisture of the four plant communities in the depletion, recovery, and stability periods decreased from 7.38% to 6.81%, 11.22% to 8.08%, and 11.70% to 5.84%, respectively. In terms of relative importance, precipitation and evapotranspiration accounted for 25% to 50% and 23.6% to 39.6% of the total explanation for the soil moisture in each plant community, respectively. C/S primarily influenced soil moisture in the S. alopecuroides community, demonstrating a significant positive correlation with soil moisture and accounting for 49.1% of the total explanation. Biomass mainly affected soil moisture in the A. mongolicum, S. breviflora, and A. splendens communities and had a significant negative correlation with soil moisture, accounting for 5.7%, 13.1%, and 9.8% of the total interpretation, respectively. The continuous extreme drought caused the soil moisture deficit to extend from the shallow to the deep layers. The effects of C/S and biomass on soil moisture occurred in leguminous and gramineous communities, respectively.

Seasonal freeze–thaw front dynamics and effects on hydrothermal processes in diverse alpine grasslands on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Comparative genomics reveals the molecular mechanisms of two drought-tolerant forages adapted to extreme environments in the northwest of China

Seeding alpine grasses in low altitude region increases global warming potential during early seedling growth

As a high-quality plant resource for ecological restoration, Achnatherum splendens has strong adaptability and wide distribution. It is a constructive species of alkaline grassland in Northwest China. The close relationship between seed-borne bacteria and seeds causes a specific co-evolutionary effect which can enhance the tolerance of plants under various stresses. In this study, 272 bacterial isolates were isolated from the seeds of Achnatherum splendens in 6 different provinces of China. In total, 41 dominant strains were identified, and their motility, biofilm formation ability and antibiotic resistance were analyzed. The results showed that the bacteria of Achnatherum splendens belonged to 3 phyla and 14 genera, of which Firmicutes was the dominant phylum and Bacillus was the dominant genus. The motility and biofilm formation ability of the isolated strains were studied. It was found that there were six strains with a moving diameter greater than 8 cm. There were 16 strains with strong biofilm formation ability, among which Bacillus with biofilm formation ability was the most common, accounting for 37.5%. The analysis of antibiotic resistance showed that sulfonamides had stronger antibacterial ability to strains. Correlation analysis showed that the resistance of strains to aminoglycosides (kanamycin, amikacin, and gentamicin) was significantly positively correlated with their biofilm formation ability. This study provides fungal resources for improving the tolerance of plants under different stresses. In addition, this is the first report on the biological characteristics of bacteria in Achnatherum splendens.

Abstract The root–shoot biomass ratio (R:S) changing the soil water redistribution is not well understood due to a lack of nondestructive technology to characterize the coexistence of plants and soil. This study aims to assess the correlations of the R:S ratios of Achnatherum splendens with soil water content by electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) on the north‐western Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). During the growing season, an experimental plot including bare patches (BK) and low‐ (LD) and high‐density (HD) A. splendens subplots was designed to quantify soil volumetric water content under different soil depths and antecedent total precipitation conditions for 7 days (AP7). The results showed that the R:S ratio was positive with soil water content in the surface soil layer of 0–10 cm. The synergistic effect of the R:S ratio on soil water in the surface soil layer promoted an increase in surface soil water. However, the nonsynergistic effect in the middle soil layer weakened the soil water increasing, and the effect of the R:S ratio on soil water in the deep soil layer of 40–80 cm was not obvious. In HD, soil water increased between 0.08% and 0.95% and was highest under AP7 &gt; 20 mm conditions. In LD, soil water increased in the surface and deep soil layers but decreased in the middle soil layer, especially under AP7 = 10–20 mm conditions (−1.23%). These findings provide valuable insights that patchy alpine grass survival strategy under future climate change on the QTP, and the results are beneficial to the development of soil–plant–atmosphere continuum models.

Based on the authors’ fieldwork in 1976-2022 and herbarium funds from the river Chulyshman, stored in the Central Chernozem Reserve, the second part of the information (Magnoliophyta: Liliopsida, including the Poaceae Barnhart family) is given on new and rare species of vascular plants for this territory. New localities of 9 plant species from the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation and the Red Data Book of the Altai Republic (Allium altaicum, Cypripedium calceolus, C. macranthon, Dactylorhiza fuchsii, Orchis militaris, Platanthera bifolia, Tulotis fuscescens, Stipa pennata, S. rubens) are presented; of these, 8 species were recorded within the forest-steppe territory of the Altai Reserve (all species except Stipa rubens) and 3 species in the Ak Cholushpa Natura Park (Dactylorhiza fuchsii, Orchis militaris, Platanthera bifolia). For the modern territory of the Altai Reserve, 5 additional species are indicated (Dactylorhiza incarnata, Achnatherum splendens, Leymus ovatus, L. paboanus, L. tuvinicus), for the forest-steppe valley of Chulyshman -7 species (Lemna trisulca, Achnatherum confusum, Catabrosa aquatica, Leymus chinensis, L. pubescens, Poa trivialis, Stipa kirghisorum). 2 species (Asparagus tamariscinus, Stipa kirghisorum) are recommended for inclusion to the Red Data Book of the Altai Republic.

Pore structure characteristics and organic carbon distribution of soil aggregates in alpine ecosystems in the Qinghai Lake basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The growth of Achnatherum splendens (A. splendens) inhibits the growth of dominant grassland herbaceous species, resulting in a loss of grassland biomass and a worsening of the grassland ecological environment. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the dynamic development of A. splendens adequately. This study intended to offer a transformer-based A. splendens detection model named YOLO-Sp through ground-based visible spectrum proximal sensing images. YOLO-Sp achieved 98.4% and 95.4% AP values in object detection and image segmentation for A. splendens, respectively, outperforming previous SOTA algorithms. The research indicated that Transformer had great potential for monitoring A. splendens. Under identical training settings, the AP value of YOLO-Sp was greater by more than 5% than that of YOLOv5. The model’s average accuracy was 98.6% in trials conducted at genuine test sites. The experiment revealed that factors such as the amount of light, the degree of grass growth, and the camera resolution would affect the detection accuracy. This study could contribute to the monitoring and assessing grass plant biomass in grasslands.

A field trial was conducted in Inner Mongolia to evaluate the stabilization effects of phyto-stabilization, biochar-stabilization, and their coupled stabilization for As, Cu, Pb, and Zn in soil. Stabilization plants (Achnatherum splendens, Puccinellia chinampoensis, and Chinese small iris) and biochar (wood charcoals and chelator-modified biochar) were introduced in the field trial. The acid-extractable fraction and residual fraction of the elements were extracted following a three-stage modified procedure to assess the stabilization effect. The results after 60 days showed that the coupled stabilization produced a better stabilization effect than biochar-/phyto- stabilization alone. Achnatherum splendens and Puccinellia chinampoensis were found to activate the target elements: the residual fraction proportion of As, Cu, Pb, and Zn decreased while the acid-extractable fraction proportion of Cu and Zn increased in the corresponding planting area. Neither type of biochar produced a notable stabilization effect. The residual fraction proportion of As (20.8–84.0%, 29.2–82%), Pb (31.6–39.3%, 32.1–48.9%), and Zn (30.0–36.2%, 30.1–41.4%) increased, while the acid-extractable fraction proportion remained nearly unchanged after treatment using Chinese small iris-straw biochar or Achnatherum splendens-straw biochar, respectively. The results indicate that phyto-stabilization or biochar-stabilization alone are not suitable, whereas the coupled stabilization approach is a more efficient choice.

Microbial response to multiple-level addition of grass organic matter in lake sediments with different salinity.

A rodent herbivore reduces its predation risk through ecosystem engineering

Allelopathy is an important process in plant communities. The effects of allelopathy on seed germination and seedling development have been extensively investigated. However, the influences of extract soaking time and concentration on the foregoing parameters are poorly understood. Here, we conducted a seed germination assay to determine the allelopathic effects of the donor herbs Achnatherum splendens (Trin.) Nevski, Artemisia frigida Willd., and Stellera chamaejasme L., from a degraded grassland ecosystem in northern China, on lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) seed germination and early seedling growth. Extract soaking times (12 h or 24 h) did not exhibit significantly different effects on lettuce seed germination or seedling development. However, all aqueous herb extracts inhibited lettuce seed germination and root length (RI < 0) and promoted lettuce shoot length, stem length, leaf length, and leaf width (RI > 0) at both low (0.005 g mL−1) and high (0.05 g mL−1) concentrations. Moreover, A. splendens extracts increased seedling biomass (RI > 0) and synthetical allelopathic effect (SE > 0) at both concentrations. In contrast, both A. frigida and S. chamaejasme extracts had hormesis effects, which stimulate at low concentrations (RI > 0) but inhibit at high concentrations (RI < 0) on seedling biomass and synthetical allelopathic effect (SE). The results suggest that allelopathic potential may be an important mechanism driving the dominance of A. frigida and S. chamaejasme in degraded grasslands. Reseeding allelopathy-promoting species such as A. splendens may be beneficial to grassland restoration. The present study also demonstrated that seedling biomass, root and shoot length, and seed germination rate are the optimal bioindicators in allelopathy assays and could be more representative when they are combined with the results of multivariate analyses.

Effect of fly ash- and polyacrylamide-consolidated soil layer on A. splendens growth in a desert in North China