Sandy Meadows Research Articles

Integrating vegetation phenological characteristics and polarization features with object-oriented techniques for grassland type identification

ABSTRACT Due to the small size, variety, and high degree of mixing of herbaceous vegetation, remote sensing-based identification of grassland types primarily focuses on extracting major grassland categories, lacking detailed depiction. This limitation significantly hampers the development of effective evaluation and fine supervision for the rational utilization of grassland resources. To address this issue, this study concentrates on the representative grassland of Zhenglan Banner in Inner Mongolia as the study area. It integrates the strengths of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 active-passive synergistic observations and introduces innovative object-oriented techniques for grassland type classification, thereby enhancing the accuracy and refinement of grassland classification. The results demonstrate the following: (1) To meet the supervision requirements of grassland resources, we propose a grassland type classification system based on remote sensing and the vegetation-habitat classification method, specifically applicable to natural grasslands in northern China. (2) By utilizing the high-spatial-resolution Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) synthesized through the Spatial and Temporal Non-Local Filter-based Fusion Model (STNLFFM), we are able to capture the NDVI time profiles of grassland types, accurately extract vegetation phenological information within the year, and further enhance the temporal resolution. (3) The integration of multi-seasonal spectral, polarization, and phenological characteristics significantly improves the classification accuracy of grassland types. The overall accuracy reaches 82.61%, with a kappa coefficient of 0.79. Compared to using only multi-seasonal spectral features, the accuracy and kappa coefficient have improved by 15.94% and 0.19, respectively. Notably, the accuracy improvement of the gently sloping steppe is the highest, exceeding 38%. (4) Sandy grassland is the most widespread in the study area, and the growth season of grassland vegetation mainly occurs from May to September. The sandy meadow exhibits a longer growing season compared with typical grassland and meadow, and the distinct differences in phenological characteristics contribute to the accurate identification of various grassland types.

Artificial reseeding improves multiple ecosystem functions in an alpine sandy meadow of the eastern Tibetan Plateau

AbstractDesertification in alpine grasslands is exacerbated by rapid climate change and intensive anthropogenic activity, which will substantially threaten the structure and function of alpine grassland ecosystems. Artificial reseeding was a widely used strategy for the restoration of alpine sandy grasslands. However, it is still unclear whether reseeding restoration can improve multiple ecosystem functions of sandy meadows. To narrow these knowledge gaps, we evaluated the changes in plant communities, soil conditions, and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) across native meadow, sandy meadow, and restored meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, and further identified the links between individual and multiple ecosystem functions. Artificial reseeding had contributed to the promotion of plant diversity, productivity, soil fertility, and soil carbon and nitrogen sequestrations. However, the recovery levels of plant diversity, productivity, and soil fertility in the restored meadow were still far lower than that in the native meadow. The results revealed that the EMF index of the restored meadow increased greatly compared with the sandy meadow, but it did not recover to that of the native meadow level. In addition, short‐term reseeding improved the aboveground EMF index more than the belowground EMF index. The EMF indexes and most individual ecosystem functions showed positive correlations with plant diversity and productivity. These findings indicated an important role of artificial reseeding in the restoration of ecosystem functions in the alpine sandy meadow, and it had critical implications for the regional ecological security and sustainable development of alpine grasslands.

Effect of Harvest Time on the Seed Yield and Quality of Kengyilia melanthera

Kengyilia melanthera is one of the most important forages, and has received significant attention as a desirable ecological pioneer grass for conserving grasslands and mitigating degradation pressure in a region. It is widely distributed in the alpine sandy meadow zone of the Eastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). Therefore, determining the optimal harvest time of this species is critical. A two-year field experiment (2016–2017) was utilized in this study to evaluate the impact of eight harvest times on the seed yield and quality of K. melanthera ‘Aba’. The results show that the fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), seed yield (SY), thousand-grain weight (TGW), accelerated aging germination percentage (AAGP), and dehydrogenase activity (DA) of seeds increased with the extension of harvest time in two trial years, while the water content (WC) of seeds decreased. In both trial years, the germination percentage (GEP), germination potential (GP), and acid phosphatase activity (APA) of seeds increased initially and then decreased with the extension of harvest time. The comprehensive evaluation of the membership function and hierarchical clustering revealed that the 30th day after peak anthesis was the optimal harvest time for both 2016 and 2017. During this time, FW, DW, SY, TGW, AAGP, DA, WC, GEP, GP, and APA reached their optimal value, with 0.815 g, 0.518 g, 1773.67 kg·hm−2, 143.81%, 66%, 16.23 µg·mL−1, 36.01%, 87%, 85%, and 2.50 nmol·min−1 in 2016 and 0.805 g, 0.515 g, 1847.42 kg·hm−2, 133.96%, 65%, 16.52 µg·mL−1, 36.04%, 86.5%, 83.5%, and 2.55 nmol·min−1 in 2017, respectively. This study uncovers several high-efficiency and long-term technological solutions for cultivating high yields and quality production of K. melanthera in East QTP.

Soil macrofaunal communities develop a habitat-specific trophic structure dependent on the degree of degradation of alpine wetlands

The alpine wetlands in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have degraded in recent decades. However, the response of the soil food web to the degradation is still unclear. Four habitats including a wet meadow (WM), a grassland meadow (GM), a moderately degraded meadow (MDM) and a severely degraded meadow (SDM) (sandy meadows) were selected along the degrees of degradation. The soil macrofaunal biomass and the environmental factors of vegetation and soil were investigated. The soil macrofaunal community biomass increased significantly from WM to MDM and decreased to a very small amount in SDM, with most taxa disappearing. The biomass of the trophic groups of detritivores, herbivores and predators exhibited similar responses to soil macrofaunal communities. The relative biomass of detritivores increased from WM to MDM, but herbivores responded in an opposite manner, resulting in the dominant trophic group and trophic structure varying progressively from WM to GM to MDM. Soil properties but not vegetation determined the changes in trophic groups and trophic structure. The results implied that the higher trophic levels (carnivores or omnivores) responded more sensitively than the lower trophic levels (herbivores) to alpine wetland degradation. Our results also suggested that soil macrofauna have a habitat-specific characteristic trophic structure and can be used as indicators of soil health conditions.

Spiders (Araneae) of Subotica Sandland (Serbia): additional arguments in environmental protection

Good environmental management needs evidence-based conservation measures, and those measures need both faunistical and ecological information. Following this path, for the first time in Serbia, a faunistical research of spiders at Subotica Sandland was organised in 2014 as a base for ecological arguments in landscape management of the area. The spiders were collected at ten different habitats on sandy soil, in the period from 27th April till 30th October by pitfall trapping and sweep netting. A total of 16304 adult and 7246 juvenile individuals were captured, and 225 species from 27 families were determined. Thirty species represent new records for Serbia. Diversity and species compositions provided an insight into the quality of the habitats and the influence of the conservation and development measures that were already applied. The main endangerment factors are outlined. Conclusions and suggestions according to the analysis of the spider fauna, are mostly in correlation with those made earlier based on other groups of organisms. Within the scope of nature protection, wet and sandy meadows are prioritised over the woods. For future monitoring, two flagship and umbrella species are suggested: Argiope lobata (Pallas, 1772) for the sandy area and Dolomedes plantarius (Clerck, 1757) for the wetlands.

Depression of soil nitrogen fixation by drying soil in a degraded alpine peatland

Soil biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) represents a major pathway through which nitrogen enters pristine peatlands. Many peatlands have been undergoing human-induced changes in environmental factors, while environmental changes dramatically affect the community composition and activity of nitrogen-fixing prokaryotes (i.e., diazotrophs). However, the impact of peatland degradation on soil BNF remains unclear. By carrying out a field campaign, we examined how soil BNF varies along a natural gradient from pristine marshes to moderately-degraded meadows and sandy meadows on the Zoige Plateau. Plant and topsoil samples from four pristine marshes, three moderately-degraded meadows, and three sandy meadows were collected to determine the potential rate of nitrogen fixation (RNfix), abundance of the nifH gene, diazotrophic community composition, and soil and plant characteristics. Our results showed that topsoil RNfix varied in the range 0.018–3.00 μmol N g d.w.−1 day−1 (i.e. 21.74–1632.37 mg N m−2 day−1) across the ten sites, being lowest in sandy meadows and highest in pristine marshes. Topsoil RNfix and diazotrophic abundance were positively correlated with soil water content, sedge cover, plant biomass, soil organic carbon content, and total nitrogen and phosphorus contents. Soil water content, which affected most plant and soil characteristics, had dominant influences on the abundance and community structure of diazotrophs. The RNfix was closely correlated with the abundance of dominant diazotroph groups. The community composition of diazotrophs differed markedly among sites of different degradation levels. Proteobacteria was the most abundant diazotrophic phylum across the ten sites. Heterotrophic diazotrophs acted as the major contributor to BNF, especially in pristine marshes and moderately-degraded meadows. We conclude that soil water content was the main factor driving the depressed soil BNF during peatland degradation in Zoige, due to soil water effects on plant cover and biomass, soil organic carbon and total phosphorus, and the abundance and community structure of diazotrophs.

Carbon stocks of coastal seagrass in Southeast Asia may be far lower than anticipated when accounting for black carbon.

Valuing sedimentary 'blue carbon' stocks of seagrass meadows requires exclusion of allochthonous recalcitrant forms of carbon, such as black carbon (BC). Regression models constructed across a Southeast Asian tropical estuary predicted that carbon stocks within the sandy meadows of coastal embayments would support a modest but not insignificant amount of BC. We tested the prediction across three coastal meadows of the same region: one patchy meadow located close to a major urban centre and two continuous meadows contained in separate open embayments of a rural marine park; all differed in fetch and species. The BC/total organic carbon (TOC) fractions in the urban and rural meadows with small canopies were more than double the predicted amounts, 28 ± 1.6% and 36 ± 1.5% (±95% confidence intervals), respectively. The fraction in the rural large-canopy meadow remained comparable to the other two meadows, 26 ± 4.9% (±95% confidence intervals) but was half the amount predicted, likely owing to confounding of the model. The relatively high BC/TOC fractions were explained by variability across sites of BC atmospheric supply, an increase in loss of seagrass litter close to the exposed edges of meadows and sediment resuspension across the dispersed patchy meadow.

Artificial Management Improves Soil Moisture, C, N and P in an Alpine Sandy Meadow of Western China

Regeneration of degraded grassland ecosystems is a significant issue in restoration ecology globally. To understand the effects of artificial management measures on alpine meadows, we surveyed topsoil properties including moisture, organic carbon (SOC), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) contents five years after fencing and fencing + reseeding management practices in a sandy meadow in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, northwestern China. Both the fencing and fencing + reseeding management practices significantly increased soil moisture storage, SOC, total N, available N, total P, and available P, as compared to the unmanaged control. Fencing plus reseeding was more effective than fencing alone for improving soil C, N, and P contents. These suggested that rehabilitation by reseeding and fencing generally had favorable effects on the soil properties in degraded sandy alpine meadows, and was an effective approach for restoration of degraded meadow ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Woody and Grassy Vegetation Development in Different Landscape Elements of the Curonian Spit

The species of woody and grassy establish on seashore sands and wastes. These plants are adapted for less favorable existence conditions some of them growing in littoral habitats of excessive moisture and salinity. Other tolerates infertile and dry sand. The purpose of the study have been analyzed the dispersion vegetation in different relief elements of the coastal protective dune look for a relation between woody and grassy plant species to foresee the tendencies of further seashore landscape development. It has been established that in locations with intensive flow of visitors a net of trodden paths is formed where the plants cover is disappearing very fast as there are suitable conditions for the springtime and autumn winds to erode the coastal protective dune of the seashore of the Curonian spit. The trodden path in a couple of years turn into 2 – 3 m. vides sand drifting corridors, but the lies of the holiday makers become there 4 – 5 m. wide pit and hollow. After these formations have interconnected they shape deflations of different size. The drifting sand carried by the prevailing western direction winds swamp the beyond coastal dune plains and the outskirts of the forest and sandy meadows. The statistical analysis of projection cover of plant shows that during the last 27 years (from 1982) the conditions for vegetation survival on the Curonian spit seashore sand dunes are gradually deteriorating.

Soil properties, crop productivity and irrigation effects on five croplands of Inner Mongolia

In the Horqin Sand Land, more than half of the original pasture area has been converted to farmland over the last century. A field experiment was conducted from 2000 to 2001 on five croplands in the Horqin Sand Land of Inner Mongolia to examine differences in soil properties, crop productivity and irrigation effects across different soils in the region to assess their relative suitability for cultivation, in the face of continued pressure for conversion of these generally fragile, sandy soils to agriculture. Two irrigated croplands studied were originally sandy meadow (ISM) and sandy grassland (ISG), and three dry croplands were from sandy meadow (DSM), sandy grassland (DSG) and fixed sand dunes (DFD). Results showed that most measured properties of soils, and crop productivity, differed among the five croplands. The silt + clay fraction, bulk density, organic matter content, total N and P, available N and P, average soil moisture and temperature, plant height and aboveground biomass were as follows in the DSM|DSG|DFD soils: 51.1%|47.5%|24.3%; 1.44 g/cm 3|1.49 g/cm 3|1.58 g/cm 3; 6.3 g/kg|4.6 g/kg|3.4 g/kg; 0.55 g/kg|0.33 g/kg|0.21 g/kg; 0.21 g/kg|0.17 g/kg|0.13 g/kg; 27.0 mg/kg|13.7 mg/kg|7.7 mg/kg; 2.9 mg/kg|2.9 mg/kg|3.0 mg/kg; 9.4%|7.0%|6.2%; 21.4 °C|21.7 °C|22.0 °C; 225 cm|220 cm|181 cm; and 2116 g/m 2|1864 g/m 2|1338 g/m 2. Corresponding values for ISM|ISG soils were: 54.3%|47.9%; 1.42 g/cm 3|1.49 g/cm 3; 8.5 g/kg|6.4 g/kg; 0.58 g/kg|0.42 g/kg; 0.20 g/kg|0.19 g/kg; 29.0 mg/kg|23.3 mg/kg; 4.7 mg/kg|7.9 mg/kg; 13.0%|10.1%; 21.0 °C|21.1 °C; 266 cm|245 cm; and 2958 g/m 2|2702 g/m 2. In general, the ecological origin of a cropland was a stronger determinant of its current characteristics than was irrigation history, although irrigation was correlated with significantly increased organic matter content, some soil nutrient levels, and aboveground biomass productivity. Results indicate that fixed sand dunes should not be converted to cropland because of their very sandy and poorer soil, lower biomass productivity and greater wind-erosion risk. Although both the sandy meadow and sandy grassland may be reclaimed for farming, the cropland derived from the sandy meadow had higher resistance to wind erosion and higher crop productivity, so is somewhat more suitable than sandy grassland.

Seasonal dynamics of Zostera noltii hornem. In the bay of arcachon (France)

Seasonal dynamics of Zostera noltii was studied during 1984 in Arcachon Bay, France. In this Bay, Z. noltii colonizes 70 km 2, i.e. approximately 50% of the total area, while Z. marina occupies only 4 km 2. Densities and length of vegetative and generative shoots and above-ground and below-ground biomasses were monitored in four meadows which differed according to their location in the Bay, tidal level and sediment composition. Three of these meadows were homogeneous, well-established beds whilst the fourth was under colonization and patchy. Shoot densities and maximal below-ground biomass were lower in the inner silty seagrass bed than in the sandy meadows located in the centre of the Bay. Maximal above-ground biomasses were similar in the two population types. In the well-established beds, vegetative shoot densities, above-ground and below-ground biomasses showed a unimodal pattern with minima in winter (4000 to 9000 shoots·m −2, 40 to 80 g DW·m −2, and 40 to 60 g DW·m −2, respectively) and maxima in summer (11000 to 22000 shoots·m −2, 110 to 150 g DW·m −2, and 140 to 200 g DW·m −2, respectively). Reproductive shoots were observed from the beginning of June until the end of September, except in the colonizing bed where they persisted until December. Furthermore, in the latter, maximal reproductive shoot density was higher (2600 shoots·m −2) than in the established beds (650 to 960 shoots·m −2). The total production of Z. noltii in Arcachon Bay was estimated to approximately 35.6·10 6 kg DW·y −1 (19.4·10 6 kg DW·y −1 for above-ground parts and 16.2·10 6 kg DW·y −1 for below-ground parts).

The Rediscovery of Abronia Alpina, A Rare Specialized Endemic of Sandy Meadows in the Southern Sierra Nevada, California

The Rediscovery of Abronia Alpina, A Rare Specialized Endemic of Sandy Meadows in the Southern Sierra Nevada, California