Divergent water sources of three dominant plant species following precipitation events in enclosed and mowing grassland steppes

Tiejun Bao; Yunnuan Zheng; Ze Zhang; Heyang Sun; Ran Chao; Liqing Zhao; Hua Qing; Jie Yang; Frank Yonghong Li

doi:10.7717/peerj.7737

Divergent water sources of three dominant plant species following precipitation events in enclosed and mowing grassland steppes

PeerJ. 2019 Oct 10:7:e7737. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7737. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Tiejun Bao^{1

2

3}, Yunnuan Zheng^{1

2

3}, Ze Zhang^{1

2

3}, Heyang Sun^{1

2

3}, Ran Chao^{1

2

3}, Liqing Zhao^{1

2

3}, Hua Qing^{1

2

3}, Jie Yang^{1

2

3}, Frank Yonghong Li^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Inner Mongolia University, School of Ecology and Environment, Hohhot, China.
² Inner Monoglia University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau, Hohhot, China.
³ Inner Monoglia University, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Hohhot, China.

Abstract

Understanding of the dynamic patterns of plant water use in a changing environment is one of foci in plant ecology, and can provide basis for the development of best practice in restoration and protection of ecosystem. We studied the water use sources of three coexisting dominant plant species Leymus chinensis, Stipa grandis and Cleistogenes squarrosa growing in both enclosed and mowing grassland in a typical steppe. The oxygen stable isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) of soil water and stem water of these three species were determined, along with soil moisture, before and after precipitation events. The results showed that (1) mowing had no significant effect on the soil moisture and its δ¹⁸O, whereas precipitation significantly changed the soil moisture though no significant effect detected on its δ¹⁸O. (2) C. squarrosa took up water majorly from top soil layer due to its shaollow root system; L. chinensis took up relative more water from deep soil layer, and S. grandis took up water from the middle to deep soil layers. (3) L. chinensis and S. grandis in mowing grassland tended to take up more water from the upper soil layers following precipitation events, but showed no sensitive change in water source from soil profile following the precipitation in the enclosed grassland, indicating a more sensitive change of soil water sources for the two species in mowing than enclosed grassland. The differences in root morphology and precipitation distribution may partly explain the differences in their water uptake from different soil layers. Our results have important theoretical values for understanding the water competition among plants in fluctuating environment and under different land use in the typical steppe.

Keywords: Dominant plants; Mowing; Oxygen stable isotopes; Steppe; Water sources.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0500503), the Technical System Project of the National Herbage Industry, China (CARS-34) and the Major Program of the Natural Scientific Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China (2014ZD02), and Science and Technology Project of Inner Mongolia, China (201502098). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.