Benefits and ecological restoration implications of hanging grass fences in Mongolian desert steppe  

作　　者：MIAO Jiamin LI Shengyu XU Xinwen LIU Guojun WANG Haifeng FAN Jinglong Khaulanbek AKHMADI 

机构地区：[1]Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands,Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Urumqi 830011,China [2]National Engineering Technology Research Center for Desert-Oasis Ecological Construction,Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Urumqi 830011,China [3]University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China [4]Institute of Geography and Geoecology,Mongolian Academy of Sciences,Ulaanbaatar 15170,Mongolia

出　　处：《Journal of Arid Land》2024年第11期1541-1561,共21页干旱区科学（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition and Research Program(2021xjkk0305);the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA2003020201);the Key Intergovernmental Projects for International Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation of the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFE0109200).

摘　　要：Tumbleweeds participate in a common seasonal biological process in temperate grasslands,creating hanging grass fences during the grass-withering season that result in distinct ecological phenomena.In this study,we addressed the urgent need to understand and restore the degraded desert steppe in Central Mongolia,particularly considering the observed vegetation edge effects around hanging grass fences.Using field surveys conducted in 2019 and 2021 in the severely degraded desert steppe of Central Mongolia,we assessed vegetation parameters and soil physical and chemical properties influenced by hanging grass fences and identified the key environmental factors affecting vegetation changes.The results indicate that the edge effects of hanging grass fences led to changes in species distributions,resulting in significant differences in species composition between the desert steppe's interior and edge areas.Vegetation parameters and soil physical and chemical properties exhibited nonlinear responses to the edge effects of hanging grass fences,with changes in vegetation coverage,aboveground biomass,and soil sand content peaking at 26.5,16.5,and 6.5 m on the leeward side of hanging grass fences,respectively.In the absence of sand dune formation,the accumulation of soil organic carbon and available potassium were identified as crucial factors driving species composition and increasing vegetation coverage.Changes in species composition and plant density were primarily influenced by soil sand content,electrical conductivity,and sand accumulation thickness.These findings suggest that hanging grass fences have the potential to alter vegetation habitats,promote vegetation growth,and control soil erosion in the degraded desert steppe of Central Mongolia.Therefore,in the degraded desert steppe,the restoration potential of hanging grass fences during the enclosure process should be fully considered.

关 键 词：hanging grass fences edge effects vegetation recovery enclosure treatment degraded desert steppe Central Mongolia 

分 类 号：X171.4[环境科学与工程—环境科学]