AUTHOR=Zhang Ailin , Li Xiangyi , Zeng Fanjiang , Jiang Yong , Wang Ruzhen 

TITLE=Variation characteristics of different plant functional groups in alpine desert steppe of the Altun Mountains, northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.961692

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.961692

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=In grassland ecosystems, plant functional group (PFG) is an important bridge connecting individual plants to community system. Grassland ecosystem is the main ecosystem type on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Altun Mountain is located in the key grassland transcontinental belt of the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The composition and changes of PFG in this ecosystem reflect the community characteristics in the arid and semi-arid extreme climate region of the Plateau. The main PFG were forbs and grasses, and the importance values (IV) accounted for more than 50%. Plant species diversity of the community was influenced by the IV of the legumes, and the increase of legumes would promote the increase of plant community diversity. The C, N, P content of plant communities were mainly influenced by forbs and grasses, and the relationship between forbs and C, N, P was opposite to that of grasses. However, under the influence of different hydrothermal conditions, forbs and grasses as dominant functional groups had stronger correlation with community and soil nutrients. This indicated that the dominant PFGs (forbs and grasses) can dominate the C, N, P content of the community and soil, and legumes affect community composition and succession. In this study, we analyzed the change characteristics of functional groups in dry and cold extreme environments and the difference of their impact on community development compared with other grassland ecosystem functional groups.