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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiological Chemistry and Geomicrobiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1422529
This article is part of the Research Topic Microbial Ecological and Biogeochemical Processes in the Soil-Vadose Zone-Groundwater Habitats, Volume II View all 13 articles

Soil Nutrient Content Dominates Short-term Vegetation Changes in Alpine Tundra of Changbai Mountains

Provisionally accepted
Shanfeng Xing Shanfeng Xing 1,2Wen J. Wang Wen J. Wang 1Lei Wang Lei Wang 1*Haibo Du Haibo Du 2Zhengfang Wu Zhengfang Wu 2Shengwei Zong Shengwei Zong 2Yu Cong Yu Cong 1Shengjie Ba Shengjie Ba 1,2
  • 1 Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China
  • 2 School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Alpine tundra, covering 3% of the Earth's land surface, harbors approximately 4% of higher plant species. Changes in this vegetation significantly impact biodiversity and ecosystem services. Recent studies have primarily focused on large-scale and long-term vegetation changes in polar and highlatitude regions. However, the study of short-term vegetation changes and their primary drivers has received insufficient attention in alpine tundra. This study aimed to investigate vegetation changes and their dominant drivers in the alpine tundra of Changbai Mountains-located at the southern edge of the alpine tundra distribution in Eastern Eurasia-over a short period by re-surveying permanent plots in 2019 and comparing them with data from 2014. The results showed that significant changes were observed in alpine tundra vegetation during the study period. The importance values of typical alpine tundra plants such as Rhododendron chrysanthum, Vaccinium uliginosum, and Dryas octopetala decreased noticeably, while those of herbaceous species such as Deyeuxia angustifolia and Sanguisorba sitchensis increased significantly. Species richness, diversity, and evenness at different altitudinal gradients showed varying degrees of increase. A distinct expansion trend of herbaceous species was observed in the alpine tundra, contributing to a shift in plant community composition toward herbaceous dominance. This shift might result in the meadowization of the dwarf shrub tundra. Our findings further revealed that soil nutrients rather than climate factors, dominated the changes of plant communities over a short period. These findings provide scientific references for the conservation and management of biodiversity, as well as for projecting future vegetation dynamics in alpine tundra.

    Keywords: Short-term vegetation change, Soil nutrient content, Herb encroachment, Alpine tundra, Changbai mountains

    Received: 24 Apr 2024; Accepted: 02 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Xing, Wang, Wang, Du, Wu, Zong, Cong and Ba. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lei Wang, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

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