AUTHOR=Zhang Ze , Zhang Zhihao , Hautier Yann , Qing Hua , Yang Jie , Bao Tiejun , Hajek Olivia L. , Knapp Alan K. TITLE=Effects of intra-annual precipitation patterns on grassland productivity moderated by the dominant species phenology JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1142786 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1142786 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=
Phenology and productivity are important functional indicators of grassland ecosystems. However, our understanding of how intra-annual precipitation patterns affect plant phenology and productivity in grasslands is still limited. Here, we conducted a two-year precipitation manipulation experiment to explore the responses of plant phenology and productivity to intra-annual precipitation patterns at the community and dominant species levels in a temperate grassland. We found that increased early growing season precipitation enhanced the above-ground biomass of the dominant rhizome grass,