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Forbs Rather Than Grasses as Key Factors Affecting Succession of Abandoned Fields - A Case Study from a Subalpine Region of the Eastern Tibet Plateau

Received: 28 July 2017     Accepted: 10 August 2017     Published: 8 September 2017
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Abstract

An old-field chronosequence in the subalpine region of the Tibetan Plateau were used as a model system to test a hypothesis that forbs drive pathways of successional trajectories in earlier stages of succession and grasses drive the development of vegetation in later successional stages. All old fields were dominated by forbs, which accounted for 65-85% of species richness and abundance. Species richness and total plant abundance significantly increased with time since abandonment. This is in disagreement with ‘humped-back model’. Although no consistent changes in seed size in the different functional groups found over time, however, there was a significant decline for the forbs, legumes, and annuals, except for the 1-year old field. In this species-rich subalpine ecosystem, forbs rather than grasses and sedges were identified as key factors affecting community structure and plant assemblages, whenever in the earlier successional stages or in the later successional stages. These indicated that grassland managers and policy makers should recognize potential role of forbs in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning.

Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 6, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14
Page(s) 80-87
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Forb Dominance, Chronosequence, Old-Field Succession, Shifts in Plant Community Composition, Plant Functional Groups, Subalpine Meadow, Tibet Plateau

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    Wenjin Li, Jinhua Li, Rulan Zhang, Shuangshuang Liu, Huakun Zhou, et al. (2017). Forbs Rather Than Grasses as Key Factors Affecting Succession of Abandoned Fields - A Case Study from a Subalpine Region of the Eastern Tibet Plateau. Earth Sciences, 6(5), 80-87. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14

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    ACS Style

    Wenjin Li; Jinhua Li; Rulan Zhang; Shuangshuang Liu; Huakun Zhou, et al. Forbs Rather Than Grasses as Key Factors Affecting Succession of Abandoned Fields - A Case Study from a Subalpine Region of the Eastern Tibet Plateau. Earth Sci. 2017, 6(5), 80-87. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14

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    AMA Style

    Wenjin Li, Jinhua Li, Rulan Zhang, Shuangshuang Liu, Huakun Zhou, et al. Forbs Rather Than Grasses as Key Factors Affecting Succession of Abandoned Fields - A Case Study from a Subalpine Region of the Eastern Tibet Plateau. Earth Sci. 2017;6(5):80-87. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14,
      author = {Wenjin Li and Jinhua Li and Rulan Zhang and Shuangshuang Liu and Huakun Zhou and Buqing Yao and Meiling Guo and Fangping Wang},
      title = {Forbs Rather Than Grasses as Key Factors Affecting Succession of Abandoned Fields - A Case Study from a Subalpine Region of the Eastern Tibet Plateau},
      journal = {Earth Sciences},
      volume = {6},
      number = {5},
      pages = {80-87},
      doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20170605.14},
      abstract = {An old-field chronosequence in the subalpine region of the Tibetan Plateau were used as a model system to test a hypothesis that forbs drive pathways of successional trajectories in earlier stages of succession and grasses drive the development of vegetation in later successional stages. All old fields were dominated by forbs, which accounted for 65-85% of species richness and abundance. Species richness and total plant abundance significantly increased with time since abandonment. This is in disagreement with ‘humped-back model’. Although no consistent changes in seed size in the different functional groups found over time, however, there was a significant decline for the forbs, legumes, and annuals, except for the 1-year old field. In this species-rich subalpine ecosystem, forbs rather than grasses and sedges were identified as key factors affecting community structure and plant assemblages, whenever in the earlier successional stages or in the later successional stages. These indicated that grassland managers and policy makers should recognize potential role of forbs in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AU  - Wenjin Li
    AU  - Jinhua Li
    AU  - Rulan Zhang
    AU  - Shuangshuang Liu
    AU  - Huakun Zhou
    AU  - Buqing Yao
    AU  - Meiling Guo
    AU  - Fangping Wang
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    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14
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    JO  - Earth Sciences
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5982
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20170605.14
    AB  - An old-field chronosequence in the subalpine region of the Tibetan Plateau were used as a model system to test a hypothesis that forbs drive pathways of successional trajectories in earlier stages of succession and grasses drive the development of vegetation in later successional stages. All old fields were dominated by forbs, which accounted for 65-85% of species richness and abundance. Species richness and total plant abundance significantly increased with time since abandonment. This is in disagreement with ‘humped-back model’. Although no consistent changes in seed size in the different functional groups found over time, however, there was a significant decline for the forbs, legumes, and annuals, except for the 1-year old field. In this species-rich subalpine ecosystem, forbs rather than grasses and sedges were identified as key factors affecting community structure and plant assemblages, whenever in the earlier successional stages or in the later successional stages. These indicated that grassland managers and policy makers should recognize potential role of forbs in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agroecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

  • State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agroecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

  • State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agroecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

  • State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agroecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

  • Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology of Cold Area in Qinghai Province, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China

  • Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology of Cold Area in Qinghai Province, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China

  • Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology of Cold Area in Qinghai Province, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China

  • Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology of Cold Area in Qinghai Province, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China

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