Qu Hao, Zhao Ha-Lin, Zhao Xue-Yong, Zuo Xiao-An, Wang Shao-Kun, Chen Min
Naiman Desertification Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320# Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
Environ Monit Assess. 2017 Apr;189(4):149. doi: 10.1007/s10661-017-5866-x. Epub 2017 Mar 9.
Plants that grow in dune ecosystems always suffer from sand burial. Shrubs play implications on the healthy functioning of dune ecosystems due to control blowing sand. However, the survival and growth responses of shrubs to sand burial remain poorly understood. The survival rate and seedling height of two shrubs (Artemisia halodendron and Lespedeza davurica) along with the soil properties under different burial depths were examined in order to reveal the causing ecophysiological attributes of sand burial on shrubs in the desertified region. It was found that A. halodendron can survive a burial depth of 6 cm greater than its seedling height, which is a dominant shrub in mobile dunes with intense burial, whereas a burial depth equivalent to three fourths of its seedling height is detrimental to L. davurica, which is dominant in fixed dunes with less burial. The reasons for the shrub death under sand burial were associated with the physical barrier to vertical growth and the reduction in photosynthetic area. In conclusion, A. halodendron can facilitate the stabilization of mobile dunes because of their high tolerance to the frequent and intensive sand burial, while L. davurica can be beneficial for the recovery process because of their higher survival rates under shallow burial following restoration of mobile dunes.
生长在沙丘生态系统中的植物总是遭受沙埋。由于能控制风沙，灌木对沙丘生态系统的健康运转具有重要意义。然而，灌木对沙埋的存活和生长响应仍知之甚少。为揭示荒漠化地区沙埋对灌木造成的生态生理特性，研究了两种灌木（盐蒿和兴安胡枝子）在不同埋深下的存活率、幼苗高度以及土壤性质。结果发现，盐蒿能够在埋深超过其幼苗高度6厘米的情况下存活，它是遭受强烈沙埋的流动沙丘中的优势灌木；而埋深相当于其幼苗高度四分之三时对兴安胡枝子有害，兴安胡枝子是沙埋较少的固定沙丘中的优势灌木。沙埋导致灌木死亡的原因与垂直生长的物理障碍以及光合面积的减少有关。总之，盐蒿因其对频繁且强烈沙埋的高耐受性可促进流动沙丘的稳定，而兴安胡枝子因其在流动沙丘恢复后浅埋条件下较高的存活率有利于恢复进程。
