Impact of rainfall variability and grazing pressure on plant diversity in Mongolian grasslands |
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| Authors: | Y Cheng M TsuboTY Ito E NishiharaM Shinoda |
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| Institution: | a Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, 1390 Hamasaka, Tottori 680-0001, Japan
b Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-Minami, Tottori 680-8550, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Climate and grazing are the main drivers of plant community composition and species richness in arid environments. This study aimed to examine the vegetation response to a spatial precipitation gradient, interannual rainfall variability, and grazing pressure in Mongolia. To examine the effect of a spatial precipitation gradient, we compared species richness among six sites. To investigate the effects of interannual rainfall variability and grazing pressure, we compared species richness for 2 years at two sites, in desert-steppe and steppe areas. The regional gradient in annual precipitation showed positive and negative relationships with grass richness and shrub richness, respectively, although total species richness did not vary significantly. The proportions of the different functional groups were affected by grazing pressure and rainfall variability in both zones. In the desert-steppe zone, species richness was lower in the drier year but did not vary with grazing pressure. In the steppe zone, species richness varied significantly with grazing pressure but did not vary between years. Precipitation would be more important than grazing pressure on vegetation changes in drier areas with high rainfall variability. |
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| Keywords: | Climatic variation Dry land Grazing gradient Species richness Steppe |
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