Journal of Plant Ecology ›› 2019, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (3): 564-573.DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rty048

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  • 收稿日期:2018-03-23 修回日期:2018-11-13 接受日期:2018-11-20 出版日期:2019-07-01 发布日期:2019-05-15

Effect of groundwater depth on riparian plant diversity along riverside-desert gradients in the Tarim River

Yong Zeng1,2,3, Chengyi Zhao4,*, Jun Li1, Yan Li1, Guanghui Lv2 and Tong Liu5#br#   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi 830011, China
    2 College of Resources and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang University, 14 Shengli Road, Urumqi 830046, China
    3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 55 East Zhongguancun East Road, Beijing 100049, China
    4 Land Science Research Center, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing 210044, China
    5 College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, 4 North Road, Shihezi 832003, Xinjiang, China
    *Correspondence address. Land Science Research Center, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China. Tel: +86-25-58235199; Fax: 0086-991-7885320; E-mail: zcy@ms.xjb.ac.cn
  • Received:2018-03-23 Revised:2018-11-13 Accepted:2018-11-20 Online:2019-07-01 Published:2019-05-15

Abstract:

Aims

Riparian plant diversity is sensitive to changes in groundwater in arid regions. However, little is known about how plant diversity responds to changes in environment along riverside-desert gradients in riparian ecosystem. Our objectives were to (i) identify riparian plant diversity along riverside-desert gradients in Tarim desert riparian forests, (ii) analyze the impact of environment variables on plant diversity, (iii) determine the optimum groundwater depth for different plant life-forms.

Methods

Six transects 90 quadrats (with each size 100 m × 100 m) distributed vertically to river bed along riverside-desert gradients ~30 km in length were surveyed. At each quadrat, the morphological features of riparian plant communities were measured, and the groundwater depth, soil water, soil salinity, soil nutrient were also monitored at same sites.

Important Finding

Three distinct vegetation communities were identified based on cover and richness in the tree, shrub and herb layers: the riparian zone, the transitional zone and the desert margin zone. Twelve species were indicators of the three vegetation communities. Riparian plant diversity was influenced by groundwater depth, distance from river, soil moisture content, soil salinity and soil nutrient by redundancy analysis. In response to groundwater depth, the optimal groundwater depths for species diversity, evenness and shrub cover were 2.8, 2.7 and 3.7 m, respectively. Therefore, maintaining high plant diversity requires managers to ensure stable groundwater depth for different plant life-forms rather than for some of them.

Key words: vegetation community, distance from river, groundwater depth, Tarim River