XIEG Participates in BIODESERT Project and Co-authors a Cover Article in Nature

Plant phenotypic diversity in terrestrial systems is significantly impacted by global changes, such as drought and increasing grazing pressure. However, there is relatively little research on how these factors shape the covariation between plant traits and how the covariation contributes to plant phenotypic diversity.

More than 100 scientists worldwide, including Prof. Nicolas Gross from French and Prof. Fernando Maestre from Spain, studied 98 arid sample sites across 25 countries from 6 continents. Their findings revealed that drylands play a crucial role in global plant phenotypic diversity, challenging the conventional belief that extreme environments reduce phenotypic diversity. The research results were published in the top journal, Nature, with the title "Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world".

This study is a key result of the BIODESERT International Research Program, a project led by Prof. Fernando Maestre (King Abdullah University of Science & Technology, Saudi Arabia) and funded by the European Research council, which focuses on the impact of global changes on ecosystems in arid regions. Prof. ZHANG Yuanming and Prof. ZHOU Xiaobing from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were invited to participate in the study and are listed as co-authors of the article.

The international research team collected 133,769 trait measurements from 301 perennial plant species across 326 plots from 6 continents. They analyzed the covariantion between 20 chemical and morphological traits in arid zones worldwide. They also examined the impacts of drought and grazing pressure on plant phenotypic diversity.

The study found that when aridity exceeds a threshold of approximately 0.7 (close to the transition between semi-arid and arid zones), the diversity of plant traits increases by 88%. This threshold appeared in the presence of grazers and moved toward lower levels with increasing grazing pressure. Moreover, 57% of observed trait occurred only in the most arid and grazed drylands, highlighting the phenotypic uniqueness of these extreme environments. The study also highlight that many alternative strategies may enable plants to cope with increases in environmental stress induced by climate change and land-use intensification.

Xinjiang, one of the most significant arid regions worldwide, is also significantly affected by human activities such as grazing. Prof. ZHANG Yuanming's research team has conducted extensive research on biodiversity and global changes in arid regions. They have also published a series of influential papers that have gained international recognition. The research team was invited to join the BIODESERT Project in 2016 and to travel to Spain to participate in the project design and joint investigation for three months. In addition, they monitored and investigated perennial plant traits, plant community diversity, soil physiochemical properties, and microbial composition under different grazing intensities in the Junggar Basin in China. Their work has significantly contributed to the understanding of changes in plant traits and ecosystem functions in different arid regions worldwide.

Article link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07731-3

Contact

LONG Huaping

Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography

E-mail: longhp@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Web: http://english.egi.cas.cn