The Response of Aboveground Net Primary Productivity of Desert Vegetation to Rainfall Pulse in the Temperate Desert Region of Northwest China
Open Access
- 3 September 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 8 (9), e73003
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073003
Abstract
Rainfall events can be characterized as “pulses”, which are discrete and variable episodes that can significantly influence the structure and function of desert ecosystems, including shifts in aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP). To determine the threshold and hierarchical response of rainfall event size on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI, a proxy for ANPP) and the difference across a desert area in northwestern China with two habitats – dune and desert – we selected 17 independent summer rainfall events from 2005 to 2012, and obtained a corresponding NDVI dataset extracted from MODIS images. Based on the threshold-delay model and statistical analysis, the results showed that the response of NDVI to rainfall pulses began at about a 5 mm event size. Furthermore, when the rainfall event size was more than 30 mm, NDVI rapidly increased 3- to 6-fold compared with the response to events of less than 30 mm, suggesting that 30 mm was the threshold for a large NDVI response. These results revealed the importance of the 5 mm and 30 mm rainfall events for plant survival and growth in desert regions. There was an 8- to 16-day lag time between the rainfall event and the NDVI response, and the response duration varied with rainfall event size, reaching a maximum of 32 days. Due to differences in soil physical and mineralogical properties, and to biodiversity structure and the root systems' abilities to exploit moisture, dune and desert areas differed in precipitation responses: dune habitats were characterized by a single, late summer productivity peak; in contrast, deserts showed a multi-peak pattern throughout the growing season.Keywords
This publication has 51 references indexed in Scilit:
- Feedback from plant species change amplifies CO2 enhancement of grassland productivityGlobal Change Biology, 2012
- More Stable Productivity of Semi Natural Grasslands than Sown Pastures in a Seasonally Dry ClimatePLOS ONE, 2012
- Unexpected patterns of sensitivity to drought in three semi-arid grasslandsOecologia, 2012
- Increasing precipitation event size increases aboveground net primary productivity in a semi-arid grasslandOecologia, 2008
- Sensitivity of water relations and photosynthesis to summer precipitation pulses for Artemisia tridentata and Purshia tridentataPlant Ecology, 2006
- Convergence and contingency in production–precipitation relationships in North American and South African C4 grasslandsOecologia, 2006
- Hierarchy of responses to resource pulses in arid and semi-arid ecosystemsOecologia, 2004
- Plant responses to precipitation in desert ecosystems: integrating functional types, pulses, thresholds, and delaysOecologia, 2004
- Response of net ecosystem gas exchange to a simulated precipitation pulse in a semi-arid grassland: the role of native versus non-native grasses and soil textureOecologia, 2003
- Productivity responses to altered rainfall patterns in a C 4 -dominated grasslandOecologia, 2003