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Diversity
Special Issues
Response and Adaptation of Grassland Biodiversity to Natural and Human...
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Response and Adaptation of Grassland Biodiversity to Natural and Human Disturbances

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Biogeography and Macroecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2023) | Viewed by 2827

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yuzhe Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: grassland ecology; species diversity; grassland community structure
Dr. Yun Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Environment Protection and Water and Soil Conservation, China Academy of Transportation Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Interests: road ecology; transportation ecology; wildlife crossing structures
Dr. Bing Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Systematics and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
Interests: taxonomy; plant systematics; biogeography
Dr. Suizi Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: grassland ecology; ecosystem service; climate change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue of Diversity focused on grassland ecosystems, which cover nearly 20% of the global terrestrial area and play an important role in species conservation, global carbon and water cycles as well as food supply.

In recent decades, grassland area experienced rapid climatic changes and sustained increases in human activities. As most of the grassland area covers vulnerable ecosystems, even minor disturbances can dramatically alter the structure and function of, or even completely destroy, the ecosystem, causing great diversity losses. How grassland diversity responds and adapts itself to these natural and artificial disturbances has recently drawn significant interest and become a global concern.

We hope anybody who is interested in this topic will contribute their research paper to this Special Issue. These valuable studies will provide us with insight into how grassland can be better managed and precisely protected for diversity conservation, thereby implementing visionary regulations on ecosystem functions and processes, which is key to maintaining sustainable global ecological security. Our effort may influence the future development of adaptive management practices for those endangered and damaged grassland ecosystems, thus making a contribution to diversity maintenance and species diversity.

Diversity will release a Special Issue on Response and Adaptation of Grassland Biodiversity to Natural and Human Disturbances. We invite papers from researchers sharing findings from field experiments, large-scale transect surveys, long-term observation, and remote sensing observations. All manuscripts are encouraged to provide raw data and code for enhanced reproducibility. This Research Topic will mainly address the following keywords, but other research refer to this topic will also be considered.

Dr. Yuzhe Li
Dr. Yun Wang
Dr. Bing Liu
Dr. Suizi Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  •  diversity response to grazing and grazing exclusion
  •  diversity response to engineering construction
  •  diversity response to climate change
  •  plant community species diversity
  •  microbial diversity
  •  landscape and ecosystem diversity
  •  wildlife crossing structure
  •  roadkill
  •  wildlife—vehicle collision
  •  barrier effect
  •  environmental impact assessment
  •  ecological project in grasslands

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 3864 KiB  
Article
Stability of C3 and C4 Grass Patches in Woody Encroached Rangeland after Fire and Simulated Grazing
by R. James Ansley and William E. Pinchak
Diversity 2023, 15(10), 1069; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15101069 - 08 Oct 2023
Viewed by 974
Abstract
As the woody legume, Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite) has encroached into grasslands and rangelands in the southern Great Plains, USA, two grass species, C4 shortgrass, Buchloe dactyloides (buffalograss), and C3 mid-grass, Nassella leucotricha (Texas wintergrass), have increased in dominance. Occurrence of [...] Read more.
As the woody legume, Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite) has encroached into grasslands and rangelands in the southern Great Plains, USA, two grass species, C4 shortgrass, Buchloe dactyloides (buffalograss), and C3 mid-grass, Nassella leucotricha (Texas wintergrass), have increased in dominance. Occurrence of more productive C4 mid-grasses and herbaceous diversity have declined. We measured effects of various combinations of spring clipping (to simulate cattle grazing) and summer and/or winter fire treatments on the stability of monoculture patches of these two grass species over an eight-year period, with the goal of reducing Nassella and increasing C4 mid-grass cover. All fire treatments top-killed most Prosopis trees that subsequently resprouted. Buchloe cover declined in the No Clip + No Fire treatment but remained intact with clipping and/or fire. Frequent clipping reduced Nassella cover across all fire treatments. Buchloe encroachment into Nassella patches was greatest in the Clip + Alternate Season fire treatment. C4 mid-grass cover increased to 15–25% in Nassella patches in several fire-only or Clip + Fire treatments; greatest gains were observed in treatments that included summer fire. In contrast, C4 mid-grass gains were lower in Buchloe patches. These results suggest that C4 mid-grass restoration was linked with treatments that reduced Nassella cover. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response and Adaptation of Grassland Biodiversity to Natural and Human Disturbances)
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13 pages, 5799 KiB  
Article
Effects of Population Density on Revegetation of Artemisia sphaerocephala and Soil Traits in a Desert Ecosystem
by Xiangrui Zhou, Zeliang Ju, Guoling Liang, Li Yang, Zhiyu Zhou and Guiqin Zhao
Diversity 2022, 14(8), 621; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080621 - 02 Aug 2022
Viewed by 1209
Abstract
Soil desertification is a serious problem in arid northwestern China that threatens ecological sustainability. Artemisia sphaerocephala, a dominant shrub species, play an important role in the conservation of water and the restoration of soil in the desert ecosystem. However, the poor establishment [...] Read more.
Soil desertification is a serious problem in arid northwestern China that threatens ecological sustainability. Artemisia sphaerocephala, a dominant shrub species, play an important role in the conservation of water and the restoration of soil in the desert ecosystem. However, the poor establishment of A. sphaerocephala often limits plant revegetation, and the optimal population density for sustainable growth is largely unknown. Here, we determined key soil properties and plant growth characteristics associated with different population densities of A. sphaerocephala (including from 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.9 to 5.3 plants per m2) in the resource-limited Alashan desert of northwestern China. The results showed that plant population density was the primary factor determining the revegetation of A. sphaerocephala, followed by soil water availability. Soil N, P and K content, and soil fractal dimensions also contributed to the vegetation and productivity. Soil nutrients were mostly accumulated in the topsoil layers, coincidental with the root distribution pattern in which 57% to 82% of total roots were distributed in the top 20 cm soil layer. The concentrations of soil nutrients in higher population densities (3.9 to 5.3 plants per m2) were greater than those in lower population densities (1.1 to 2.1 plants per m2), suggesting that A. sphaerocephala may have the ability to promote nutrient cycling in the desert ecosystem. We conclude that the optimal population density for the best growth of revegetated A. sphaerocephala was 3 plants per m2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response and Adaptation of Grassland Biodiversity to Natural and Human Disturbances)
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