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Impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (Ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in China
The effect of grazing on patterns of reproduction in trees has been little reported. We explored the effects of grazing intensities on reproductive growth, allocation patterns, and duration in elm trees (Ulmus pumila L.) at the Horqin Sandy Land, a degraded area in northern China. Current-year shoot...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2020
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7167244/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32337107 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9013 |
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author | Tang, Yi |
author_facet | Tang, Yi |
author_sort | Tang, Yi |
collection | PubMed |
description | The effect of grazing on patterns of reproduction in trees has been little reported. We explored the effects of grazing intensities on reproductive growth, allocation patterns, and duration in elm trees (Ulmus pumila L.) at the Horqin Sandy Land, a degraded area in northern China. Current-year shoots were selected from branches and harvested from individual elm trees subjected to one of four grazing intensities (heavy, moderate, light, and no grazing). Shoots, flower buds, flowers, seeds, leaf buds, and leaves were collected, dried, and weighed. Results showed that the biomass in heavy, moderate and light grazing treatments is significantly higher than in no grazing treatment (P < 0.05). The reproductive allocation of U. pumila in heavy grazing treatment was significantly higher from that in the no grazing treatment (P < 0.05). Additionally, we found that reproduction of U. pumila ended later in grazed plots, suggesting the duration of reproduction is extended with grazing disturbance. Our findings suggest that U. pumila may prolong it s duration of reproduction and alter its reproductive biomass in response to grazing. It is not clear whether these effects are related to damage to U. pumila trees by grazers or whether they are due to grazers affecting soil properties or plant competitors around U. pumila trees. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7167244 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-71672442020-04-24 Impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (Ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in China Tang, Yi PeerJ Biodiversity The effect of grazing on patterns of reproduction in trees has been little reported. We explored the effects of grazing intensities on reproductive growth, allocation patterns, and duration in elm trees (Ulmus pumila L.) at the Horqin Sandy Land, a degraded area in northern China. Current-year shoots were selected from branches and harvested from individual elm trees subjected to one of four grazing intensities (heavy, moderate, light, and no grazing). Shoots, flower buds, flowers, seeds, leaf buds, and leaves were collected, dried, and weighed. Results showed that the biomass in heavy, moderate and light grazing treatments is significantly higher than in no grazing treatment (P < 0.05). The reproductive allocation of U. pumila in heavy grazing treatment was significantly higher from that in the no grazing treatment (P < 0.05). Additionally, we found that reproduction of U. pumila ended later in grazed plots, suggesting the duration of reproduction is extended with grazing disturbance. Our findings suggest that U. pumila may prolong it s duration of reproduction and alter its reproductive biomass in response to grazing. It is not clear whether these effects are related to damage to U. pumila trees by grazers or whether they are due to grazers affecting soil properties or plant competitors around U. pumila trees. PeerJ Inc. 2020-04-16 /pmc/articles/PMC7167244/ /pubmed/32337107 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9013 Text en ©2020 Tang https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. |
spellingShingle | Biodiversity Tang, Yi Impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (Ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in China |
title | Impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (Ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in China |
title_full | Impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (Ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in China |
title_fullStr | Impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (Ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in China |
title_full_unstemmed | Impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (Ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in China |
title_short | Impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (Ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in China |
title_sort | impact of grazing intensities on reproduction patterns of elm trees (ulmus pumila) in degraded sandy lands in china |
topic | Biodiversity |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7167244/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32337107 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9013 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT tangyi impactofgrazingintensitiesonreproductionpatternsofelmtreesulmuspumilaindegradedsandylandsinchina |