Asymmetric warming among elevations may homogenize plant α-diversity and aboveground net primary production of alpine grasslands

作者：Fusong Han, Chengqun Yu, Gang Fu · 发表于：Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3389/fevo.2023.1126651 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Species Distribution and Climate Change、Plant and animal studies

It is well known that asymmetric warming among elevations (i.e., warming magnitude increases with increasing elevation) will weaken the difference of air temperature among elevations. However, it remains controversial on whether asymmetric warming among elevations can homogenize plant α-diversity and above-ground net primary production (ANPP) in alpine regions. In the present study, we conducted an experiment of asymmetric warming among elevations in alpine grasslands, Northern Tibet since 2010. There were four experiment treatments, including a treatment under natural conditions at elevation 4,313 m (C4313), a treatment under natural conditions at elevation 4,513 m (C4513), a treatment under warming conditions at elevation 4,513 m (W4513) and a treatment under warming conditions at elevation 4,693 m (W4693). We investigated ANPP, taxonomic α -diversity (i.e., species richness, Shannon, Simpson and Pielou) and phylogenetic α -diversity (mean nearest taxon distance, MNTD; phylogenetic diversity, PD) in 2011–2019. There were no significant differences of mean air temperature between C4313 and W4513, or between C4513 and W4693 in 2011–2019, indicating the differences of air temperature were eliminated among elevations. Then we found that the differences of plant α -diversity and ANPP were also eliminated among elevations: (1) there were no significant differences of ANPP, Pielou and MNTD between C4313 and W4513, or between C4513 and W4693 in 2011–2019. (2) There were also no sig...