Effects of fence enclosure on the plant community composition and niche characteristics in a temperate meadow steppe

doi:10.11686/cyxb2020239

Abstract

Abstract: This study explored the effects of fence enclosure on community composition and niche characteristics in temperate meadow steppe. The indexes Levins niche breadth, Pianka niche overlap and species diversity were used to evaluate the degree of resource utilization by species and the intensity of interspecific competition inside and outside the enclosure. It was found that: the fencing enclosure significantly promoted vegetation restoration of degraded grassland. The aboveground biomass and belowground biomass in the enclosure treatments were enhanced by 255.06% and 51.06%, respectively. The species diversity and richness were enhanced in fenced enclosures by 10.36% and 10.34%, respectively. The two species with the highest niche breadth in enclosures were Iris ventricosa and Leymus chinensis, with values of 0.921 and 0.873, respectively. In comparison, the two species with the highest niche breadth in the freely grazed grassland were Taraxacum mongolicum and Carex duriuscula, with values of 0.912 and 0.791, respectively. Our results clearly show that enclosure by fencing is an efficient restoration measure that not only promotes species diversity but also improves grassland productivity. Compared with free grazing, fencing enclosure increases the overall niche overlap value and inter-species competition of plant communities and their component plant populations.

Key words: meadow steppe, niche breadth, niche overlap, biomass, species diversity, enclosure

NIE Ying-ying, XU Li-jun, XIN Xiao-ping, CHEN Bao-rui, ZHANG Bao-hui. Effects of fence enclosure on the plant community composition and niche characteristics in a temperate meadow steppe[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2020, 29(11): 11-22.

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