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- Title
Effects of highway on the vegetation species composition along a distance gradient from road edge in southeastern margin of Tengeer Desert.
- Authors
FENG Li; LI Xin-rong; GUO Qun; ZHANG Jing-guang; ZHANG Zhi-shan
- Abstract
Aimed to examine the effects of highway on the vegetation species composition in arid desert area, forty-eight transects perpendicular to the provincial highway 201 from Shapotou to Jing-tai in the southeastern margin of Tengger Desert were installed, with the vegetation species distribution along a distance gradient from the road edge investigated. The results showed that with increasing distance from the road edge, the species number, coverage, biomass, and a-diversity of herba-ceous plants declined, but had no significant differences with the control beyond 5 m. Within 0-6 m to the road edge, the herbaceous plant height was greater than that of the control, but their density had less change. Within 0-2 m to the road edge, the species turnover rate of herbaceous plants was lower; at 2-5 m, this rate was the highest; while beyond 10 m, the species composition of herbaceous plants was similar to that of the control. The herbaceous plant community at the road edge was dominated by gramineous plants, with the disturbance-tolerant species Pennisetum centra-siaticum, Chloris virgata, and Agropyron cristatum accounting for 68.6% of the total. C. virgata beyond 1 m to the road edge had a rapid decrease in its individual number and presence frequency, P. centrasiaticum and A. cristatum beyond 2 m also showed a similar trend, while the composite plants Artemisia capillaris and A. frigida beyond 2 m from the road edge had a rapid increase in its individual number, accounting for 70% of the herbaceous plants. At the road edge, the coverage
- Subjects
PLANT species; HERBACEOUS plants; EFFECT of off-road vehicles on plants; DESERT plants; CRESTED wheatgrass; DESERTS
- Publication
Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology / Yingyong Shengtai Xuebao, 2011, Vol 22, Issue 5, p1114
- ISSN
1001-9332
- Publication type
Article