Response and Adaptation of Plants to Environment Change in Arid Areas: Individuals, Population, Community and Ecosystem

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosphere/Hydrosphere/Land–Atmosphere Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 August 2023) | Viewed by 5790

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State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Interests: ecology; ecohydrology in arid regions; hydraulic conductance; breeding of Populus euphratica
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Dear Colleagues,

The arid area covers more than 40% of the global land area, and the ecosystem is fragile and vulnerable to disturbance. The environmental change in arid areas and the ecological problems caused by it are the scientific focuses of global concern. Under the influence of climate change and increasing human activities, plants in arid areas, from individuals to populations, to communities and ecosystems, are experiencing unprecedented impacts of environmental changes. Plants have different response and adaptation mechanisms to environmental changes caused by climate change; land use; biotic and abiotic environmental stresses in terms of individual morphology, phenology, physiological, and ecological characteristics; eco-hydrological processes; population development; and succession of communities and ecosystems. Studying and understanding these mechanisms is crucial for formulating sustainable management policies and ecological protection measures for ecosystems in arid areas.

This Special Issue will focus on the response and adaptation of plants in arid areas to environmental changes caused by climate change, land use, and biological and abiotic stresses. We encourage the submission of the manuscripts that include plant–environment interaction and the adaptation of plants to environmental change, and especially welcome the research that integrate the geography, phenology, morphology, physiological ecology, and biochemistry of plants to climate change.

Dr. Chenggang Zhu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • climate change
  • land use
  • environmental stress
  • eco-hydrological processes
  • biodiversity
  • eco-physiological responses
  • vulnerability

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2193 KiB  
Article
Response of Ammodendron bifolium Seedlings Inoculated with AMF to Drought Stress
by Limei Wu, Yujuan Zheng, Shulan Liu, Xiande Jia and Haiying Lv
Atmosphere 2023, 14(6), 989; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14060989 - 7 Jun 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1725
Abstract
Drought has become a serious environmental problem affecting people all around the world as a result of rising atmospheric pollution and global warming. Through symbiosis with Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF), plants may mitigate the impacts of drought stress on growth and development as [...] Read more.
Drought has become a serious environmental problem affecting people all around the world as a result of rising atmospheric pollution and global warming. Through symbiosis with Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF), plants may mitigate the impacts of drought stress on growth and development as well as physiological metabolism. As a pioneer plant for windbreak and sand fixation, the symbiosis between AMF and Ammodendron bifolium can improve its drought resistance, which is of great significance for species protection and desertification control. In this study, A. bifolium seedlings were used as the test subject in a pot experiment with four drought stress gradients and two inoculation treatments to examine the effects of water treatment and AMF inoculation on the growth of the seedlings. The results showed that drought stress significantly inhibited the growth indexes of A. bifolium seedlings such as the height, basal diameter, blades number, and biomass, and that inoculation with AMF could promote the growth of A. bifolium seedlings and help mitigate the damage caused by drought stress. Drought stress increased the antioxidant enzyme activity and proline (Pro) accumulation in A. bifolium plants, and AMF inoculation induced higher antioxidant enzyme activity and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) and Pro contents in A. bifolium seedlings compared to non-AMF-inoculated plants. Drought stress harmed the chloroplast structure, reduced the chlorophyll concentration, and decreased the photosynthetic efficiency in A. bifolium seedlings. The ability of AMF-inoculated plants to withstand drought was enhanced by increased levels of photosynthetic pigments, higher photosynthetic activity, and increased photosynthetic product accumulation in the roots. These results suggest that AMF inoculation can alleviate drought-induced damage by promoting plant growth and improving plant antioxidant, osmoregulation, and photosynthetic capacity. In the context of increasing drought due to global warming, AMF inoculation can be an excellent way to enhance A. bifolium drought resistance. Full article
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21 pages, 2819 KiB  
Article
Response of Alhagi sparsifolia Seedlings to AMF Inoculation and Nitrogen Addition under Drought Stress
by Yilinuer Aili, Xiaonan Chen, Wenli Gao, Haiou Wang, Maigepiretiguli Dawuti and Xiaodong Ma
Atmosphere 2023, 14(3), 446; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030446 - 23 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1761
Abstract
Riparian forest veg etation in the lower Tarim River desert often faces a water and nitrogen deficiency. To investigate the ecological effects of drought stress and nitrogen limitation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on Alhagi sparsifolia seedlings at the vulnerable stage of growth, [...] Read more.
Riparian forest veg etation in the lower Tarim River desert often faces a water and nitrogen deficiency. To investigate the ecological effects of drought stress and nitrogen limitation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on Alhagi sparsifolia seedlings at the vulnerable stage of growth, a control experiment was conducted on Alhagi sparsifolia seedlings with indoor potted plants. The main findings are as follows: drought stress inhibited the normal growth and development of Alhagi sparsifolia seedlings. When Alhagi sparsifolia seedlings were inoculated with AMF and at the N1 (50 mmol·L−1) nitrogen addition level, the mycorrhizal infection rate of Alhagi sparsifolia seedlings was the best: 84.44% under sufficient moisture content and 77.78% under drought stress. Under the same nitrogen treatment, the relative growth rate of Alhagi sparsifolia seedling height and base diameter, plant biomass, root system indicators (total root length, root surface area, root volume, average root diameter, the number of tips, and root shoot ratio), chlorophyll content (except for the chlorophyll a/b content at the N0 (0 mmol·L−1) nitrogen addition level), Fv/Fm, total nitrogen content, idole acetic acid (IAA) and gibberellic acid (GA) content were initially decreased, then increased and finally decreased again. Each of these indicators was increased significantly after being inoculated with AMF, and they reached their maximum value under the normal moisture and AMF treatment; however specific root length (except for at the N0 (0 mmol·L−1) nitrogen addition level), minimal fluorescence (Fo), antioxidant enzyme activity, the contents of osmotic regulation substances, abscisic acid (ABA) and strigolactones (SLs) contents were initially increased, then decreased and finally increased again, and they reached their maximum value under drought stress and AMF treatment. Under the same CK (black control), D (drought stress), CK + A (inoculated with AMF under black control), and D + A (inoculated with AMF under drought stress) treatments, all of the above indicators, except for specific root length, chlorophyll a/b content, minimal fluorescence (Fo), maximum fluorescence (Fm) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content initially increased and then decreased with the increasing nitrogen addition rate, and they reached the maximum value at the N1 (50 mmol·L−1) nitrogen addition level. Therefore, in the arid and N-deficient lower Tarim River region, Alhagi sparsifolia seedlings established an efficient symbiotic structure with AMF, which improved the drought resistance of seedlings and promoted the rapid passage of seedlings through the growth vulnerability period. This indicates that AMF inoculation is a key link in the survival strategy of Alhagi sparsifolia. Full article
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23 pages, 8183 KiB  
Article
Spatio-Temporal Coupling Analysis of Differences in Regional Grain–Economy–Population and Water Resources
by Tingting Xia, Yang Wang and Shuai Zhang
Atmosphere 2023, 14(3), 431; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030431 - 21 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1660
Abstract
In the context of climate change and the intensification of population activities, differences in regional water resources are the main drivers leading to these resources’ unbalanced development. This problem can be addressed by exploring spatial differences and spatio-temporal patterns. Based on the spatio-temporal [...] Read more.
In the context of climate change and the intensification of population activities, differences in regional water resources are the main drivers leading to these resources’ unbalanced development. This problem can be addressed by exploring spatial differences and spatio-temporal patterns. Based on the spatio-temporal trends of grain production, social economy, population, and water resources in the Tarim River Basin from 2005 to 2020, this paper uses the barycenter model coupling situation model to analyze the evolutionary trend of the barycenter, spatial overlap and spatio-temporal coupling degree for each index. The results show the following: (1) The spatio-temporal distribution of grain production was larger in the east than in the west. Grain production increased by 18.10% across the basin, and the migration rate of the grain center of gravity (CG) was 16.61 km/a. (2) The spatio-temporal distribution of the economy was greater in the south than in the north, with a cumulative migration of 323.10 km to the southwest. During the study period, the population remained concentrated in the western portion of the basin, increasing 25.18% compared to the population prior to 2005. The spatial variation range of total water resources was small, showing a trend of slow increase from west to east. (3) The overlap between GDP and population was enhanced, with the coupling showing a slow rising trend. The overlap of water resources and grain space also increased and the consistency index was high. From 2011 to 2020, the average consistency index was 0.594 and the coupling degree of the two factors was enhanced. By combining grain production, economy, population, and water resources with the center of gravity model, this paper reveals the spatial differences of relevant factors in the Tarim River Basin, providing an important reference value for regional socio-economic development and the rational allocation of water resources. Full article
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