Critical signals for grassland desertification prediction in the transition zone between desert and typical steppe in InnerMongolia, China

•The size and fragmentation of vegetation patches well reflected the desertification of the temperate grassland.•Both plant diversity and soil seed banks were affected by the path size and fragmentation.•Patch features of LPI and PARA were considered as early warning signals for grassland desertific...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological indicators 2025-01, Vol.170, p.113065, Article 113065
Main Authors: Meng, Baoping, Jin, Zhuoyan, Chen, Jin, Kuang, Yili, Yi, Shuhua, Lv, Yanyan, Li, Jinrong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Grassland desertification
Plant diversity
Soil seed bank
Vegetation patches
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Summary:•The size and fragmentation of vegetation patches well reflected the desertification of the temperate grassland.•Both plant diversity and soil seed banks were affected by the path size and fragmentation.•Patch features of LPI and PARA were considered as early warning signals for grassland desertification. Global climate change and intensifying human activities have driven an accelerated desertification of grasslands in arid and semi-arid regions. Recent theoretical investigations have proposed that vegetation patches can serve as indicators of desertification. However, knowledge regarding the appropriateness of these proposed indicators still lacked. Understanding the relations between patch features and plant species diversity are crucial for the early prediction of desertification. In this research, the transition zone between desert and typical steppe in Inner Mongolia, China was studied. We analyzed vegetation patch features (including percentage of landscape (PLAND), patch density (PD), largest patch index (LPI), and perimeter-area ratio distribution (PARA)), species diversity indices (Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, Margalef, Pielou), soil seed bank density, similarity index, and established their relations. Results showed that: (1) During grassland desertification, LPI decreasing rapidly followed by a slower decline, while PARA exhibited an initial slow decrease before a rapid decline during grassland desertification, reaching a critical point at a vegetation coverage of 49.95 %. (2) Species diversity indices tended to be increased first and then decreased with the decrease of CA, LPI, and PARA. These variations followed a unimodal pattern (P 
ISSN:1470-160X
DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.113065