Title:Role of plant litter in maintaining the stability of grassland ecological in extreme rainfall

Authors:Zhouwen Ma, Lan Li, Yingxin Wang, Qingping Zhou, Xinquan Zhang, Fujiang Hou*

Journal:Plant Diversity

Impact factor:IF2024= 6.3

Abstract:Extreme climate scenarios threaten the ecological stability of grassland ecosystems. One common grasslands management approach that has a profound influence on both plant community structure and ecosystem function is the addition of plant litter. However, little is known about whether plant litter addition mitigates the effects of extreme weather events (e.g., heavy rainfall) on the ecological stability of grasslands plant communities, especially in vulnerable alpine grasslands. Here, we determined whether and, if so, how plant litter increases the ecological stability (i.e., resistance, resilience, and recovery) after extreme rainfall events in alpine grassland plant communities in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We found that plant litter addition increased resilience and recovery of alpine grassland plant communities following extreme rainfall, although it did not increase resistance. Our findings indicate that the ecological stability of plant functional groups, plant asynchrony, and changes in plant community compositional dynamics contributed to the resistance, resilience, and recovery of alpine grassland plant communities following extreme rainfall. Our findings indicate that alpine grassland plant communities can maintain ecological stability after an extreme rainfall event. This ecological stability is maintained through the addition of plant litter, which changes the ecological stability of certain functional groups within the community. These findings indicate that plant litter accumulation may help maintain the stability of grassland ecosystems in response to future extreme weather events.

Linkage:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2025.06.005