干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Impact of great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) on desert plant communities

Arid

	Impact of great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) on desert plant communities
	Xu Wenxuan; Liu Wei; Yang Weikang; Wang Muyang; Xu Feng; David Blank
来源期刊	Journal of Arid Land
ISSN	1674-6767
出版年	2015
卷号	7 期号:6 页码:852-859
英文摘要	Great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) colonies, with bare soil and herbaceous plants, are conspicuous to the background environment throughout their range area. In order to quantify the engineer role of great gerbils, we investigated the plant communities of 20 active colonies in the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China. In areas without disturbance, desert plant communities were dominated by the shrubs with low level species richness. In burrow areas and surrounding intermediate areas, which were disturbed by great gerbils, the shrubs were suppressed with the decrease of vegetation cover and aboveground biomass. As a result, "niche gaps" were created in disturbed areas and worked as a refuge for herbaceous annuals and perennials. So the existence of great gerbils increased the overall species richness of the desert. Furthermore, herbaceous annuals and perennials are the major food source for great gerbils in spring, indicating that great gerbils have a mutually beneficial relationship with herbaceous plants.
英文关键词	Rhombomys opimus ecosystem engineer species richness mutually beneficial relationship
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	Bronze
收录类别	CSCD
WOS研究方向	History
CSCD记录号	CSCD:5524754
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/335553
作者单位	Xu Wenxuan, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Key laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Lands, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China.; Yang Weikang, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Key laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Lands, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China.; Wang Muyang, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Key laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Lands, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China.; Xu Feng, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Key laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Lands, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China.; David Blank, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Key laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Lands, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China.; Liu Wei, College of Life Science and Technology, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, Sichuan 610...
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Xu Wenxuan,Liu Wei,Yang Weikang,et al. Impact of great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) on desert plant communities[J],2015,7(6):852-859.
APA	Xu Wenxuan,Liu Wei,Yang Weikang,Wang Muyang,Xu Feng,&David Blank.(2015).Impact of great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) on desert plant communities.Journal of Arid Land,7(6),852-859.
MLA	Xu Wenxuan,et al."Impact of great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) on desert plant communities".Journal of Arid Land 7.6(2015):852-859.