Aridity plays a significant role in shaping plant communities by serving as a powerful environmental filter, influencing species presence or absence, as well as vital ecosystem processes like primary productivity and nutrient cycling. The combined effects of increasing aridity and grazing are complex and have profound implications for the vulnerability of dryland ecosystems. Consequently, there is an urgent need to comprehensively study how ecosystems respond to the aridity and grazing.
The study of plant functional traits is crucial in understanding how plants adapt to environmental changes, survive, and reproduce. Research in this area helps us predict and interpret plant responses to various environmental stresses, thereby guiding management and practices in fields such as agriculture, ecology, and biodiversity conservation.
Our study primarily explores the effects of grazing disturbances and aridity changes on plant functional traits within grassland ecosystems.The study sites were selected along a gradient of aridity in Mongolian grasslands. Each site was divided into grazing and fenced groups.The Fenced groups at each site had an average establishment duration of thirty years. Regarding the selection of plant functional traits, we measured and analyzed four key characteristics: plant height, leaf toughness, specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf dry matter content (LDMC), to assess their responses to aridity. Additionally, we also calculated and analyzed the Functional Diversity Index (FDis) to examine how increasing aridity and grazing disturbances impact inter-specific diversity. This study reveals the significant effects of grazing disturbances and aridity on plant functional traits within grassland ecosystems.