Community-level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry Inner Mongolia steppes
Abstract Foliar stable carbon isotope is an excellent indicator of plant water use efficiency, providing crucial insights into vegetation dynamics under climate change. However, in arid and semiarid grassland ecosystems, the factors driving variations in community-level foliar stable carbon isotope...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02236-x |
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| author | Xu Wang Yingying Bai Shan Jiang Kuan Li Zhiyong Li Huamin Liu Lixin Wang Yang Wang Lei Dong Cunzhu Liang Jinghui Zhang |
| author_facet | Xu Wang Yingying Bai Shan Jiang Kuan Li Zhiyong Li Huamin Liu Lixin Wang Yang Wang Lei Dong Cunzhu Liang Jinghui Zhang |
| author_sort | Xu Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Foliar stable carbon isotope is an excellent indicator of plant water use efficiency, providing crucial insights into vegetation dynamics under climate change. However, in arid and semiarid grassland ecosystems, the factors driving variations in community-level foliar stable carbon isotope remain unclear. Here, we combined community-weighted mean foliar stable carbon isotope from 399 sampling sites across three grassland types in Inner Mongolia with environmental factors and leaf traits to reveal the mechanisms driving variations in community-level foliar carbon isotopes. We examined the impact of environmental factors (climate and soil factors) and leaf traits on community-level foliar stable carbon isotope. Our results show that community-level foliar stable carbon isotope variations are predominantly influenced by environmental factors in meadow and typical steppes but by leaf traits in desert steppe. These findings clarify divergent regulatory mechanisms of carbon-water balance in different grasslands, providing critical insights for predicting ecosystem responses to environmental changes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cc3f95a39bcd4a858dd65f382ccce3d6 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-cc3f95a39bcd4a858dd65f382ccce3d62025-08-20T03:04:53ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-04-016111410.1038/s43247-025-02236-xCommunity-level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry Inner Mongolia steppesXu Wang0Yingying Bai1Shan Jiang2Kuan Li3Zhiyong Li4Huamin Liu5Lixin Wang6Yang Wang7Lei Dong8Cunzhu Liang9Jinghui Zhang10Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and the Candidate State Key Laboratory of Ministry of Science and Technology & Observation and Research Station for the Typical Steppe Ecosystem of the Ministry of EducationMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and the Candidate State Key Laboratory of Ministry of Science and Technology & Observation and Research Station for the Typical Steppe Ecosystem of the Ministry of EducationMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and the Candidate State Key Laboratory of Ministry of Science and Technology & Observation and Research Station for the Typical Steppe Ecosystem of the Ministry of EducationInner Mongolia Meteorological InstituteMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and the Candidate State Key Laboratory of Ministry of Science and Technology & Observation and Research Station for the Typical Steppe Ecosystem of the Ministry of EducationMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and the Candidate State Key Laboratory of Ministry of Science and Technology & Observation and Research Station for the Typical Steppe Ecosystem of the Ministry of EducationMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and the Candidate State Key Laboratory of Ministry of Science and Technology & Observation and Research Station for the Typical Steppe Ecosystem of the Ministry of EducationCollege of Life Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Normal UniversityInstitute of Water Resources for Pastoral Areas, Ministry of Water ResourcesMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and the Candidate State Key Laboratory of Ministry of Science and Technology & Observation and Research Station for the Typical Steppe Ecosystem of the Ministry of EducationMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and the Candidate State Key Laboratory of Ministry of Science and Technology & Observation and Research Station for the Typical Steppe Ecosystem of the Ministry of EducationAbstract Foliar stable carbon isotope is an excellent indicator of plant water use efficiency, providing crucial insights into vegetation dynamics under climate change. However, in arid and semiarid grassland ecosystems, the factors driving variations in community-level foliar stable carbon isotope remain unclear. Here, we combined community-weighted mean foliar stable carbon isotope from 399 sampling sites across three grassland types in Inner Mongolia with environmental factors and leaf traits to reveal the mechanisms driving variations in community-level foliar carbon isotopes. We examined the impact of environmental factors (climate and soil factors) and leaf traits on community-level foliar stable carbon isotope. Our results show that community-level foliar stable carbon isotope variations are predominantly influenced by environmental factors in meadow and typical steppes but by leaf traits in desert steppe. These findings clarify divergent regulatory mechanisms of carbon-water balance in different grasslands, providing critical insights for predicting ecosystem responses to environmental changes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02236-x |
| spellingShingle | Xu Wang Yingying Bai Shan Jiang Kuan Li Zhiyong Li Huamin Liu Lixin Wang Yang Wang Lei Dong Cunzhu Liang Jinghui Zhang Community-level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry Inner Mongolia steppes Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Community-level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry Inner Mongolia steppes |
| title_full | Community-level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry Inner Mongolia steppes |
| title_fullStr | Community-level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry Inner Mongolia steppes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Community-level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry Inner Mongolia steppes |
| title_short | Community-level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry Inner Mongolia steppes |
| title_sort | community level foliar stable carbon isotope is dominantly influenced by leaf functional traits in dry inner mongolia steppes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02236-x |
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