《Effects of fertilization on population density and productivity of herbaceous plants in desert steppe》.pdfVIP

Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions Volume 6, Issue 3, June, 2014 Citation: Su JQ, Li XR, Yang HT, et al., 2014. Effects of fertilization on population density and productivity of herbaceous plants in desert  steppe. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 6(3): 0219–0225. DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2014.00219.  Effects of fertilization on population density and productivity of herbaceous plants in desert steppe JieQiong Su 1*, XinRong Li 1, HaoTian Yang 1,2 1. Shapotou Desert Experimental Research Station, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China 2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China *Correspondence to: JieQiong Su, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences. No. 320, West Donggang Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China. E-mail: sujieqiong@ Received: December 13, 2013 Accepted: February 15, 2014 ABSTRACT In order to investigate the impacts of fertilization on population density and productivity on herbaceous plants in desert steppe, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and N-P addition experiments were performed. Each fertilizer treatment included four addition levels, i.e., 0, 5, 10, and 20 g/m2 . The results indicated that population density decreased as fertilization levels increased regardless of the sort of fertilizer. More specifically, total density as well as density of Artemisia capillaris , Al- lium polyrhizum, and Enneapogon brachystachyus decreased significantly in 20 g/m2 treated plots, as compared with the co