Lu Wen

Soil respiration in lakeshore wetlands may vary with nitrogen addition and habitat differences associated with lake shrinkage, yet the responses of its components remain unclear. A controlled experiment at Daihai Lake was used to compare growing-season morning total soil respiration (Rs), autotrophic respiration (Ra), and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) between a wet meadow (WM) and an exposed lakebed (EL) using measurements collected from 2022 to 2024. Averaged across the three years, Rs, Rh, and Ra in the EL were 59.6%, 85.5%, and 38.7% of their respective levels in the WM. The differences were significant for Rs and Ra but not for Rh. Nitrogen addition had no significant overall effect on Rs, Rh, or Ra and did not interact significantly with habitat when averaged across years. However, Ra showed a significant nitrogen addition × habitat × year interaction. Model-averaged AIC weights indicated that aboveground and belowground biomass were associated with Rs, whereas aboveground biomass and soil moisture were associated with Ra. The SEM further showed statistical associations among nitrogen addition, habitat, vegetation biomass, soil moisture, Rs, and Ra, including a negative association between soil moisture and Ra. These findings indicate that nitrogen-addition effects on soil respiration were limited overall, while Ra responses varied among habitat–year combinations and were associated with vegetation characteristics in the studied lakeshore wetland. These findings provide insights into carbon cycling and support the sustainable management of lakeshore wetlands under global change.

The Mongolian Plateau, a typical arid and semi‐arid zone in Eurasia, is characterized by highly heterogeneous and fragmented wetland habitats. Phragmites australis , a common wetland species in this region, exhibits remarkable adaptability. Unraveling the coordination between phylogenetic history and local environmental filtering is crucial for elucidating its adaptive mechanisms. Integrating landscape genomics and trait‐based phylogenetic analyses, we analyzed transcriptome‐wide SNPs, multidimensional functional traits, and environmental variables across 90 individuals from 30 natural P. australis populations. This study aims to reveal the genetic and phenotypic variation patterns underlying population genetic structure and trait variation, specifically distinguishing the roles of geographic isolation, environmental filtering, and phylogenetic history. Results reveal a significant drainage‐dependent pattern in genetic structure. Populations in hydrologically connected basins show extensive admixture, whereas those in isolated endorheic basins form distinct lineages. While geographic isolation underpins genetic differentiation, environmental filtering independently explains ~33.84% of the genetic variation, driven primarily by moisture heterogeneity (precipitation seasonality and soil moisture). Crucially, we observed differentiated evolutionary trajectories across functional traits. Structural traits (e.g., plant height, leaf thickness) are phylogenetically conserved; in contrast, physiological traits (e.g., water use efficiency) are decoupled from phylogeny, showing patterns consistent with high plasticity regulated by local environments. This evolutionary decoupling strategy enables P. australis to flexibly adapt to heterogeneous habitats while maintaining structural stability. This study uncovers the synergistic mechanisms by which geographic isolation and environmental filtering jointly shape the genetic patterns of this cosmopolitan species at a regional scale, clarifies that its evolutionary responses may depend heavily on the differentiated plasticity of trait types, and provides valuable regional insights into how widespread wetland species adapt to heterogeneous environments under global change.

Mammals are crucial for sustaining ecosystem functions and services, yet their diversity is increasingly threatened in China’s arid and semi-arid regions because of environmental fragility and intensifying human activities. Assessing the diversity of mammal assemblages across taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions improves the understanding of biodiversity maintenance and community assembly in drylands. Here, these three dimensions of biodiversity and their respective community structures were quantified, and these metrics were linked to modern climate, climate change since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~21 ka), elevation range, anthropogenic disturbance, and plant species richness. The two variables most strongly associated with taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity were plant species richness and annual precipitation; land-use change 1900–1950 and mean annual temperature; and glacial–interglacial precipitation change and plant species richness, respectively. For phylogenetic and functional structure, the leading predictors were, respectively, land-use change 1900–1950 and annual precipitation, and annual precipitation and elevation range. Overall, mammal diversity patterns in arid and semi-arid China reflect the interacting effects of contemporary and historical climate, environmental heterogeneity, land-use change, and plant diversity. These results improve the mechanistic understanding of biodiversity maintenance in drylands and provide a scientific basis for conservation planning under future climate change and human disturbance. Mammal diversity was assessed across China’s arid and semi-arid regions. China’s drylands contained 33% of China’s mammal species but 52% of its phylogenetic diversity and 85% of its functional diversity. Taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity showed clear spatial mismatches. Plant species richness, modern climate, environmental heterogeneity, and land-use change shaped different diversity facets. Conservation planning in drylands should move beyond species richness alone.

Desert ecosystems play a critical role in global climate regulation. Current research reveals a relative lack of research regarding desert ecosystem service (ES) supply and demand. Therefore, we selected the Ulanbuh desert, one of the eight major deserts in China, as study area. Using specialized models, we quantify the supply and demand of four ES, including water yield (Wy), soil conservation (Sc), windbreak and sand fixation (Ws), and carbon sequestration (Cs), from 1985 to 2020. Univariate linear regression analysis and panel data analysis (PDA) were used to examine trends in desert ES supply–demand ratio (ESDR) and its determinants. The findings indicated that ES supply presented increases in Sc and Cs, and decline in Ws from 1985 to 2020. Demand patterns showed a growth trend for Wy and Cs. ESDR revealed that Sc, Ws, and Cs show an excess of supply over demand and are in a decreasing trend, while Wy displays a supply deficit relative to demand with no significant change. The comprehensive ESDR decreased over the study period, with a supply-deficit status emerging in the southwestern area. Natural factors (NDVI and precipitation) and socio-economic factors (GDP and population density) served as the main factors affecting the comprehensive ESDR. This research provides a novel perspective for desert ecosystems management and conservation, emphasizing the necessity of incorporating the ES supply and demand balance into regional development policies to achieve sustainable development in arid regions.

This study examined the short-term effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) addition on soil N₂O flux and organic carbon content in the lakeshore zone of an arid inland lake, Daihai. Treatments included control (N0P0), N addition (N1P0), P addition (N0P1), and NP co-addition (N1P1). Using the static chamber method and lab analyses, we measured soil N₂O flux and organic carbon content at different growth stages. Results showed that, in the early growing season, short-term N and P addition had no significant effect on soil N₂O flux, with all treatments acting as N₂O sources. However, N and NP treatments significantly increased soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, improving carbon sequestration benefits by 72.7% to 98.1%. During the peak growing season, N and NP treatments significantly enhanced soil N₂O emissions, while NP treatment further increased SOC storage, the carbon sequestration benefits of all treatments ranging from 49.0% to 56.5%. At the late growing season, N and P addition had no significant impact on soil N₂O flux or organic carbon storage, with all sites acting as N₂O sinks and SOC storage showing no significant change across treatments (carbon sequestration benefits ranged from 0.3% to 38.5%). The study highlights that the response of soil N₂O flux to short-term N and P addition varies at different growth stages, while overall, N and P addition promotes soil carbon sequestration throughout the growing season in the lakeshore zone.

Wetlands are important for maintaining global ecosystem functions, mitigating global climate change, and regulating regional climate change. Ecological problems caused by global climate change have had serious impacts on plant distribution patterns in the wetlands of riparian zones, as well as on microbial community habitats in the soil. This study was based on a field sampling survey of the distribution characteristics of plant communities in the Ulson River, combined with remote sensing to obtain the spatial distribution pattern of vegetation in the riparian wetland. High-throughput sequencing technology combined with the characteristics of soil physicochemical factors were then used to explore the distribution characteristics of the community structures of soil bacteria and fungi under different vegetation types in the Ulson River Basin, in order to reveal the pattern of changes of soil microbial microorganisms under the different vegetation types in the wetlands of the riparian area and the factors driving those changes. The results showed an obvious banding phenomenon of wetland vegetation in the Ulson River Basin. Proteobacteria ranked first in relative abundance in all the sample plots and were the dominant bacteria in the study area. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the dominant fungi in the study area. In swamp areas, degenerate swamp soils, soil moisture content, and soil bulk density affected the microbial richness directly or indirectly by controlling soil nutrients. Plant aboveground biomass was the most significant factor influencing microbial diversity in a typical wet meadow sample. In salinized meadows and swamped meadows, electrical conductivity affected microbial richness and soil bulk density was the main factor influencing microbial diversity. The findings of this study can provide a theoretical basis for the ecological restoration of degraded riparian wetlands and further clarification of soil ecosystem functions in riparian wetlands.

Rapid climate change and human disturbance have caused serious damage and shrinkage of the wetlands in the Mongolian Plateau, posing severe challenges to environmental development. Based on remote sensing images and DEM data, this study established a series of datasets for lakeside wetlands in the Mongolian Plateau in 2000, 2010 and 2020, and investigated the dynamic evolution of lakeside wetlands in the Mongolian Plateau through spatial and temporal analyses. The results showed that in 2000, there were 564 lakes (>1 km2) in the Mongolian Plateau, with a total area of about 55216.47 km2. Compared with 2000, the area of lakes in 2010 was significantly reduced, and there was a significant increase in the number of woody marshes and a reduction in the number of herbaceous marshes. In 2020, the lakes in the central part of the Mongolian Plateau were smaller than in 2010. The areas of lakes in the western, southern and eastern regions were increasing, and the areas of herbaceous swamps, woody marshes and meadows were increasing overall. Lakes, bare land and saline-alkali land decreased overall. The degree of salinization was reduced over the study period. There was a significant correlation between the Adaptive Palmer Drought Index (scPDSI) and lake area. In the past two decades, the climatic factors and human activities of the Mongolian Plateau have profoundly affected the evolution of the lakeside wetlands. We should prioritize the protection of lakes and wetland resources in order to achieve the dynamic balance of wetland ecology.