Interactions among climate, topography, soil structure and rangeland aboveground net primary production
Samaneh Mohammadi Moghaddam A , Eric Gordon Lamb
B , Ardavan Ghorbani A * , Hossein Arzani C , Javanshir Azizi Mobaser D and Raoof Mostafazadeh A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Natural Resources, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran.
B Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A8, Canada.
C Department of Range and Watershed Management, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.
D Department of Water Engineering, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran.
* Correspondence to: a_ghorbani@uma.ac.ir
The Rangeland Journal 44(3) 137-147 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ21013
Submitted: 1 March 2021 Accepted: 11 April 2022 Published: 6 June 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Rangeland Society.
Abstract
Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP) of rangeland ecosystems is driven by interactions among multiple environmental factors. This study aimed to model the combined effects of precipitation, elevation, and soil conditions on ANPP variation along an elevation gradient. Ground surveys and vegetation sampling were conducted in 2016 through 26 sampling sites along two elevation profiles in the rangelands of Moghan-Sabalan, Ardabil Province, Iran. At each sampling site, the ANPP of each plant functional type (PFT; grasses, forbs, and shrubs) was measured, and soil samples were taken from 0–15 to 15–30 cm depth. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to investigate the factors affecting both total and PFT ANPP. Soil variables were the best predictors of grass (R2 = 0.51), forb (R2 = 0.61), shrub (R2 = 0.71), and total (R2 = 0.76) ANPP. The SEM interpretation suggested that precipitation is the most important direct driver of ANPP with R2 values of 0.20 (Total), 0.30 (Shrubs), 0.26 (Grasses), and 0.10 (Forbs). Whereas soil factors were good predictors in the regression models, the SEM models demonstrated that soil factors were generally unimportant compared with climate, likely owing to the close links between soil-forming factors and climate. The results make it possible to estimate annual ANPP combined with climate forecasts and leads to more accurate estimates of future grazing capacity by policy makers and stakeholders.
Keywords: Ardabil province, elevation gradient, environmental factors, Forbs, Grasses, plant functional types, primary productivity, Shrubs, structural equation modeling.
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