Understanding how functional responses (non-linear prey density dependent feeding interactions) a... more Understanding how functional responses (non-linear prey density dependent feeding interactions) are affected by patch size and habitat complexity is crucial as functional responses are the major determinants of food web stability and subsequently biodiversity. Due to its laborious character, measuring empirical functional responses systematically across large gradients of patch sizes and habitat complexity independently is almost impossible. Here we overcame this issue by using an individual-based predator-prey model allowing to simulate functional responses in patches ranging from the size of petri dishes to natural patches in the field. Moreover we are able to vary the habitat complexity independent of the patch size. Contradicting to the pervasive type II functional response that is still assumed as the appropriate model to describe feeding interactions we found a type III functional response in our simulations, independent of patch size and habitat complexity. Moreover, half-sat...
The adaptation of plants to drought through the adjustment of their leaf functional traits is a h... more The adaptation of plants to drought through the adjustment of their leaf functional traits is a hot topic in plant ecology. However, while there is a good understanding of how individual species adapt to drought in this way, the way in which different functional types adapt to drought along a precipitation gradient remains poorly understood. In this study, we sampled 22 sites along a precipitation gradient in the Inner Mongolia grassland and measured eight leaf functional traits across 39 dominant species to determine the adaptive strategies of plant leaves to drought at the species and plant functional type levels. We found that leaf functional traits were mainly influenced by both aridity and phylogeny at the species level. There were four types of leaf adaptations to drought at the functional type level: adjusting the carbon-nitrogen ratio, the specific leaf area, the nitrogen content, and the specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen content simultaneously. These findings indicate that there is the trade-offs relationship between water and nitrogen acquisition as the level of drought increases, which is consistent with the worldwide leaf economics spectrum. In this study, we highlighted that the leaf economic spectrum can be adopted to reveal the adaptations of plants to drought in the Inner Mongolia grassland.
Understanding the changes in herders’ adaptation to environmental change can provide insight into... more Understanding the changes in herders’ adaptation to environmental change can provide insight into humans’ adaptive mechanisms to different social–ecological systems, and is also important for the optimal management of grasslands. However, the existing and emerging patterns of herders’ adaptation to changes in social–ecological systems across different types of grasslands are poorly understood. This paper presents a systematic participatory investigation that was conducted to comprehensively understand herders’ adaptation in this context over the past three decades. Three counties in Inner Mongolia grasslands were selected as the case study sites, located in meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe respectively. Our results indicate that herders’ perceptions partly fit with the reality of the actual changes. The majority of herders attributed their pasture’s quality degradation to reduced precipitation rather than overgrazing, a contradictory perception to previous scientific ...
Aims one major goal of modern community ecology is to understand how deterministic and stochastic... more Aims one major goal of modern community ecology is to understand how deterministic and stochastic processes combine to drive community assembly. However, little empirical knowledge is known about how their relative importance varies between common and rare species. Methods We exploited two 30-year data sets of plant communities in a temperate steppe using two different methods. one is a null model method, and the other is a recently developed direct-calculation method. Important Findings We found that stochastic processes tended to be more important in influencing rare than common species. This finding suggests that stochastic forces may play a more important role in structuring communities with more rare species, providing a possible solution to the debate on the varied importance of deterministic and stochastic processes among different communities.
Li, Y., Iwaasa, A. D., Wang, Y., Jin, L., Han, G. and Zhao, M. 2014. Condensed tannins concentrat... more Li, Y., Iwaasa, A. D., Wang, Y., Jin, L., Han, G. and Zhao, M. 2014. Condensed tannins concentration of selected prairie legume forages as affected by phenological stages during two consecutive growth seasons in western Canada. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 817–826. Studies have shown that condensed tannins (CT) at appropriate concentrations improve nutrient digestion in animals and influence ecosystem processes. However, knowledge of CT concentration in different phenological stages and different plant parts of non-conventional legumes growing in the western Canadian prairies is lacking for feed and grazing management. The research objectives were to determine the level and distribution of total CT (TCT), extractable CT (ECT) and protein-bound (PCT) or fiber-bound CT (FCT) concentrations in the whole plant of legume forages at different phenological (vegetative, flowering, seed maturity) stages and plant parts (leaves, stems, inflorescences and inflorescences+seedpods) using the Butanol-H...
PLoS ONE: an inclusive, peer-reviewed, open-access resource from the PUBLIC LIBRARY OF SCIENCE. R... more PLoS ONE: an inclusive, peer-reviewed, open-access resource from the PUBLIC LIBRARY OF SCIENCE. Reports of well-performed scientific studies from all disciplines freely available to the whole world.
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Papers by Yuanheng Li