- KOREAN
- P-ISSN2287-8327
- E-ISSN2288-1220
- SCOPUS, KCI
ISSN : 2287-8327
Matter dynamics with respect to influences of C3 and C4 plants in four subtropical grasslands of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the Western Ghats, India
Munusamy Sivashanmugam (Kongunadu Arts and Science College)
Abstract
Biomass changes, net primary production and transfer dynamics of dry matter in four subtropical humid montane grasslands at Ebbenadu, Korakundah, Thiashola and Wenlockdown in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), the Western Ghats,India, were investigated. Despite the early report of a higher density and dominance of C4 species over C3 species in these grasslands, no functional study of matter production had previously been carried out. Therefore, in order to determine the roles played by these two groups of species, the present study was attempted. The study revealed that the dry matter and net primary production contributed by C4 species were much greater than those of its C3 counterpart in all the grasslands. The turnover rate of aboveground dry matter for both C3 and C4 species was generally rapid, whereas it was slow for belowground parts, and litter components of C3 and C4 species together. In all grasslands, generally about 60% and 10% of the input were channeled to aboveground and belowground parts, respectively, by the C4 species, whereas the C3species transferred only about 22% and 8% of dry matter to aboveground and belowground parts, respectively. The total disappearance of dry matter was 2.73, 2.10, 3.19, and 1.96 g m-2 day-1 in Ebbenadu, Korakundah, Thiashola and Wenlockdown grasslands, which was 48.83%, 44.30%, 54.81%, and 41.09% of the total input, respectively, in these grasslands. This resulted in a considerable surplus dry matter production in all the grasslands studied. This balance sheet of dry matter in community function indicates that all the four studied grasslands were supporting the existing wild animals adequately in terms of pasture supply. The study further revealed that the stronger establishment of C4 species rather than their C3counterparts, in terms of higher density and dominance, has driven them to play major roles in matter dynamics and system transfer functions in all the four grasslands studied. This fact evidenced that pasture from C4 species for wild animals was determined to be higher in comparison to that of C3 species.
- keywords
- C3 and C4 species, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, primary production, subtropical grassland, system transfer function
Reference
Billore SK, Mall LP. 1977. Dry matter structure and its dynamics in Schima grassland community. II. Dry matter dynamics. Trop Ecol 19: 29-35.
Bolhar-Nordenkampf HR. 1982. Shoot morphology and leaf anatomy. In: Techniques in Bioproductivity and Photosynthesis (Coombs J, Hall DO, eds). Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 107-117.
Bor NL. 1938. The vegetation of the Nilgiris. Indian For 64: 600-609.
Champion HG. 1939. The relative stability of Indian vegetational types. J Indian Bot Soc 18: 1.
Champion HG, Seth SK. 1968. A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Government of India Press, Nasik.
Chuluun T, Tieszen LL, Ojima D. 1999. Land use impact on C4 plant cover of temperate east Asian grasslands. In: NIES Workshop on Informationon Bases and Modeling for Land-use and Land-cover Changes Studies in East Asia (Otsubo K, ed). Center for Global Environmental Research, Tsukuba, pp 103-109.
Coupland RT. 1979. Grassland Ecosystem of the World: Analysis of Grasslands and Their Uses. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Dahlman RC, Kucera CL. 1965. Root productivity and turnover in native prairie. Ecology 46: 84-89.
Dhaulakhandi M, Rajwar GS, Kumar M. 2010. Ecological status and impact of disturbance in an alpine pasture of Garhwal Himalaya, India. J Plant Dev 17: 127-137.
Ganesan CM, Arvinth S, Paulsamy S. 2002. Strategy to enhance herbage yield in temperate pasture grasslands of Nilgiris. Madras Agric J 89: 491-498.
Golley FB. 1965. Structure and function of an old-field Broom sedge community. Ecol Monogr 35: 113-137.
Greig-Smith P. 1964. Quantitative Plant Ecology. 2nd ed. Butterworths, London.
Gupta JN. 1987. Ecophysiological association and balance among some grassland communities of Jhansi-India. J Agron Crop Sci 159: 293-298.
Holaday AS, Bowes G. 1980. C4 acid metabolism and dark CO2 fixation in a submersed aquatic macrophyte (Hydrilla verticillata). Plant Physiol 65: 331-335.
Karunaichamy KSTK, Paliwal K. 1994. Dry matter production and transfer dynamics in a humid grassland of Western Ghats in Southern India. Trop Ecol 28: 17-23.
Knapp AK, Smith MD. 2001. Variation among biomes in temporal dynamics of aboveground primary production. Science 291: 481-484.
La Pierre KJ, Yuan S, Chang CC, Avolio ML, Hallett LM, Schreck T, Smith MD. 2011. Explaining temporal variation in above-ground productivity in a mesic grassland: the role of climate and flowering. J Ecol 99: 1250-1262.
Melvin KKK, Japar SB, Ahmed OH, Majid NM, Roland KJH, Silvester J. 2011. Litter production, litter decomposition and standing forest litter of rehabilitated forests at Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Rehabilitation of Tropical Rainforest Ecosystems, 2011 Oct 24-25, Kuala Lumpur.
Milner C, Hughes RE. 1968. Methods for the Measurement of the Primary Productivity of Grassland. IBP Hand Book No. 6. Black Well Scientific Publication, Oxford.
Murphy BP, Bowman DMJS. 2007. Seasonal water availability predicts the relative abundance of C3 and C4 grasses in Australia. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 16: 160-169.
Niu S, Liu W, Wan S. 2008. Different growth responses of C3 and C4 grasses to seasonal water and nitrogen regimes and competition in a pot experiment. J Exp Bot 59: 1431-1439.
Osborne CP, Beerling DJ. 2006. Nature’s green revolution: the remarkable evolutionary rise of C4 plants. Philo Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 361: 173-194.
Paulsamy S, Manian S, Udaiyan K, Arumugasamy K, Nagarajan N, Kil BS. 2001. Biomass structure and dry matter dynamics in a fire influencing montane subtropical humid grassland, Western Ghats, southern India. Korean J Ecol 24: 227-232.
Paulsamy S, Nisharaj, Senthilkumar P. 2007. Litter dynamics in forest ecosystems. J Theor Exp Biol 3: 125-137.
Pucheta E, Bonamici I, Cabido M, Díaz S. 2004. Belowground biomass and productivity of a grazed site and a neighbouring ungrazed exclosure in a grassland in central Argentina. Austral Ecol 29: 201-208.
Sala OE, Parton WJ, Joyce LA, Lauenroth WK. 1988. Primary production of the Central grassland region of the United States. Ecology 69: 40-45.
Senthilkumar K, Manian S, Udaiyan K, Paulsamy S. 1998. Elevated biomass production in burned natural grasslands in southern India. Trop Grassl 32: 50-63.
Sims PL, Singh JS. 1971. Herbage dynamics and net primary production in certain ungrazed and grazed grasslands in North America. In: Preliminary Analysis of Structure and Function in Grasslands (French NR, ed). Range Science Department Science Series No. 10. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, pp 59-124.
Sims PL, Singh JS. 1978. The structure and function of ten western North American grasslands. IV. Compartmental transfers and energy flow within the ecosystem. J Ecol 66: 989-1009.
Singh AN. 1994. Working Plan for the Nilgiris South Division, 1984-1994. Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Coimbatore, pp 1-20.
Singh JS, Krishnamurthy L. 1981. Analysis of structure and function of tropical grassland vegetation of India. Indian Rev Life Sci 1: 225-270.
Singh JS, Yadava PS. 1974. Seasonal variation in composition, plant biomass, and net primary productivity of a tropical grassland at Kurukshetra, India. Ecol Monogr 44: 351-376.
Singh SP, Sah P, Tyagi V, Jina BS. 2005. Species diversity contributes to productivity: evidence from natural grassland communities of the Himalaya. Curr Sci 89: 548-552.
Sivashanmugam M. 2008. Biomass profile, net primary production and bioenergetics as influenced by C3/C4 plant composition in four grasslands of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the Western Ghats, India. PhD Dissertation. Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India.
Stout DG, Brooke B. 1985. Quantification of tiller pull-up during grazing of pinegrass. Can J Plant Sci 65: 943-950.
Suresh D. 2008. Perpetuation level and regeneration strategies for the poorly established plant species in four grasslands of Nilgiris, the Western Ghats, India. PhD Dissertation. Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India.
Trlica MJ, Singh JS. 1979. Translocation of assimilates and creation, distribution and utilization of reserves. In: Arid Land Ecosystem (Perry RA, Gooddall DW, eds). Cambridge University Press, London, pp 537-571.
- Downloaded
- Viewed
- 0KCI Citations
- 0WOS Citations