The important roles of plant-soil microbe interactions have been documented in exotic plant invasion, but we know very little about how soil mutualists enhance this process (i.e. enhanced mutualism hypothesis). To test this hypothesis we conducted two greenhouse experiments with Solidago canadensis (hereafter Solidago), an invasive forb from North America, and Stipa bungeana (hereafter Stipa), ...

Nitrogen (N) serves as an important mineral element affecting plant productivity and nutritional quality. However, few studies have addressed the interactive effects of elevated CO2 and precipitation change on leaf N of dominant grassland genera such as Stipa L. This has restricted our understanding of the responses of grassland to climate change. We simulated the interactive effects of elevate...

Strong environmental gradients can affect the genetic structure of plant populations, but little is known as to whether closely related species respond similarly or idiosyncratically to ecogeographic variation. We analysed the extent to which gradients in temperature and rainfall shape the genetic structure of four Stipa species in four bioclimatic regions in Jordan. Genetic diversity, differen...

The relationship between carbon isotope discrimination (131) of C3 vegetation and long-term (30 years) and short-term (growing period) precipitation was investigated. Different species of Stipa, a dominant grass genus in the (semi-)arid Asian steppes, and other C3 species were collected along aridity gradients in Inner Mongolia in 2005 (11 sites, 71 samples) and in the Republic of Mongolia in 2...

The Stipa grandis steppe is a type of steppe in the Central Asian sub-region, and it is an important resource for livestock production in China. Mowing is one of the main management methods for this steppe. Verifying the response of the Stipa grandis steppe communities to different mowing frequencies is essential for the rational utilization of pastures and the protection and recovery of natura...

New combinations and names are here validated for ten grass (Poaceae) taxa in California for the forthcoming revision of The Jepson Manual. In addition, guided by recent molecular phylogenetic studies, ten non-California grass species are here transferred to Muhlenbergia (Chloridoideae: Cynodonteae) to achieve monophyly of the genus. Lolium, long known to be phylogenetically nested within Festu...

There are tow hierarchically organized of clonal populations are: genetic individuals (genets) can consist of many physiological individuals (ramets). Each ramet takes up resources from its local environment, but the resource pattern can be reorganized within the clone by transport between ramets. According to obsearvation measurement and surveillance of clones and their ramets of caespitose gr...

Chaetosiphella stipae stipae is a xerothermophilous aphid, associated with Palaearctic temperate steppe zones or dry mountain valleys, where there are grasses from the genus Stipa. Its geographical distribution shows several populations that are spread from Spain, across Europe and Asia Minor, to Mongolia and China. Geographical variation in chaetotaxy and other morphological features were the ...

The study of species coexistence and community assembly has been a hot topic in ecology for decades. Disentangling the hierarchical role of abiotic and biotic filters is crucial to understand community assembly processes. The most critical environmental factor in semi-arid environments is known to be water availability, and perennials are usually described as nurses that create milder local con...