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Species diversity advances autumn senescence via enhanced belowground carbon allocation in semi-arid grasslands

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Abstract

The timing of leaf senescence critically shapes ecosystem dynamics by regulating plant productivity and nutrient cycling. While species diversity is recognized as a key driver of ecosystem functioning, its effect on autumn senescence remains poorly understood. To address this gap, here we integrated field observations from Northern China and global remote sensing data to investigate grassland autumn senescence. Our analyses reveal that higher species diversity accelerates autumn senescence, even after controlling for climate and soil factors. Mechanistically, this relationship is mediated by resource allocation strategies: enhanced species diversity promotes the allocation of resources to belowground biomass, thereby reducing aboveground resource availability and triggering earlier senescence. Our findings highlight a negative relationship between species diversity and the timing of autumn senescence in semi-arid grasslands, which facilitates increased carbon allocation to belowground compartments and accelerates the seasonal carbon cycle, offering critical insights into global carbon flux exchange under future climate warming.

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Data availability

Both data are saved on https://github.com/bobilong/grassland-diversity.

Code availability

Both code are saved on https://github.com/bobilong/grassland-diversity.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Zhaowen Wu and Heng Zhong for their work collecting our samples. This work was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (Grant No. 2019QZKK0502), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA23100100) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. YJ201936, 2020SCUNL20, SCU2019D013, 2020SCUNL207, SCU2022D003, and lzujbky-2022-ey07).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Huan Cheng, Yuxin Qiao.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Bio-resources and Eco-environment & Sichuan Zoige Alpine Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Huan Cheng, Yuchuan Yang & Jianquan Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Herbage Innovation and Grassland Agro-ecosystem, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

    Qiao Yuxin & Jianquan Liu

  3. Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, China

    Qiao Yuxin, HuaZhong Zhu & Huaping Zhong

  4. Department of Plant Sciences and Centre for Global Wood Security, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Qiao Yuxin

  5. College of Ecology, Hainan University, Hainan Province, 570228, Hainan, China

    YunQiang Zhu

  6. College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Inner Mongolia, China

    Qianru Jia

  7. Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, Zurich, Switzerland

    Constantin M. Zohner

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  1. Huan Cheng
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  2. Qiao Yuxin
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  3. HuaZhong Zhu
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  8. Constantin M. Zohner
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Contributions

Huan Cheng and Yuxin Qiao performed the data analysis. Huan Cheng, Yuxin Qiao, Constantin M. Zohner, and Jianquan Liu wrote the paper. Yuxin Qiao, Huaping Zhong, and HuaZhong Zhu sampled the plots. YunQiang Zhu, Qianru Jia, Yuchuan Yang, and Huaping Zhong contributed to the interpretation of the results. Constantin M. Zohner and Jianquan Liu designed the research. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Qiao Yuxin.

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Communications Earth and Environment thanks Chunyan Long and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary handling editors: Somaparna Ghosh A peer review file is available.

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Cheng, H., Qiao, Y., Zhu, H. et al. Species diversity advances autumn senescence via enhanced belowground carbon allocation in semi-arid grasslands.
Commun Earth Environ (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03109-z

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