Grassland aboveground biomass in Xinjiang

The authors estimated aboveground biomass in 6 grasslands of Xinjiang according to data composed of 460 plots from 92 sites in Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region. Meanwhile, the authors evaluated the relationship between aboveground biomass and environmental factors. The primary results are summarized as follows: (1) Aboveground biomass density varies significantly in different grassland types. In the steppe, desert steppe has the minimum, temperate steppe and alpine steppe has the medium, while meadow steppe has the maximum. In the meadow, montane meadow has higher aboveground biomass density than alpine meadow. (2) The total aboveground biomass in 6 grasslands of Xinjiang is 14.65 Tg C, which accounts for about 10% of China's grassland biomass. The grassland aboveground biomass is distributed primarily in alpine steppe and alpine meadow, which accounts for 41.7%. (3) Aboveground biomass of steppe grassland is controlled by annual precipitation, while aboveground biomass of meadow grassland is determined by mean annual temperature. (4) Aboveground biomass of steppe grassland is mediated by soil moisture and soil total N content. However, no significant correlation is found between soil resource availability and aboveground biomass in meadow grassland.EI04521-5264