Effects of wind erosion and sand burial on growth and reproduction of a clonal shrub

• We determined the effects of erosion and burial on the Calligonum arborescens.
• Ramet number and biomass production deceased after sand burial and severe erosion.
• Ramet number and biomass production increased after moderate erosion.
• Rhizome connections alleviated the negative effects of severe erosion.

Sand burial and wind erosion are two of the most severe stresses for plants in arid areas. Performance of herbaceous plants after burial has been extensively studied in inland and coastal dune ecosystems. However, studies of how clonal shrubs withstand these disturbances remain relatively scarce. Here, we tested the hypothesis that sand burial has negative effects and moderate erosion has positive effects on a clonal shrub, and maintaining rhizome connections helps plants tolerate both burial and erosion. One hundred eight 2 m × 2 m plots of Calligonum arborescens were established on an inland dune in the Badain Jaran Desert in northwestern China. Rhizomes at the edges of 54 (half) plots were severed to mimic the loss of rhizome connections. The top 15 or 30 cm of sand was removed for 2.5 or 5 months to simulate short- and long-term moderate and severe erosion, respectively. Addition of 5, 10, 20, or 40 cm layers of sand simulated sand burial. Untreated plots were used as controls. Both sand burial and wind erosion had significant effects on the growth and regeneration of C. arborescens. The number of ramets and biomass production decreased with increased burial depth and with severe erosion, but increased in moderate erosion treatments. Rhizome connections greatly increased ramet number and biomass production under both sand burial and severe erosion treatments. We concluded that both sand burial and severe erosion had negative effects on the clonal growth of C. arborescens, but that moderate wind erosion had positive effects. Rhizome connections alleviated the negative effects of sand burial and of severe erosion on the growth and performance of C. arborescens.