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How Water Sources and Soil Salinity Determine the Distribution and Structure of Halophytic Plant Communities in Arid Environments of the Eastern Pamir

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How Water Sources and Soil Salinity Determine the Distribution and Structure of Halophytic Plant Communities in Arid Environments of the Eastern Pamir RESEARCH ARTICLE Nature's patchwork: How water sources and soil salinity determine the distribution and structure of halophytic plant communities in arid environments of the Eastern Pamir Monika Mętrak1*, èukasz Chachulski2, Dovutsho Navruzshoev3, Paweø Pawlikowski1, Elżbieta Rojan4, Marcin Sulwiński1, Maøgorzata Suska-Malawska1 1 Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Department of Plant Ecology and a1111111111 Environmental Protection, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, 2 Warsaw University of Life Sciences, a1111111111 Faculty of Agriculture and Botany, Department of Botany, Warsaw, Poland, 3 Kh.Yu. Yusufbekov Pamir a1111111111 Biological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, Khorog, Tajikistan, 4 Faculty of a1111111111 Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland a1111111111 * [email protected] Abstract OPEN ACCESS The eastern part of the Pamir Mountains, located in Central Asia, is characterized by great Citation: Mętrak M, Chachulski è, Navruzshoev D, climatic continentality and aridity. Wetlands developed in this hostile region are restricted Pawlikowski P, Rojan E, Sulwiński M, et al. (2017) Nature's patchwork: How water sources and soil to spring areas, terraces of shallow lakes or floodplains along rivers, and provide diversi- salinity determine the distribution and structure of fied ecosystem services e.g. as water reservoirs, refugia for rare species and pastures for halophytic plant communities in arid environments domestic cattle. These ecosystems are particularly susceptible to climate changes, that in of the Eastern Pamir. PLoS ONE 12(3): e0174496. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174496 the Pamir Mountains result in increased temperatures, intense permafrost/glacial melt and alterations of precipitation patterns. Climatic changes affect pasture management in the Editor: Dusan Gomory, Technical University in Zvolen, SLOVAKIA mountains, causing overutilization of sites located at lower elevations. Thus, both climate and man-induced disturbances may violate the existing ecological equilibrium in high- Received: July 18, 2016 mountain wetlands of the Eastern Pamir, posing a serious risk to their biodiversity and to Accepted: March 10, 2017 food security of the local population. In this context, we sought to assess how environmen- Published: March 30, 2017 tal drivers (with special focus on soil features and potential water sources) shape the distri- Copyright: © 2017 Mętrak et al. This is an open bution and diversity of halophytic plant communities developed in valleys in the Eastern access article distributed under the terms of the Pamir. This task was completed by means of a vegetation survey and comprehensive Creative Commons Attribution License, which analyses of habitat conditions. The lake terraces and floodplains studied were covered by permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original a repetitive mosaic of plant communities determined by differences in soil moisture and author and source are credited. salinity. On lower, wetter sites, this patchwork was formed by Blysmus rufus dominated Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are salt marshes, saline small sedge meadows and saline meadows with Kobresia royleana within the paper and its Supporting Information and Primula pamirica; and on drier, elevated sites, by endemic grasslands with Hordeum files. brevisubulatum and Puccinellia species and patches of xerohalophytic vegetation. Contin- Funding: This work was financially supported by uous instability of water sources and summer droughts occurring in the Pamir Mountains the National Science Centre of Poland (https:// may lead to significant structural and functional transformations of described wetland eco- www.ncn.gov.pl/). Grant number is 2013/09/B/ systems. Species more tolerant to decreased soil moisture and/or increased soil salinity ST10/01662. will expand, leading to alterations of ecosystem services provided by the Pamirs' wetlands. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174496 March 30, 2017 1 / 23 Distribution and structure of halophytic plant communities in the Eastern Pamir The described research will help to assess the current state of the wetlands and to predict directions of their future changes. Introduction The hydrology of a given area, including its water supplies, ground water level and water chemistry, is a widely known factor playing a vital role in structuring and maintaining terres- trial vegetation, most notably in water-limited habitats [1±2]. According to Gilbert and Freser [3], in the case of high-mountain water bodies and wetlands, salinity may also have a compara- ble impact on the functioning of these ecosystems. Both hydrology and salinity of high-moun- tain wetlands are under a strong influence of climatic factors and their current changes, which are especially important in arid regions of the world [2, 4]. The Pamir Mountains, situated in the south-eastern part of Central Asia (mostly in Tajiki- stan, with outskirts reaching to Kyrgyzstan, China and Afghanistan), are characterized by extreme climatic conditions and a rather short growing season. Together with the Tibetan Pla- teau, the Himalayas, the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and Hindu Raj ranges, the Pamir Mountains belong to the largest area of permafrost in mountainous regions, with the permafrost thickness estimated at less than 100 m [5]. According to the studies performed by Gorbunov at lake Karakul, the Pamirs' permafrost is of Upper Pleistocene and Holocene origin [5]. Due to significant landscape differences, the Pamir Mountains are divided into the western and the eastern part. The Western Pamir has alpine features, with high, steep slopes (up to 7,500 m a.s.l.), deep ravines (denivelations above 4,000 m) and relatively intensive precipita- tion (around 1,500 mm annually, with maxima reaching 2,500 mm for the Fedchenko Meteo- rological Station), whereas the Eastern Pamir is an elevated plateau (3,500±4,000 m a.s.l.) surrounded by slightly lower (around 6,000 m a.s.l.), rounded peaks. This area is characterized by very low precipitation rates (between 50 and 150 mm annually), which combined with high insolation, strong winds, and average monthly air temperatures below zero from October to March, make the Eastern Pamir a cold mountainous desert with aridity index between -45 and -61 [6±13]. Due to such harsh climatic conditions, the wetlands of the Eastern Pamir, located mostly in spring areas, on terraces of brackish to saline shallow lakes or on floodplains along rivers, are totally dependent on water influxes, coming mostly from sources other than scarce precipitation (springs, permafrost meltwater, lake/river water, snow/glacial meltwa- ter). Thus, differences in water supply and/or local weather conditions have resulted in the formation of different wetland habitats within different soil types and soil chemical proper- ties, and consequently with totally different plant communities developed at distances of just a few meters. This repetitive mosaic of phytocoenoses has been recently described as floodplain meadows, including sedge meadows, bog sedge meadows and mountain mead- ows [14]. Research carried out in the Eastern Pamir to date has shown that in this semi-arid area wetlands are of paramount importance as reservoirs of meltwater from permafrost and gla- ciers, as resting places for migratory birds, as grazing grounds for rare herbivory species (such as Marco Polo sheep) and in general as refugia crucial for biodiversity conservation [15±17].Furthermore, they are critical for local inhabitants, who depend on fresh water sources and hence settle in the immediate vicinity of wetlands that are intensively used in livestock farming. PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174496 March 30, 2017 2 / 23 Distribution and structure of halophytic plant communities in the Eastern Pamir After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the management of pastures in the Pamir Mountains became decentralized and, together with the loss of traditional agricultural knowledge, resulted in overutilization of near-village pastures. Simultaneously, summer pastures, located at higher altitudes, became underutilized. Currently, efforts are taken to reverse this trend. In Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan ªLaws on Pasturesº were passed that regulate the tenure and exploitation of pastures, and establish transboundary management practices in the Pamir Mountains. Local governments and NGOs cooperate to consolidate and optimize management practices at the level of rural municipalities, to remove barriers to the use of summer pastures (mostly improve access routes) and to enhance farmers' knowledge of grazing methods. Yet all these activities are limited due to institutional and financial issues [13, 18±22]. Presently, different scientific, governmental and non-governmental bodies in Tajikistan are engaged in the preparation of an inventory of Pamirs' pastures. However, they are lacking current data on ecology and biodiversity of pasturelands in the Eastern Pamir, since the most recent maps of vegetation dis- tribution for this area were prepared in the 1950s by Stanyukovich [23]. In this context, our research fills in gaps in the existing knowledge and provides additional information on poten- tial threats to these ecosystems. Though unsustainable management of pastures strongly impacts high-mountain
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