Long-Term Increasing Productivity of High-Elevation Grassland Caused by Elevated Precipitation and Temperature

It is important to understand how climate change and increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition over the past decades have affected the productivity of different grassland types. High-elevation grasslands are sensitive to human activities and climate change, however little is reported about the effect of temperature, precipitation, and N deposition on productivity. For monitoring long-term changes in productivity, four ungrazed sites were established in 1984 in a high-elevation grassland of the Tianshan mountains in central Asia and grassland productivity was measured over ≈2−3 decades. In addition, a site with four N addition treatments was established in 2009. We conducted an 8-yr experiment in which nitrogen was added in the high-elevation grassland. These results show an aboveground net primary production (ANPP) increase in both spring and the peak growing season at ungrazed sites with increasing temperature and precipitation in the past 30 yr. ANPP of grasses and total grasses and forbs were strengthened by increased N deposition, especially when heavy snowfall was accompanied by higher spring and growing season temperatures. ANPP of total grasses and forbs was significantly correlated with snowfall. High-elevation grasslands are clearly susceptible to climate change and N deposition.