The contribution of understory and Compositae species to canopy storage capacity of semiarid grassland communities on the Loess Plateau

Abstract Canopy rainfall interception reduces the effectiveness of limited rainfall resources in arid and semiarid regions. To clarify the effects of species composition and community vertical structure on canopy storage capacity, the artificial wetting and simulated rainfall methods were used to determine the species ( C ) and community ( C max ) water storage, respectively, in three typical grassland communities on the semiarid Loess Plateau. Results indicated that water storage capacity of 31 grassland species ranged from 0.47 to 3.73 g g −1 , with an average of 1.60 g g −1 , and leaf storage capacity was significantly higher than the stem. Plant storage capacity was correlated with leaf traits (including leaf fresh weight, length and area). Canopy storage capacity of three grassland communities ( Bothriochloa ischaemum , Artemisia gmelinii and Lespedeza davurica ) ranged from 0.77 to 1.09 mm and were positively correlated with community leaf area index (LAI), coverage and leaf dry biomass. Leaf and stem water storage accounted for 57.6% and 42.4% of the total community, respectively. The water storage of Compositae, Gramineae, Leguminosae and other species accounted for 35.5%, 27.0%, 23.4% and 14.1%, respectively. The plants in the community with heights of >40, 20–40 and 0–20 cm contributed 5.8%, 30.3% and 63.9% of the water storage, respectively. The field observed canopy storage capacity was significantly higher than the estimated value through scaling up the individual storage data to the community, revealing complex community structure and species composition may increase actual rainfall interception. These results highlighted the species at 0–20 cm height was the key component affecting canopy water storage, and Compositae species may intercept more rainfall within the community, which imply that reducing the understory or Compositae species composition of grassland community would be helpful for increasing limited rainfall partitioning to soil in the drought area.