Experimental sand burial affects seedling survivorship, morphological traits and biomass allocation of Ulmus pumila var. sabulosa in Horqin Sandy Land.

As a native tree species, Ulmus pumila var. sabulosa (Sandy elm) is widely distributed in Horqin Sandy Land. However, seedlings of this species have to withstand various depths of sand burial after emergence because of increasing soil degradation. So an experiment was conducted to evaluate the changes in the survivorship, morphological traits and biomass allocation buried with different burial depths (unburied, and seedlings buried vertically up to 33, 67, 100 or 133% of the initial mean seedling height). The results showed that partial sand burial treatments (i.e., less than 67% burial) did not influence seedling survivorship, which still reached 100%. However, seedling mortality increased as sand burial was equal to or greater than 100%. Seedling height and stem diameter increased at least by 6 to 14% with partial burial in comparison with control treatment. Whilst seeding taproot length, total biomass, and relative growth rates at least enhanced by 10%, 15.6%, and 27.6%, respectively, with the partial sand burial treatment. Furthermore, sand burial decreased total leaf area and changed biomass allocation on seedlings, transferring more biomass to aboveground rather than belowground parts. Complete sand burial after seedling emergence inhibited its growth, and even lead to death. Our findings indicated that seedling of sandy elm had a certain resistance to partial sand burial and acclimated to sandy environments. The negative effects of common excessive sand burial after seedling emergence help to understand failures in recruitment of sparse elm woodland in the Horqin sandy land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]