The response of root traits to precipitation change of herbaceous species in temperate steppes

1. Plasticity of root traits plays an important role in determining plant growth and survival under changing climate. Shift in precipitation is one of the most pertinent global change factors driving changes in structure and function of grasslands. However, few studies have focused on intra-specific variation of root traits in response to precipitation change under field conditions. 2. We conducted a 10-year simulated increased precipitation experiment in a temperate grassland and a 700-km regional scale transect along a precipitation gradients ranging from 144.23 to 412.29 mm in northern China. The morphological, chemical and anatomical traits of the first two orders roots were measured on 15 common herbaceous species in the manipulation experiment and two regionally common species (Leymus chinensis, Artemisia frigida) along the precipitation gradients. 3. We found that most of the root traits of the herbaceous species exhibited no significant responses to water addition. The two regio...