Wind Power Increases the Plant Diversity of Temperate Grasslands but Decreases the Dominance of Palatable Plants

Abstract

As an important clean energy source, the scale and quantity of wind power have steadily increased under the background of global change. The construction and operation of wind power facilities have massive impacts on grassland microclimates. However, the effect of wind power operation on the plant community composition is still unclear. To investigate this issue, we selected wind farms in 6 meadow grasslands and 6 typical steppes in the central region of Inner Mongolia, the province with the largest scale of grassland wind power operations in China. At these sites, we conducted field sample surveys to obtain species information, measure plant biomass, calculate plant diversity, and take soil samples to determine soil nutrients. The results showed that wind power operation significantly reduced the dominance of Poaceae and Cyperaceae plants in both types of grasslands and significantly increased the Shannon diversity of meadow grasslands. The inconsistent responses at each experimental site led to a nonsignificant overall effect of wind power operation on the plant beta diversity. In addition, wind power operation significantly increased plant biomass in meadow grasslands. Wind power operation did not change the soil total carbon, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, or nitrate nitrogen. On the basis of the results, we suggest strengthening the long-term monitoring of temperate grassland plant community composition in wind farms, and replanting of community-building species could be done at appropriate times.