Sandy Habitats Play an Important Role in Shrub Encroachment in Grasslands

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The study focus on the determination of the effects of sandy habitats on plant growth and reproduction. The study examined the response of the four stages of the shrubs’ life cycle to sandy habitats. The findings indicate that sandy habitats enhance seed germination, seedling biomass, sapling establishment and root shoot ratio. The study concluded that sandy habitats facilitate shrub encroachment. This study is interesting and can add to the scientific body of knowledge on the drivers of shrub encroachment.

 

My comments on the manuscript are as follows;

1.   The authors need to characterise the grassland soils. The study compares sandy soils and grassland soils yet the reader is not informed on the type of soil in the grassland.

2.   I suggest that the units of abundance be changed to per hectare. This will make the comparison with other studies easier.

3.   The reproductive effort is found in the methods, results and discussion sections of the manuscript but it is not one of the objectives. The authors should add it to the objectives of the study

4.   Seed preservation is seed conservation from the harvest until they are planted for successful crop production. Could the authors include some viability results for the seeds that recovered after the experiment?

5.   There is also a need for some language editing throughout the manuscript

6.   Please find the attached manuscript for my other comments.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript provides a significant contribution to our knowledge about the behaviour of Caragana species, and the mechanism of shrub encroachment.

This is a prospective study that analysed the effect of sand burial, sandy habitat as a nature conservation tool. In my opinion Lina Xie and co-workers have prepared a clear, interesting, and good quality manuscript. The aims, sampling procedure, methods of data analysis are clearly stated and introduced. The statistical analyses are appropriate. The results and facts are presented clearly and sufficiently fully and are separated from interpretations. The authors know the literature of the subject very well.

I would appreciate a schematic map about the study site.

I suggest as keywords the Caragana species to indicate.

Further remarks:

In the section Materials and methods in line 102:

„Field experiments was conducted in Alxa region (37°24′~42°47′N, 97°10′~106°52′E; al- 101 titude ~1550 m; area ~ km2 ), „

Please give the approximate extent, how many quadratkilometers are the investigation area?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.doc