Karst rocky outcrops divert water into the surrounding soil patches in a phenomenon known as the “funnel” effect. Soil depth is a key limiting factor in vegetation restoration in karst landscapes, yet few studies have examined the influence of the karst rock funnel effect on soil-limited plant community assemblages and productivity. We established artificial herbaceous communities with seeds from a karst species pool to evaluate how the species composition and productivity of karst herbaceous communities respond to soil depth and the funnel effect. Three months after species establishment, we found that all artificial communities were dominated by two grasses, Miscanthus sinensis and Lolium multiflorum. Plant abundance increased significantly with increasing soil depth, mainly owing to an increase in the individual numbers of the dominant species. The community coverage, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) canopy capture rate, and shoot, root and total biomass also increased significantly with increasing soil depth. Funnel size and the soil depth × funnel size interaction significantly affected root biomass and root/shoot ratio; however, there was no effect of funnel size or the soil depth × funnel size interaction on species abundance, species richness and diversity, coverage, PAR canopy capture rate, shoot biomass, or total biomass. Therefore, this microcosm experiment provides evidence that the species composition and productivity of karst herbaceous communities are shaped by soil depth. The supply of water via the funnelling effect from karst rocky outcrops did not significantly affect herbaceous community assemblages or productivity, except in terms of root biomass. We suggest that the conservation and development of soil resources in environments with karst rocky outcrops may be more effective for the restoration of karst herbaceous communities than ensuring an adequate water supply.

喀斯特岩石露头将水转移到周围的土壤中，这种现象被称为“漏斗”效应。土壤深度是岩溶景观植被恢复的关键限制因素，但很少有研究研究岩溶漏斗效应对土壤限制的植物群落组成和生产力的影响。我们用喀斯特物种库中的种子建立了人工草本社区，以评估喀斯特草本社区的物种组成和生产力如何响应土壤深度和漏斗效应。物种建立三个月后，我们发现所有人工群落都由两种草（Miscanthus sinensis和多花黑麦草）主导。。随着土壤深度的增加，植物丰度显着增加，这主要是由于优势种的个体数量增加。随着土壤深度的增加，社区覆盖率，光合有效辐射（PAR）的冠层捕获率，枝条，根和总生物量也显着增加。漏斗大小和土壤深度×漏斗大小的相互作用显着影响根系生物量和根冠比。但是，漏斗大小或土壤深度×漏斗大小的相互作用对物种丰富度，物种丰富度和多样性，覆盖率，PAR冠层捕获率，枝条生物量或总生物量没有影响。因此，这个微观实验提供了证据，表明喀斯特草本植物群落的物种组成和生产力受土壤深度的影响。除了根系生物量外，通过岩溶岩石露头的漏斗效应供水不会显着影响草本群落的组合或生产力。我们建议，在喀斯特岩石露头环境中保护和开发土壤资源可能比确保充足的供水更有效地恢复喀斯特草丛群落。