Precipitation legacies reshape clonal demography associated with early productivity recovery in a semi-arid typical steppe

Altered precipitation can leave persistent legacies after climatic anomalies cease, yet whether these legacies are retained in plant regenerative organs and linked to subsequent productivity recovery remains unclear. Using a long-term precipitation manipulation experiment in a semi-arid typical steppe, we examined aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), plant community composition, and clonal demographic traits during early recovery following seven years of drought and increased-precipitation treatments. Drought legacies reduced belowground bud and aboveground shoot density, particularly for forbs, and shifted bud bank and shoot composition toward greater relative grass dominance. In contrast, increased-precipitation legacies enhanced forb bud density, promoted forb shoot density in year-specific comparisons, and increased forb dominance, while grass responses were weak or negative. Although the effects of historical precipitation treatments on whole-community ANPP weakened during recovery, functional-group responses and community composition remained associated with precipitation histories. ANPP recovery was positively associated with community-level bud and shoot densities during recovery from drought, whereas these associations were not significant during recovery from increased precipitation. Structural equation modeling further linked soil moisture to ANPP recovery through clonal demography under drought legacy conditions, whereas ANPP recovery following increased precipitation was positively associated with available phosphorus and negatively associated with forb relative biomass. Our findings suggest that belowground bud bank may retain the effects of historical precipitation conditions, with corresponding differences subsequently expressed in aboveground shoots. However, the contribution of this demographic memory to productivity recovery depends on precipitation legacy context, supporting a context-dependent role for clonal demography as a biological link between past precipitation and subsequent productivity recovery.