Spatial variation patterns of plant herbaceous community response to warming along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in mountainous forests of the Loess Plateau, China

•Spatial patterns of warming effects are explored for mountainous grasslands in forest.•Warming experiments were conducted to explore spatial patterns along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients.•Corresponding responsiveness of air and soil temperature to warming was dependent on elevation and latitude.•Warming reinforced the relationship of vegetation with moisture and promoted its dependence on moisture.•Moisture increment induced by rainfall might weaken the effects of warming on soil and its relation with vegetation.