The Response of Vegetation Biomass to Soil Properties along Degradation Gradients of Alpine Meadow at Zoige Plateau

The belowground bud bank plays an important role in plant communities succession and maintenance. In order to understand the response of the bud bank to the sod layer moisture, we investigated the bud bank distribution, size, and composition of six different water gradient alpine meadows through excavating in the Zoige Plateau. The results showed: (1) The alpine meadow plant belowground buds were mainly distributed in the 0–10 cm sod layer, accounting for 74.2%–100% of the total. The total bud density of the swamp wetland and degraded meadow was the highest (16567.9 bud/m3) and the lowest (4839.5 bud/m3). (2) A decrease of the moisture plant diversity showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. Among six alpine meadows the swamp meadow plant diversity was the highest, and species richness, Simpson, Shannon–Wiener, and Pielou were 10.333, 0.871, 0.944, and 0.931, respectively. (3) The moisture was significantly positively correlated with the total belowground buds and short rhizome bud density. There were significant positive correlations with sod layer moisture and tiller bulb bud density. This study indicates that the moisture affected bud bank distribution and composition in the plant community, and the results provide important information for predicting plant community succession in the alpine meadow with future changes in precipitation patterns.

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Classification of plant functional types based on the nutrition traits: a case study on alpine meadow community in the Zoigê Plateau

Journal of Mountain Science ◽

10.1007/s11629-016-4133-x ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 14 (10) ◽

pp. 2003-2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Song-tao Shen ◽

Shu-jie Zhang ◽

Min Fan ◽

Qing Wang

Keyword(s):

Alpine Meadow ◽

Plant Functional Types ◽

Functional Types ◽

Zoigê Plateau ◽

Zoige Plateau

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Effect of Grazing Intensities on Soil N2O Emissions from an Alpine Meadow of Zoige Plateau in China

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos12050541 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 541

Author(s):

Wei Zhan ◽

Zhenan Yang ◽

Jianliang Liu ◽

Huai Chen ◽

Gang Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alpine Meadow ◽

Emission Rate ◽

Grazing Intensity ◽

N2o Emission ◽

N2o Emissions ◽

Grazing Land ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Grazing Intensities ◽

Zoigê Plateau ◽

Zoige Plateau

The alpine meadow of Zoige Plateau plays a key role in local livestock production of cattle and sheep. However, it remains unclear how animal grazing or its intensity affect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, and the main driving factors. A grazing experiment including four grazing intensities (G0, G0.7, G1.2, G1.6 yak ha−1) was conducted between January 2013 and December 2014 to evaluate the soil nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes under different grazing intensities in an alpine meadow on the eastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau of China. The N2O fluxes were examined with gas collected by the static chamber method and by chromatographic concentration analysis. N2O emissions in the growing seasons (from May to September) were lower than that in non-growing seasons (from October to April) in 2013, 1.94 ± 0.30 to 3.37 ± 0.56 kg N2O ha−1 yr−1. Annual mean N2O emission rates were calculated as 1.17 ± 0.50 kg N2O ha−1 yr−1 in non-grazing land (G0) and 1.94 ± 0.23 kg N2O ha−1 yr−1 in the grazing land (G0.7, G1.2, and G1.6). The annual mean N2O flux showed no significant differences between grazing treatments in 2013. However, there were significantly greater fluxes from the G0.7 treatment than from the G1.6 treatment in 2014, especially in the growing season. Over the two years, the soil N2O emission rate was significantly negatively correlated with soil water-filled pore space (WFPS) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content as well as positively correlated with soil available phosphorus (P). No relationship was observed between soil N2O emission rate and temperature or rainfall. Our results showed that the meadow soils acted as a source of N2O for most periods and turned into a weak sink of N2O later during the sampling period. Our results highlight the importance of proper grazing intensity in reducing N2O emissions from alpine meadow. The interaction between grazing intensity and N2O emissions should be of more concern during future management of pastures in Zoige Plateau.

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Soil Nutrient and Vegetation Diversity Patterns of Alpine Wetlands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116221 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6221

Author(s):

Muyuan Ma ◽

Yaojun Zhu ◽

Yuanyun Wei ◽

Nana Zhao

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Soil Ph ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Principal Component ◽

Vegetation Diversity ◽

Vegetation Biomass ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

The Relationship

To predict the consequences of environmental change on the biodiversity of alpine wetlands, it is necessary to understand the relationship between soil properties and vegetation biodiversity. In this study, we investigated spatial patterns of aboveground vegetation biomass, cover, species diversity, and their relationships with soil properties in the alpine wetlands of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Furthermore, the relative contribution of soil properties to vegetation biomass, cover, and species diversity were compared using principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis. Generally, the relationship between plant biomass, coverage, diversity, and soil nutrients was linear or unimodal. Soil pH, bulk density and organic carbon were also significantly correlated to plant diversity. The soil attributes differed in their relative contribution to changes in plant productivity and diversity. pH had the highest contribution to vegetation biomass and species richness, while total nitrogen was the highest contributor to vegetation cover and nitrogen–phosphorus ratio (N:P) was the highest contributor to diversity. Both vegetation productivity and diversity were closely related to soil properties, and soil pH and the N:P ratio play particularly important roles in wetland vegetation biomass, cover, and diversity.

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