Increasing sensitivity of alpine grasslands to climate variability along an elevational gradient on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Alpine grassland has very important water conservation function. Grassland degradation seriously affects the water conservation function; moreover, there is little understanding of the change of water state during grassland restoration. Our study aims to bridge this gap and improve our understanding of changes in soil moisture during the restoration process. In this study, the water storage, vegetation, and meteorology of a non-degradation grassland (grazing intensity of 7.5 sheep/ha) and a severely degraded grassland (grazing intensity of 12–18 sheep/ha) were monitored in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for seven consecutive years. We used correlation, stepwise regression, and the boosted regression trees (BRT) model analyses, five environmental factors were considered to be the most important factors affecting water storage. The severely degraded grassland recovered by light grazing treatment for 7 years, with increases in biomass, litter, and vegetation cover, and a soil-water storage capacity 41.9% higher in 2018 compared to that in 2012. This increase in soil-water storage was primarily due to the increase in surface soil moisture content. The key factors that influenced water storage were listed in a decreasing order: air temperature, litter, soil heat flux, precipitation, and wind speed. Their percentage contributions to soil-water storage were 50.52, 24.02, 10.86, 7.82, and 6.77%, respectively. Current and future climate change threatens soil-water conservation in alpine grasslands; however, grassland restoration is an effective solution to improve the soil-water retention capacity in degraded grassland soils.

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Patterns of grassland community composition and structure along an elevational gradient on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Journal of Plant Ecology ◽

10.1093/jpe/rtab119 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xin Wang ◽

Jiangling Zhu ◽

Shitao Peng ◽

Tianli Zheng ◽

Zhaoyu Qi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Elevation Gradient ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Grassland Community ◽

Β Diversity ◽

Composition And Structure ◽

Α Diversity ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau

Abstract Aims Grasslands in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau play an important role in preserving ecological security and high biodiversity in this region. However, the distribution of the composition and structure of plant community and the mechanism by which it maintains itself in this region is still poorly understood. Methods Here, we designed 195 grassland plots in 39 grassland sites along an approximately 1700-m elevation gradient on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Important findings We found that the grassland community height decreased significantly with the increase of elevation, while community coverage did not demonstrate significant changes. With the increase of elevation, the plant species richness (α diversity) increased significantly, but the community variability (β diversity) decreased significantly. The constrained clustering analysis suggested that the α- and β-diversity in the grasslands transformed gradually with elevation, and three discontinuous points (based on community structure) were observed at elevation of 3640, 4252 and 4333 m. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that the increase of precipitation and the decrease of temperature significantly positively influenced α diversity, which was negatively correlated with β diversity. These results demonstrate that the community composition and structure presented a quantitative-to-qualitative change along this elevational gradient on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

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Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Experimental Warming in Alpine Grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0103859 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. e103859 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Bin Zhang ◽

Shengyun Chen ◽

Xingyuan He ◽

Wenjie Liu ◽

Qian Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Communities ◽

Soil Microbial Communities ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

Experimental Warming ◽

Alpine Grasslands ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau

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Soil organic carbon contents, aggregate stability, and humic acid composition in different alpine grasslands in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Journal of Mountain Science ◽

10.1007/s11629-015-3744-y ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 2015-2027 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Zhi-yuan Cao ◽

Yong Wang ◽

Jie Li ◽

Jin-jing Zhang ◽

Nian-peng He

Keyword(s):

Humic Acid ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Acid Composition ◽

Aggregate Stability ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

Alpine Grasslands ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau

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Precipitation and Minimum Temperature are Primary Climatic Controls of Alpine Grassland Autumn Phenology on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12030431 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 431 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shuai An ◽

Xiaoqiu Chen ◽

Xiaoyang Zhang ◽

Weiguang Lang ◽

Shilong Ren ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Minimum Temperature ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Sunshine Duration ◽

Controlling Factor ◽

Alpine Grassland ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Alpine Grasslands ◽

Optimum Length ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau

Autumn phenology is a crucial indicator for identifying the alpine grassland growing season’s end date on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), which intensely controls biogeochemical cycles in this ecosystem. Although autumn phenology is thought to be mainly influenced by the preseason temperature, precipitation, and insolation in alpine grasslands, the relative contributions of these climatic factors on the QTP remain uncertain. To quantify the impacts of climatic factors on autumn phenology, we built stepwise linear regression models for 91 meteorological stations on the QTP using in situ herb brown-off dates, remotely sensed autumn phenological metrics, and a multi-factor climate dataset during an optimum length period. The results show that autumn precipitation has the most extensive influence on interannual variation in alpine grassland autumn phenology. On average, a 10 mm increase in autumn precipitation during the optimum length period may lead to a delay of 0.2 to 4 days in the middle senescence date (P < 0.05) across the alpine grasslands. The daily minimum air temperature is the second most important controlling factor, namely, a 1 °C increase in the mean autumn minimum temperature during the optimum length period may induce a delay of 1.6 to 9.3 days in the middle senescence date (P < 0.05) across the alpine grasslands. Sunshine duration is the third extensive controlling factor. However, its influence is spatially limited. Moreover, the relative humidity and wind speed also have strong influences at a few stations. Further analysis indicates that the autumn phenology at stations with less autumn precipitation is more sensitive to precipitation variation than at stations with more autumn precipitation. This implies that autumn drought in arid regions would intensely accelerate the leaf senescence of alpine grasslands. This study suggests that precipitation should be considered for improving process-based autumn phenology models in QTP alpine grasslands.

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Grazing rest versus no grazing stimulates soil inorganic N turnover in the alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau

CATENA ◽

10.1016/j.catena.2021.105382 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 204 ◽

pp. 105382

Author(s):

Man Lang ◽

Ping Li ◽

Guangqiang Long ◽

Fujin Yuan ◽

Yongjie Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibet Plateau ◽

Inorganic N ◽

Alpine Grasslands ◽

N Turnover ◽

Soil Inorganic N ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau ◽

Soil Inorganic

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Climate Variability and Impact on Livelihoods in the Cold Arid Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Climate Variability Impacts on Land Use and Livelihoods in Drylands ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-56681-8_5 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 91-112 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Haiying Feng ◽

Victor R. Squires

Keyword(s):

Climate Variability ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau

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Socio-Environmental Dynamics of Alpine Grasslands, Steppes and Meadows of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China: A Commentary

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10186488 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (18) ◽

pp. 6488 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Haiying Feng ◽

Victor R. Squires

Keyword(s):

Alpine Meadow ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

South East Asia ◽

Alpine Grasslands ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Alpine Steppe ◽

Tibetan Sheep ◽

Low Humidity ◽

Bactrian Camels ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau

Alpine grasslands are a common feature on the extensive (2.6 million km2) Qinghai–Tibet plateau in western and southwestern China. These grasslands are characterized by their ability to thrive at high altitudes and in areas with short growing seasons and low humidity. Alpine steppe and alpine meadow are the principal plant Formations supporting a rich species mix of grass and forb species, many of them endemic. Alpine grasslands are the mainstay of pastoralism where yaks and hardy Tibetan sheep and Bactrian camels are the favored livestock in the cold arid region. It is not only their importance to local semi nomadic herders, but their role as headwaters of nine major rivers that provide water to more than one billion people in China and in neighboring countries in south and south-east Asia and beyond. Grasslands in this region were heavily utilized in recent decades and are facing accelerated land degradation. Government and herder responses, although quite different, are being implemented as climate change and the transition to the market economy proceeds apace. Problems and prospects for alpine grasslands and the management regimes being imposed (including sedentarization, resettlement and global warming are briefly discussed.

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