Plateau pika disturbances alter plant productivity and soil nutrients in alpine meadows of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Pan Pang ◽  
Zheng Gang Guo
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Soil Nutrients ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Soil Factors ◽  
Plateau Pika ◽  
Disturbance Intensity ◽  
Number Of Plant Species

Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is an endemic mammal in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and its activities create extensive disturbances on vegetation and soil of alpine meadow. Field surveys at two sites were conducted to determine the effects of plateau pika disturbances on important soil factors and plant biomass of vegetated land, and their relationships of the same alpine meadow type. Our study showed that plateau pika disturbances significantly increased soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen, graminoid biomass and the number of plant species, and significantly decreased soil moisture and forb biomass, although they had no significant impacts on soil total phosphorus, soil total potassium and total biomass on vegetated land. Our study further showed that soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen, graminoid biomass and the number of plant species were much higher at intermediate disturbance intensities than those at low and high disturbance intensities in the disturbed areas, and soil moisture showed a decreasing trend with the increase of disturbance intensity. Plateau pika disturbances altered the contribution of some important soil nutrients and moisture to plant biomass, and had different impact on the best models between plant biomass (total biomass, graminoid biomass and forb biomass) and predominant soil factors. Our results demonstrated that the optimal disturbance intensities of plateau pika were beneficial to alpine meadow. These results highlighted the influence of the presence of plateau pika and its disturbance intensity on key soil nutrients and plant productivity on vegetated land of the same alpine meadow type, which will help us better understand the role of plateau pika in the alpine meadow ecosystem.

Effects of plateau pika activities on seasonal plant biomass and soil properties in the alpine meadow ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 195-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feida Sun ◽  
Wenye Chen ◽  
Lin Liu ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Yimin Cai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Plateau Pika

scholarly journals Nitrogen fertilizer regulates soil respiration by altering the organic carbon storage in root and topsoil in alpine meadow of the north-eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Li ◽  
Jinlan Wang ◽  
Xiaolong Li ◽  
Shilin Wang ◽  
Wenhui Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
N Storage ◽  
The North ◽  
C Storage ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
C And N

Abstract Soil respiration (Rs) plays a critical role in the global carbon (C) balance, especially in the context of globally increasing nitrogen (N) deposition. However, how N-addition influences C cycle remains unclear. Here, we applied seven levels of N application (0 (N0), 54 (N1), 90 (N2), 126 (N3), 144 (N4), 180 (N5) and 216 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (N6)) to quantify their impacts on Rs and its components (autotrophic respiration (Ra) and heterotrophic respiration (Rh)) and C and N storage in vegetation and soil in alpine meadow on the northeast margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We used a structural equation model (SEM) to explore the relative contributions of C and N storage, soil temperature and soil moisture and their direct and indirect pathways in regulating soil respiration. Our results revealed that the Rs, Ra and Rh, C and N storage in plant, root and soil (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm) all showed initial increases and then tended to decrease at the threshold level of 180 kg N ha−1 yr−1. The SEM results indicated that soil temperature had a greater impact on Rs than did volumetric soil moisture. Moreover, SEM also showed that C storage (in root, 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers) was the most important factor driving Rs. Furthermore, multiple linear regression model showed that the combined root C storage, 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm soil layer C storage explained 97.4–97.6% variations in Rs; explained 94.5–96% variations in Ra; and explained 96.3–98.1% in Rh. Therefore, the growing season soil respiration and its components can be well predicted by the organic C storage in root and topsoil in alpine meadow of the north-eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Our study reveals the importance of topsoil and root C storage in driving growing season Rs in alpine meadow on the northeast margin of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

The effect of plateau pika(Ochotona curzoniae)disturbance on the relationship between plant diversity and soil nutrients of alpine meadow

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
王莹 WANG Ying ◽  
庞晓攀 PANG Xiaopan ◽  
肖玉 XIAO Yu ◽  
贾婷婷 JIA Tingting ◽  
王倩 Wang Qian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Nutrients ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Plateau Pika ◽  
Ochotona Curzoniae ◽  
The Relationship

scholarly journals Effects of Patchiness on Surface Soil Moisture of Alpine Meadow on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Implications for Grassland Restoration

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 4121
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Shuhua Yi ◽  
Yu Qin ◽  
Yi Sun ◽  
Donghui Shangguan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Surface Soil ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Alpine Grassland ◽  
Grassland Restoration ◽  
Landscape Indices ◽  
Surface Soil Moisture ◽  
Bare Patch

Surface soil moisture (SSM) is a key limiting factor for vegetation growth in alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). Patches with various sizes and types may cause the redistribution of SSM by changing soil hydrological processes, and then trigger or accelerate alpine grassland degradation. Therefore, it is vital to understand the effects of patchiness on SSM at multi-scales to provide a reference for alpine grassland restoration. However, there is a lack of direct observational evidence concerning the role of the size and type of patches on SSM, and little is known about the effects of patches pattern on SSM at plot scale. Here, we first measured SSM of typical patches with different sizes and types at patch scale and investigated their patterns and SSM spatial distribution through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-mounted multi-type cameras at plot scale. We then analyzed the role of the size and type of patchiness on SSM at both patch and plot scales. Results showed that: (1) in situ measured SSM of typical patches was significantly different (P < 0.01), original vegetation patch (OV) had the highest SSM, followed by isolate vegetation patch (IV), small bare patch (SP), medium bare patch (MP) and large bare patch (LP); (2) the proposed method based on UAV images was able to estimate SSM (0–40 cm) with a satisfactory accuracy (R2 = 0.89, P < 0.001); (3) all landscape indices of OV, with the exception of patch density, were positively correlated with SSM at plot scale, while most of the landscape indices of LP and IV showed negative correlations (P < 0.05). Our results indicated that patchiness intensified the spatial heterogeneity of SSM and potentially accelerated the alpine meadow degradation. Preventing the development of OV into IV and the expansion of LP is a critical task for alpine meadow management and restoration.

scholarly journals Soil Moisture but Not Warming Dominates Nitrous Oxide Emissions During Freeze–Thaw Cycles in a Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau Alpine Meadow With Discontinuous Permafrost

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Chen ◽  
Shidong Ge ◽  
Zhenhua Zhang ◽  
Yangong Du ◽  
Buqing Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrous Oxide ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Active Layer ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽  
Freeze Thaw ◽  
Discontinuous Permafrost ◽  
Significant Difference

Large quantities of organic matter are stored in frozen soils (permafrost) within the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP). The most of QTP regions in particular have experienced significant warming and wetting over the past 50 years, and this warming trend is projected to intensify in the future. Such climate change will likely alter the soil freeze–thaw pattern in permafrost active layer and toward significant greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) release. However, the interaction effect of warming and altered soil moisture on N2O emission during freezing and thawing is unclear. Here, we used simulation experiments to test how changes in N2O flux relate to different thawing temperatures (T5–5°C, T10–10°C, and T20–20°C) and soil volumetric water contents (VWCs, W15–15%, W30–30%, and W45–45%) under 165 F–T cycles in topsoil (0–20 cm) of an alpine meadow with discontinuous permafrost in the QTP. First, in contrast to the prevailing view, soil moisture but not thawing temperature dominated the large N2O pulses during F–T events. The maximum emissions, 1,123.16–5,849.54 μg m–2 h–1, appeared in the range of soil VWC from 17% to 38%. However, the mean N2O fluxes had no significant difference between different thawing temperatures when soil was dry or waterlogged. Second, in medium soil moisture, low thawing temperature is more able to promote soil N2O emission than high temperature. For example, the peak value (5,849.54 μg m–2 h–1) and cumulative emissions (366.6 mg m–2) of W30T5 treatment were five times and two to four times higher than W30T10 and W30T20, respectively. Third, during long-term freeze–thaw cycles, the patterns of cumulative N2O emissions were related to soil moisture. treatments; on the contrary, the cumulative emissions of W45 treatments slowly increased until more than 80 cycles. Finally, long-term freeze–thaw cycles could improve nitrogen availability, prolong N2O release time, and increase N2O cumulative emission in permafrost active layer. Particularly, the high emission was concentrated in the first 27 and 48 cycles in W15 and W30, respectively. Overall, our study highlighted that large emissions of N2O in F–T events tend to occur in medium moisture soil at lower thawing temperature; the increased number of F–T cycles may enhance N2O emission and nitrogen mineralization in permafrost active layer.

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