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

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.

scholarly journals Soil Macropores Affect the Plant Biomass of Alpine Grassland on the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zheng ◽  
Ning Chen ◽  
Can-kun Zhang ◽  
Xiao-xue Dong ◽  
Chang-ming Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Growth Space

Macropores are an important part of soil structure. However, in alpine regions, the effects of soil macropores on soil properties and vegetation growth are not clear. We used the X-ray computed tomography (CT) method to obtain 3D images and visualize the distribution and morphology of soil macropores. By combining principal component analysis (PCA) and stepwise regression methods, we studied the relationships between soil macropores and both soil properties and vegetation growth in three types of grassland [alpine degraded steppe (ADS), alpine typical steppe (ATS), and alpine meadow steppe (AMS)] on the Tibetan Plateau. More tubular and continuous macropores occurred in the soil profiles of the AMS and ATS than in that of the ADS. In addition, the AMS soil had the highest macropore number (925 ± 189), while the ADS soil had the lowest macropore number (537 ± 137). PCA and correlation analysis suggested that macroporosity (MP) has significant positive correlations with the contents of soil organic matter, total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP) and total phosphorus (TP) (p < 0.05). The two parameters with the greatest influence on aboveground and belowground biomass were the shape factor (p < 0.05) and MP (p < 0.05), respectively. However, there was no significant correlation between plant diversity and soil macropores. We conclude that the irregularity of soil macropores restricts the growth space of roots and causes plants to sacrifice the accumulation of aboveground biomass for that of roots to find suitable sites for nutrient and water absorption.

Effects of grazing disturbance on soil properties and plant functional groups and their relationships in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau, China

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
牛钰杰 NIU Yujie ◽  
杨思维 YANG Siwei ◽  
王贵珍 WANG Guizhen ◽  
刘丽 LIU Li ◽  
杜国祯 DU Guozhen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Plant Functional Groups ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Grazing Disturbance

Responses of ecosystem respiration and its components to fertilization in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 101-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Jiang ◽  
Ning Zong ◽  
Minghua Song ◽  
Peili Shi ◽  
Weiling Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Ecosystem Respiration ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau

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

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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