scholarly journals Effects of disturbance by plateau pika on the β diversity of an alpine meadow

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 476-486
Author(s):  
Jie LI ◽  
Ying-Ying CHEN ◽  
Fu-Yun QIAO ◽  
Di-Gang ZHI ◽  
Zheng-Gang GUO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Plateau Pika

scholarly journals A comparison of density estimation methods in plateau pika populations in an alpine meadow ecosystem

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 1091-1096
Author(s):  
Wanrong Wei ◽  
Jundong He ◽  
Qiaoyan Zheng ◽  
Yuli He ◽  
Maria K Oosthuizen
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Relative Density ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Plateau Pika ◽  
Relative Population ◽  
Burrow Density ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Absolute Population

Abstract Plateau pikas are a keystone species and ecosystem engineers in alpine meadow ecosystems. A number of surveying methods have been used to estimate pika density, but the reliability of these methods is not known. In addition, better population density methodologies allow for more reliable density estimates. We therefore compared the relationship among several commonly used methods of estimating pika relative density and the absolute density (AD) of pika populations. This relationship was investigated in summer and winter pastures to determine whether distribution pattern of the pikas (patchy or uniform) would influence this relationship. During August of 2015 and August of 2016, we measured the relative and absolute population density of pikas in an alpine meadow in the County, Gansu province, northwestern China. Relative density was measured with three indirect and direct methods: the total burrow density (TBD), the active burrow density (ABD), and the direct counting density (DCD) at the peak of pika activity. AD was assessed by removal sampling. Our results showed that the relative population density with all three survey methods was significantly related to the absolute population density. In particular, DCD at the peak of the pika activity showed the best correlation with AD. A simple linear model showed the effect of grazing time by livestock had a significant effect on TBD and ABD. These results imply that using DCD as a method to survey at the peak of the pika activity is more reliable than other methods.

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

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

Response of leaf traits of common plants in alpine meadow to plateau pika disturbance

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Pan Pang ◽  
Zheng Gang Guo
Keyword(s):  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Leaf Nitrogen ◽  
Leaf Nitrogen Content ◽  
Plateau Pika ◽  
Alpine Meadows ◽  
Disturbance Intensity ◽  
Leaf Dry Mass ◽  
Kobresia Pygmaea

Leaf traits have been proven to reflect the adaptation of individual plants to disturbance environments in a grassland ecosystem. A field survey was conducted to investigate the effects of the disturbance intensity of plateau pika on the leaf traits of a dominant (Kobresia pygmaea) and two common plants (Elymus nutans and Anemone rivularis var. flore-minore) in an alpine meadow. This study indicated that the plateau pika disturbance enables the individuals of three plants to exhibit respective plasticity because the three plants had different leaf indices (LI) as the disturbance intensity increased. K. pygmaea, E. nutans and A. rivularis var. flore-minore had high specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry mass content (LDMC), and leaf nitrogen content (LNC) at relatively low, moderate, and high disturbance intensities of plateau pika, respectively. K. pygmaea, E. nutans and A. rivularis var. flore-minore suffered low nutrient stress at low, moderate and high disturbance intensities due to high N : P at corresponding disturbance intensities. These results indicated that K. pygmaea, E. nutans and A. rivularis var. flore-minore grew well at relatively low, moderate, and high disturbance intensity conditions, respectively, which contributed to the improvement of alpine meadows with a higher proportion of E. nutans at a moderate disturbance intensity or the deterioration of alpine meadows with a higher proportion of A. rivularis var. flore-minore at a high disturbance intensity. Our findings suggest that leaf traits are effective tools to explain how small burrowing herbivore disturbances often lead to the improvement or deterioration of alpine meadows under different disturbance intensities.

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