Summary The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is one of the main native soil faunas on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau and plays a key role in the terrestrial ecosystem there. To understand how and why the soil microclimate changes after the plateau pika's disturbance, this study measured soil, vegetation, hydrologic and thermal properties and investigated soil moisture and soil temperature dynamics from 2014 to 2015 at the plot scale of four types of land surface: original grassland, new mound, old mound and bald patch. Our results showed that the average coefficients of surface runoff of original grassland, new mound, old mound and bald patch were 0.6, 3.0, 4.3 and 10.0%, respectively (P < 0.05). Evapotranspiration was largest for original grassland, especially under wet conditions, and was similar among the other three types of land surface during the growing season (P < 0.01). During varying precipitation events, the soil moisture content of new mound increased first, followed by old mound, original grassland and bald patch. Meanwhile, the increasing magnitude of soil moisture content had the same order. At the seasonal timescale, soil moisture content at 5‐cm depth was largest for old mound and smallest for bald patch (P < 0.01). The mean daily soil temperature at 5‐cm depth of new mound was approximately 0.8°C higher than that of old mound (P < 0.01) because of the smaller land surface reflectance of the former. The daily range of soil temperature at 5‐cm depth of original grassland and bald patch was about 2.7 and 4.7°C higher than the average value of new and old mounds, respectively, because of the larger soil thermal conductivity of the former two. A conceptual framework is suggested in this study to synthesize the evolution of soil microclimate under disturbance by the plateau pika. Overall, results indicated that new and old mounds accelerate soil hydrologic processes and have a better soil temperature buffer. Highlights Change in soil microclimate of different types of land surface under disturbance by the plateau pika. New and old mounds accelerate soil hydrologic processes and have a better soil temperature buffer. New and old mounds provide advantageous environments for plateau pika. Bald patch had the smallest soil moisture content and largest daily range of soil temperature.
Simple SummaryThe plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is a keystone species on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP). We identified key factors affecting its distribution and predicted it in Qinghai Lake basin by the maximum entropy (Maxent) model at 1-km spatial resolution. Our results showed that the suitable area for plateau pika in Qinghai Lake basin is approximately 3982 km2, which occupies 15.8% of the land area in the whole watershed. The distance to road emerged as the most important predictor of distribution patterns of plateau pika, while the soil type was of ancillary importance. With the constraint of human factors, the presence probability of plateau pika in about 1661 km2 will increase. These findings indicate that human factors have significant importance for plateau pika’s distribution, and provide evidence to guide plateau pika control in this and other similar regions. AbstractThe plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is a keystone species in the alpine rangeland ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Most previous studies of habitat selection by plateau pika have been conducted at a local microhabitat scale; however, little is known about the relationship between the distribution of plateau pika and macrohabitat factors at broad spatial scales. Using a presence-only ecological niche model (maximum entropy, Maxent), we predicted the distribution of plateau pika in the Qinghai Lake basin based on a set of environmental and anthropogenic variables at 1-km spatial resolution, and identified key macrohabitat factors that contribute to the predictive performance. Our results showed suitable area for plateau pika in the Qinghai Lake basin being approximately 3982 km2, which is 15.8% of the land area in the whole watershed. The distance to road emerged as the most important predictor of the distribution patterns of plateau pika, while the soil type was of ancillary importance. Mean air temperature of wettest quarter, distance to resident site and altitude also produced high gains in defining plateau pika’s distribution. A higher predictive accuracy was achieved by the model that combined environmental and anthropogenic variables. With the constraint of human factors, the presence probability of plateau pika in about 1661 km2 will increase. These findings demonstrate the impact of human activities on the distribution of plateau pika, and the importance of vegetation reservation for plateau pika control.
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