Correlation of alpine vegetation degradation and soil nutrient status of permafrost in the source regions of the Yangtze River, China

Wang, Yibo; Wu, Qingbai; Tian, Lanlan; Niu, Fujun; Tan, Li

doi:10.1007/s12665-012-1567-5

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Soil organic carbon contents found in this study are comparable to that of the alluvial wet meadows in central Sierra Nevada in the United States (Norton et al, 2014). However, they are higher compared to studies on the Central QTP Wang et al, 2012) but also within the range of those reported by Wang et al (2002) (Wang & Wu, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…Soil organic carbon contents found in this study are comparable to that of the alluvial wet meadows in central Sierra Nevada in the United States (Norton et al, ). However, they are higher compared to studies on the Central QTP (Liu et al, ; Wang et al, ) but also within the range of those reported by Wang et al () for different grassland soils in Qinghai and Tibet. High variations in climate, soil types, vegetation composition, environmental factors, and ecosystem types on the QTP result in variations in SOC contents across the plateau.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

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Response of soil organic carbon to vegetation degradation along a moisture gradient in a wet meadow on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Alhassan

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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The study was conducted during the growing seasons of 2013, 2014, and 2015 in the wet meadows on the eastern Qinghai–Tibet plateau (QTP) in the Gansu Gahai Wetland Nature Reserve to determine the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) as affected by vegetation degradation along a moisture gradient and to assess its relationship with other soil properties and biomass yield. Hence, we measured SOC at depths of 0–10, 10–20, and 20–40 cm under the influence of four categories of vegetation degradation (healthy vegetation [HV], slightly degraded [SD], moderately degraded [MD], and heavily degraded [HD]). Our results showed that SOC decreased with increased degree of vegetation degradation. Average SOC content ranged between 36.18 ± 4.06 g/kg in HD and 69.86 ± 21.78 g/kg in HV. Compared with HV, SOC content reduced by 30.49%, 42.22%, and 48.22% in SD, MD, and HD, respectively. SOC significantly correlated positively with soil water content, aboveground biomass, and belowground biomass, but significantly correlated negatively with soil temperature and bulk density (p < 0.05). Highly Significant positive correlations were also found between SOC and total nitrogen (p = 0.0036), total phosphorus (p = 0.0006) and total potassium (p < 0.0001). Our study suggests that severe vegetation and moisture loss led to approximately 50% loss in SOC content in the wet meadows, implying that under climate warming, vegetation and soil moisture loss will dramatically destabilize carbon sink capacities of wetlands. We therefore suggest wetland hydrological management, restoration of vegetation, plant species protection, regulation of grazing activities, and other anthropogenic activities to stabilize carbon sink capacities of wetlands.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Response of soil organic carbon to vegetation degradation along a moisture gradient in a wet meadow on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Alhassan

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The vegetation is mainly composed of hardy plants, such as Kobresia tibetica Maxim., Carex moorcroftii, Stipa aliena, Saussurea stoliczkai., Trollius chinensis Bunge, and Saussurea involucrata. Grass growth is slow and the vegetation is dwarf (Zhang et al, 1992;Wang et al, 2012).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrochemistry and its controlling factors of rivers in the source region of the Yangtze River on the Tibetan Plateau

Jiang

Yao

Liu

et al. 2015

Journal of Geochemical Exploration

113

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This study focuses on the chemical composition, and the factors controlling it, of the high mountain-rivers in the source region of the Yangtze River on the Tibetan Plateau. By comprehensive and systematic analysis, the chemical signatures, spatial variations of water quality, as well as the factors controlling them are studied. The value of the average total dissolved solids (TDS) is 778 mg/l, ranging from 117 to 5496 mg/l. In order of decreasing concentration, the main cations are Na try of the river water is controlled by lithogenic weathering processes. The Na-normalized ratio end-member diagram indicates that the weathering of silicates and carbonates is relatively significant, on the whole. There exists pronounced regional heterogeneity in the water chemistry and the factors affecting it. The northern rivers, including Chumaer He, Beilu He, and Ranchiqu, are mainly affected by evaporation and crystallization processes, while the southern rivers (Tuotuo He, Gaerqu, and Buqu) show effects from the weathering of carbonates and silicates.

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“…The Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is the highest and the largest low‐latitude plateau in the world (Wang et al., ; Wang, Wu, Tian, Niu, & Tan, ), and it is an extremely sensitive region to the impact of global warming and environmental changes (Zhang et al., ). The alpine meadow (AM), widely distributed on the Tibetan Plateau, occupies over 40% of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau area and plays a critical role in regional sustainable development, biodiversity and water resource conservation (Kang, Han, Zhang, & Sun, ; Zhou, Zhao, Tang, Gu, & Zhou, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The microbially mediated soil organic carbon loss under degenerative succession in an alpine meadow

et al. 2017

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Land-cover change has long been recognized as having marked effect on the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the microbially mediated processes and mechanisms on SOC are still unclear. In this study, the soil samples in a degenerative succession from alpine meadow to alpine steppe meadow in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau were analysed using high-throughput technologies, including Illumina sequencing and geochip functional gene arrays. The soil microbial community structure and diversity were significantly (p < .05) different between alpine meadow and alpine steppe meadow; the microbial ɑ-diversity in alpine steppe meadow was significantly (p < .01) higher than in alpine meadow. Molecular ecological network analysis indicated that the microbial community structure in alpine steppe meadow was more complex and tighter than in the alpine meadow. The relative abundance of soil microbial labile carbon degradation genes (e.g., pectin and hemicellulose) was significantly higher in alpine steppe meadow than in alpine meadow, but the relative abundance of soil recalcitrant carbon degradation genes (e.g., chitin and lignin) showed the opposite tendency. The Biolog Ecoplate experiment showed that microbially mediated soil carbon utilization was more active in alpine steppe meadow than in alpine meadow. Consequently, more soil labile carbon might be decomposed in alpine steppe meadow than in alpine meadow. Therefore, the degenerative succession of alpine meadow because of climate change or anthropogenic activities would most likely decrease SOC and nutrients medicated by changing soil microbial community structure and their functional potentials for carbon decomposition.

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Correlation of alpine vegetation degradation and soil nutrient status of permafrost in the source regions of the Yangtze River, China

Cited by 21 publications

References 12 publications

Response of soil organic carbon to vegetation degradation along a moisture gradient in a wet meadow on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Response of soil organic carbon to vegetation degradation along a moisture gradient in a wet meadow on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Hydrochemistry and its controlling factors of rivers in the source region of the Yangtze River on the Tibetan Plateau

The microbially mediated soil organic carbon loss under degenerative succession in an alpine meadow

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