Ecological Protection and Restoration in Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Qinghai Province, China

Li, Xilai; Brierley, Gary; Shi, Dejun; Xie, Yun; Sun, Haiqun

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-2330-6_6

Cited by 36 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The area is part of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, which is one of the largest nature reserves in the world (Li et al . ). The study area was located in broad valley bottoms of the alpine meadow.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This study was conducted on the south-eastern flank of Qinghai Province, about 5 km west of the small town of Dawu, Maqin County, Guoluo Prefecture. The area is part of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, which is one of the largest nature reserves in the world (Li et al 2012). The study area was located in broad valley bottoms of the alpine meadow.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2015

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The foraging and burrowing activities of small mammalian herbivores may have either detrimental or beneficial effects on grassland ecosystems; the direction of the effect is determined by the species, population abundances and fluctuations. Twelve survey sites with active burrow of plateau pika were classified into four degrees of density: approximately zero‐density, low‐density, medium‐density and high‐density, to evaluate the impact of different pika densities on vegetation, plant biomass, soil organic carbon and nutrients in a whole growing season. We show that pika as a main supplement to livestock activities contributed to a decrease in the number of plant species, vegetation cover, plant height and seasonal mean biomass, while values at medium‐density site except above‐ground biomass were the lowest. With the exception of available potassium, soil organic carbon, nitrogen, total phosphorus and soil water content, zero‐density areas were significantly higher than those of pika occupied areas. However, there were slight or no differences in vegetation characteristics and soil properties between medium‐and high‐density sites. Our study suggests pika activities with high‐density made palatable forage less and soil carbon and nitrogen more than low‐density, moreover, plateau pika had greater impacts on above‐ground vegetation than on root system.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2015

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“…Long‐term overgrazing, human population growth and human demand for animal products, along with global warming, have all been postulated as being primary drivers of grassland degradation in the Sanjiangyuan region of western China – the source zone of the Yangtze, Yellow and Mekong Rivers located on the QTP in the southern part of Qinghai Province (Zhou et al ., ; Zhao et al ., ; Harris, ; Li et al ., ). Since 2005, the Chinese Government has launched major programmes to combat degradation and desertification by ecological protection and restoration in the Sanjiangyuan Natural Reserve (Li et al ., ). This high altitude plateau has a distinctive assemblage of landscape and ecosystem attributes and is often referred to as the ‘water tower of China’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF DEGRADATION CLASSIFICATIONS for DEGRADED ALPINE MEADOWS (HEITUTAN), SANJIANGYUAN, WESTERN CHINA

Perry

Brierley

et al. 2012

Land Degrad Dev

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Improving our understanding of abiotic and biotic thresholds that are transgressed during ecosystem degradation is vital for effective landscape‐level restoration. Establishing logical and consistent typologies of degradation is an important first‐step in this process. Areas of degraded alpine meadow in western China are referred to as Heitutan (or ‘black soil beach’) and cover vast areas. Previously, four classes of grassland degradation have been differentiated in this large area: non‐degraded alpine meadow and moderate, severe and extreme Heitutan. We evaluated existing field‐based classifications of Heitutan in the Sanjiangyuan region, and examined the criteria on which these classifications are made, by using multivariate statistical approaches. First, we asked whether existing qualitative classifications, based on vegetation cover and the abundance of impalatable plant species, adequately describe the nature of degradation at different locations. We then used a suite of vegetation and soil measures collected across 175 sites spanning a range of degradation conditions to develop a new quantitative assessment of degradation across the alpine meadows of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau. Hierarchical classification highlights two broad classes of degradation: non‐degraded alpine meadow and degraded Heitutan. The non‐degraded category effectively combines the non‐degraded grassland and moderate classes, whereas the degraded Heitutan combines the severe and extreme Heitutan classes. Ordination analyses suggest that the four previously recognized classes of degradation intergrade. Of the 14 biophysical variables used to classify subsites on the basis of their degradation, bare ground area and vegetation cover are the two most useful predictors of grassland condition and associated ecological threshold conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…The decline in habitat connectivity and quality has led to a highly fragmented distribution of Tibetan brown bears (Aryal et al, ; Nawaz, Martin, & Swenson, ). Vast areas of preferred brown bear habitat, alpine meadows and grasslands (Aryal et al, ; Nawaz et al, ; Wu, ), have been degraded due to overgrazing in the Sanjiangyuan region (Li, Brierley, Shi, Xie, & Sun, ; Zhou, Zhao, Tang, Gu, & Zhou, ). More recent implementation of conservation measures in national parks by the Chinese government has resulted in better protection for its wildlife and their habitats (Dai, Li, et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying climate refugia and its potential impact on Tibetan brown bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus) in Sanjiangyuan National Park, China

Dai

Hacker

Zhang

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Climate change has direct impacts on wildlife and future biodiversity protection efforts. Vulnerability assessment and habitat connectivity analyses are necessary for drafting effective conservation strategies for threatened species such as the Tibetan brown bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus). We used the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model to assess the current (1950–2000) and future (2041–2060) habitat suitability by combining bioclimatic and environmental variables, and identified potential climate refugia for Tibetan brown bears in Sanjiangyuan National Park, China. Next, we selected Circuit model to simulate potential migration paths based on current and future climatically suitable habitat. Results indicate a total area of potential suitable habitat under the current climate scenario of approximately 31,649.46 km2, of which 28,778.29 km2 would be unsuitable by the 2050s. Potentially suitable habitat under the future climate scenario was projected to cover an area of 23,738.6 km2. Climate refugia occupied 2,871.17 km2, primarily in the midwestern and northeastern regions of Yangtze River Zone, as well as the northern region of Yellow River Zone. The altitude of climate refugia ranged from 4,307 to 5,524 m, with 52.93% lying at altitudes between 4,300 and 4,600 m. Refugia were mainly distributed on bare rock, alpine steppe, and alpine meadow. Corridors linking areas of potentially suitable brown bear habitat and a substantial portion of paths with low‐resistance value were distributed in climate refugia. We recommend various actions to ameliorate the impact of climate change on brown bears, such as protecting climatically suitable habitat, establishing habitat corridors, restructuring conservation areas, and strengthening monitoring efforts.

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Ecological Protection and Restoration in Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Qinghai Province, China

Cited by 36 publications

References 22 publications

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

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

QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF DEGRADATION CLASSIFICATIONS for DEGRADED ALPINE MEADOWS (HEITUTAN), SANJIANGYUAN, WESTERN CHINA

Identifying climate refugia and its potential impact on Tibetan brown bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus) in Sanjiangyuan National Park, China

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