Effects of gravel on soil and vegetation properties of alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

Qin, Yu; Yi, Shuai; Chen, Jianjun; Ren, Shuang; Ding, Yongjian

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2014.10.008

Cited by 63 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…For example, there was ∼ 80 gravel m −2 in bald patches and ∼ 5 gravel m −2 in vegetation patches on the AM grassland (Figure not shown). High amounts of gravel content are not beneficial for nutrient retention and vegetation growth (Qin et al, 2015b): once the fine soil has been eroded, vegetation in a bald patch is slow to recover . Wei et al (2007) suggested that a bald patch developed from a new pika pile through its succession to an old pika pile and further erosion by wind and/or water.…”

Section: Effects Of Pika On Bald Patchesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The burying and grazing effects of plateau pika on alpine grassland are small: a pilot study in a semiarid basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Chen

Qin

et al. 2016

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. There is considerable controversy about the effects of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae, hereafter pika) on alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). On the one hand, pika is considered a keystone species. On the other hand, it is being poisoned. Although significant efforts have been made to study the effects of pika at a quadrat scale ( ∼ m 2 ), our knowledge about its distribution and effects at a larger scale is very limited. In this study, we investigated the direct effects, i.e., burying and grazing, of pika by upscaling field sampling at a quadrat scale to a plot scale (∼ 1000 m 2 ) by aerial photographing. Altogether 168 plots were set on four different types of alpine grassland in a semiarid basin on the QTP. Results showed that (1) the effects of pika pile burying on the reduction of vegetation cover, biomass, soil carbon, and nitrogen were less than 10 %, which was much smaller than the effects of bald patches; and (2) pika consumed 8-21 % of annual net primary production of grassland. We concluded that the direct burying and grazing effects of pika on alpine grassland were minor in this region. The quadcopter is an efficient and economic tool for longterm repeated monitoring over large regions for further understanding the role of pika.

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Section: Effects Of Pika On Bald Patchesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The burying and grazing effects of plateau pika on alpine grassland are small: a pilot study in a semiarid basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Chen

Qin

et al. 2016

Biogeosciences

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“…In field agriculture, to restrain water loss and increase water storage through surficial protective covering, water-retaining mulches (e.g., crop straw, gravel sand, and plastic film) are laid on the ground [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. However, a high volume of straw on the ground may hinder activity, causing difficulties in sowing [17], and long-term sand coverage may destroy cultivated soils, largely through soil desertification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects on Infiltration and Evaporation When Adding Rapeseed-Oil Residue or Wheat Straw to a Loam Soil

Xing

2017

Water

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Abstract:The application of additives (e.g., wheat straw (WS) or rapeseed-oil residue (RR)) to soils is a common agronomic practice, used for improving soil water retention. Through a laboratory investigation, this study examined the effects of RR and WS on infiltration, evaporation, water distribution, and water retention. The results indicated that the migration rate of the wetting front, as well as the accumulative infiltration and evaporation, decreased with the amount of applied additives. RR was more effective than WS for infiltration and evaporation suppression. Furthermore, in the Kostiakov model, the value of a decreased with an increasing amount of additive, becoming smaller than the corresponding control treatment (CK) value; by contrast, the value of n decreased with increasing amount of applied additive, remaining larger than the CK value. In the Rose model, the values of A for the soils mixed with additives were smaller than those of the CK, and decreased with increasing amount of additive. Moreover, compared with the CK, the maximum water content for the RR-applied soils increased by 17.84% after infiltration and by 47.66% after evaporation. In addition, the water retention coefficients (calculated as the soil moisture after evaporation divided by that after infiltration) for soils mixed with RR were the highest, indicating that RR is more effective than WS for improving the water retention of the soil layer.

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“…Many studies have found that natural factors (e.g. climatic variations and soil properties) significantly influence vegetation coverage (Peng et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2012;Qin et al, 2015). Moreover, some studies have revealed that human activities can affect vegetation coverage as well (Hou et al, 2015).…”

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confidence: 99%

Investigating natural drivers of vegetation coverage variation using MODIS imagery in Qinghai, China

Zhou

Lyu

2015

J. Arid Land

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Abstract:The climatically sensitive Qinghai province of China has been recognized as a hotspot for studies on the feedbacks of terrestrial ecosystems to global climate change. Thus, investigating vegetation coverage and its natural drivers in Qinghai is an important focus of ecosystem research. On the basis of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) time series data, we estimated the vegetation coverage in this region using the dimidiate pixel model. Trend analyses, correlations between meteorological parameters, changes in vegetation coverage, and the temporal and spatial relationships between soil texture and vegetation coverage were used to investigate the possible drivers of vegetation coverage variations. The results indicated that the reduction of vegetation coverage slowed down in the period from 2000 to 2012. Annual mean temperature was the main climatic driver of the total extremely low and low vegetation coverage areas in Qinghai, followed by the precipitation anomalies. The extremely low and low vegetation coverage areas were mainly distributed in regions with a mean annual relative air humidity of <40% and the spatial distributions of these two area types differentiated along the 200-mm rainfall contours. The total extremely low and low vegetation coverage areas were mainly characterized by sandy clay loam soil, followed by loamy sand and sandy soil. Regions with sandy loam or loam soil have the greatest risk of vegetation coverage reductions. Knowledge of vegetation coverage variation and its natural drivers in the ecologically fragile region of Qinghai can provide scientific support for managing environmental change and desertification.Keywords: vegetation coverage; remote sensing; MODIS; climate change Citation: ZHOU Lei, LYU Aifeng. 2016. Investigating natural drivers of vegetation coverage variation using MODIS imagery in Qinghai, China. Journal of Arid Land, 8(1): 109-124. doi: 10.1007/s40333-015-0016-1 Vegetation is the natural link between the soil, atmosphere and water in an environment (Pan et al., 2015). Plants play an important role in the energy exchange, biogeochemical cycles and hydrological cycles in terrestrial systems and are an indicator of global change (Sun et al., 1998). Vegetation coverage is also an important indicator of the growth trends of vegetation communities and provides essential information for describing ecological systems. There is a close relationship between vegetation coverage and climatic factors. Global climate change has an amplified effect the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the headwater region in this area is more sensitive to climate change. Thus, the investigation of vegetation coverage and its natural drivers in Qinghai is important for understanding climate change (Peng et al., 2012;Guo et al., 2014). Researching the changes in annual vegetation coverage and its natural drivers has great theoretical and practical significance for assessments of terrestrial ecosystems and environmental management (Mu et al., 20...

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Effects of gravel on soil and vegetation properties of alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

Cited by 63 publications

References 27 publications

The burying and grazing effects of plateau pika on alpine grassland are small: a pilot study in a semiarid basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The burying and grazing effects of plateau pika on alpine grassland are small: a pilot study in a semiarid basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Effects on Infiltration and Evaporation When Adding Rapeseed-Oil Residue or Wheat Straw to a Loam Soil

Investigating natural drivers of vegetation coverage variation using MODIS imagery in Qinghai, China

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