Influences of alpine ecosystem responses to climatic change on soil properties on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China

Wang, Genxu; Wang, Yibo; Yuan-shou, LI; Cheng, Hansong

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2007.01.001

Cited by 214 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Changes in plant diversity, productivity, and soil nutrients According to many literatures, the ecosystem services of alpine grassland, such as providing feed for livestock production, supporting plant biodiversity and soil fertility, regulating the soil nutrients and hydrology were reduced by the massive loss of native species and plant productivity associated with increasing grassland degradation (Zhou et al 2005;Wang et al 2007;Harris 2010;Dong et al 2010;Zheng et al 2010). Therefore, it is very important to select the most feasible indicators of plant diversity, plant productivity, and soil nutrient for assessing accurately the impact of grassland degradation on the alpine grassland ecosystems (Zhou et al 2005;Wang et al 2009;Dong et al 2010Dong et al , 2012.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of grassland degradation on plant diversity, primary productivity, and soil fertility in the alpine region of Asia’s headwaters

Wang

Dong

Yang

et al. 2014

Environ Monit Assess

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A 3-year survey was conducted to explore the relationships among plant composition, productivity, and soil fertility characterizing four different degradation stages of an alpine meadow in the source region of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, China. Results showed that plant species diversity, productivity, and soil fertility of the top 30-cm soil layer significantly declined with degradation stages of alpine meadow over the study period. The productivity of forbs significantly increased with degradation stages, and the soil potassium stock was not affected by grassland degradation. The vegetation composition gradually shifted from perennial graminoids (grasses and sedges) to annual forbs along the degradation gradient. The abrupt change of response in plant diversity, plant productivity, and soil nutrients was demonstrated after heavy grassland degradation. Moreover, degradation can indicate plant species diversity and productivity through changing soil fertility. However, the clear relationships are difficult to establish. In conclusion, degradation influenced ecosystem function and services, such as plant species diversity, productivity, and soil carbon and nitrogen stocks.Additionally, both plant species diversity and soil nutrients were important predictors in different degradation stages of alpine meadows. To this end, heavy degradation grade was shown to cause shift of plant community in alpine meadow, which provided an important basis for sustaining ecosystem function, manipulating the vegetation composition of the area and restoring the degraded alpine grassland.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of grassland degradation on plant diversity, primary productivity, and soil fertility in the alpine region of Asia’s headwaters

Wang

Dong

Yang

et al. 2014

Environ Monit Assess

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“…(Shang et al 2015). Meanwhile, some studies have demonstrated the region is very sensitive to global climate changes (Wang et al 2007;Zhang et al 2014). Alpine grasslands, which cover more than 50% of the whole plateau area, are the dominant ecosystem in the region (Chen et al 2014a;Tang et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil organic carbon contents, aggregate stability, and humic acid composition in different alpine grasslands in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Cao

Yong

et al. 2016

J. Mt. Sci.

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Alpine grassland soils on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau store approximately 33.5 Pg of organic carbon (C) at 0-0.75 m depth and play an important role in the global carbon cycle. We investigated soil organic C (SOC), water-soluble organic C (WSOC), easily oxidizable organic C (EOC), humic C fractions, aggregate-associated C, aggregate stability, and humic acid (HA) composition along an east-west transect across Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and explored their spatial patterns and controlling factors. The contents of SOC, WSOC, EOC, humic C fractions and aggregate-associated C, the proportions of macroaggregates (2-0.25) and micro-aggregates (0.25-0.053 mm), and the aggregate stability indices all increased in the order alpine desert < alpine steppe < alpine meadow. The alkyl C, O-alkyl C, and aliphatic C/aromatic C ratio of HA increased as alpine desert < alpine meadow < alpine steppe, and the trends were reverse for the aromatic C and HB/HI ratio. Mean annual precipitation and aboveground biomass were significantly correlated with the contents of SOC and its fractions, the proportions of macro-and microaggregates, and the aggregate stability indices along this transect. Among all these C fractions, SOC content and aggregate stability were more closely associated with humic C and silt and clay sized C in comparison with WSOC, EOC, and macro-and microaggregate C. The results suggested that alpine meadow soils containing higher SOC exhibited high soil aggregation and aggregate stability. Mean annual precipitation should be the main climate factor controlling the spatial patterns of SOC, soil aggregation, and aggregate stability in this region. The resistant and stable C fractions rather than labile C fractions are the major determinant of SOC stocks and aggregate stability. Keywords

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“…Second, their trampling can reduce infiltration rates, surface sealing, and physical crust formation (Cerdà and Lavee, 1999;Angassa, 2014). With increased grazing, a part of alpine grasslands gradually degrade and become bare soil due to decreased vegetation protection (Zhang et al, 2003a, b;G. X. Wang et al, 2007Foggin, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting parameters of degradation succession processes of Tibetan <i>Kobresia</i> grasslands

Lin

et al. 2015

Solid Earth

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Abstract. In the past two decades, increasing human activity (i.e., overgrazing) in the Tibetan Plateau has strongly influenced plant succession processes, resulting in the degradation of alpine grasslands. Therefore, it is necessary to diagnose the degree of degradation to enable implementation of appropriate management for sustainable exploitation and protection of alpine grasslands. Here, we investigated environmental factors and plant functional group (PFG) quantity factors during the alpine grassland succession processes. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the parameters indicative of degradation. We divided the entire degradation process into six stages. PFG types shifted from rhizome bunchgrasses to rhizome plexus and denseplexus grasses during the degradation process. Leguminosae and Gramineae plants were replaced by sedges during the advanced stages of degradation. The PFGs were classified into two reaction groups: the grazing-sensitive group, containing Kobresia humilis Mey, and Gramineae and Leguminosae plants, and the grazing-insensitive group, containing Kobresia pygmaea Clarke. The first group was correlated with live root biomass in the surface soil (0-10 cm), whereas the second group was strongly correlated with mattic epipedon thickness and K. pygmaea characteristics. The degree of degradation of alpine meadows may be delineated by development of mattic epipedon and PFG composition. Thus, meadows could be easily graded and their use adjusted based on our scaling system, which would help prevent irreversible degradation of important grasslands. Because relatively few environmental factors are investigated, this approach can save time and labor to formulate a conservation management plan for degraded alpine meadows.

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Influences of alpine ecosystem responses to climatic change on soil properties on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China

Cited by 214 publications

References 7 publications

The effects of grassland degradation on plant diversity, primary productivity, and soil fertility in the alpine region of Asia’s headwaters

The effects of grassland degradation on plant diversity, primary productivity, and soil fertility in the alpine region of Asia’s headwaters

Soil organic carbon contents, aggregate stability, and humic acid composition in different alpine grasslands in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Predicting parameters of degradation succession processes of Tibetan <i>Kobresia</i> grasslands

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Influences of alpine ecosystem responses to climatic change on soil properties on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China

Cited by 214 publications

References 7 publications

The effects of grassland degradation on plant diversity, primary productivity, and soil fertility in the alpine region of Asia’s headwaters

The effects of grassland degradation on plant diversity, primary productivity, and soil fertility in the alpine region of Asia’s headwaters

Soil organic carbon contents, aggregate stability, and humic acid composition in different alpine grasslands in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Predicting parameters of degradation succession processes of Tibetan &lt;i&gt;Kobresia&lt;/i&gt; grasslands

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Predicting parameters of degradation succession processes of Tibetan <i>Kobresia</i> grasslands