Multiple indicators yield diverging results on grazing degradation and climate controls across Tibetan pastures

Wang, Yun; Lehnert, Lukas W.; Holzapfel, Maika; Schultz, R. Jack; Heberling, Gwendolyn; Görzen, Eugen; Meyer, Hanna; Seeber, Elke; Pinkert, Stefan; Ritz, Markus S.; Fu, Yao; Ansorge, Hermann; Bendix, Jörg; Seifert, Bernhard; Miehe, Georg; Long, Ruijun; Yang, Yongping; Wesche, Karsten

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.06.021

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…This is a common problem in rangeland ecology whenever it comes to open range or even mobile grazing systems, such as in the steppes of Mongolia. Livestock grazing there concentrates around water wells and grazing intensity constantly decreases towards the outer perimeter 79 , 80 . This was not the case in Yakutia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of large herbivore grazing on relics of the presumed mammoth steppe in the extreme climate of NE-Siberia

Reinecke

Ashastina

Kienast

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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The Siberian mammoth steppe ecosystem changed dramatically with the disappearance of large grazers in the Holocene. The concept of Pleistocene rewilding is based on the idea that large herbivore grazing significantly alters plant communities and can be employed to recreate lost ecosystems. On the other hand, modern rangeland ecology emphasizes the often overriding importance of harsh climates. We visited two rewilding projects and three rangeland regions, sampling a total of 210 vegetation relevés in steppe and surrounding vegetation (grasslands, shrublands and forests) along an extensive climatic gradient across Yakutia, Russia. We analyzed species composition, plant traits, diversity indices and vegetation productivity, using partial canonical correspondence and redundancy analysis. Macroclimate was most important for vegetation composition, and microclimate for the occurrence of extrazonal steppes. Macroclimate and soil conditions mainly determined productivity of vegetation. Bison grazing was responsible for small-scale changes in vegetation through trampling, wallowing and debarking, thus creating more open and disturbed plant communities, soil compaction and xerophytization. However, the magnitude of effects depended on density and type of grazers as well as on interactions with climate and site conditions. Effects of bison grazing were strongest in the continental climate of Central Yakutia, and steppes were generally less affected than meadows. We conclude that contemporary grazing overall has rather limited effects on vegetation in northeastern Siberia. Current rewilding practices are still far from recreating a mammoth steppe, although large herbivores like bison can create more open and drier vegetation and increase nutrient availability in particular in the more continental Central Yakutian Plain.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of large herbivore grazing on relics of the presumed mammoth steppe in the extreme climate of NE-Siberia

Reinecke

Ashastina

Kienast

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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“…Dung coverage, the herbivore plant browsing rate, trampling pressure and pika burrows for each quadrat were quantitatively estimated in the field and classified into different categories. Grazing Influence Index (GII) values were quantitatively calculated for the quadrats based on these four variables to reflect grazing pressure (Wang et al, 2018; Wei et al, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using coprophilous fungi to reconstruct the history of pastoralism in the Qinghai Lake Basin, Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Wei

Hou

Fan

et al. 2019

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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The history of permanent human settlement in the high-altitude regions (>3000 m above sea level [masl]) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is important in understanding human adaptation to this cold “Third Pole” region. The Qinghai Lake Basin was an important corridor used by prehistoric humans migrating to the inner QTP. Pastoralism is currently the most important means of sustaining permanent human settlement in the high-altitude regions of the QTP. However, the lack of reliable proxy measures reflecting prehistoric pastoral activities impedes our understanding of how pastoralism developed. The identification of coprophilous fungi in prehistoric cultural deposits may help refine the history of pastoralism. We collected 21 modern domesticated herbivore dung samples and 66 surface soil samples from the Qinghai Lake Basin for fungal spore analyses. We then evaluated how useful such analyses are for identifying grazing activities. Fifty-three samples were also collected from the JXG2 stratigraphic profile (∼10.0–0 ka; 3312 masl) for fungal spore analysis. Results indicate that low and stable values of the total concentration of coprophilous fungi were present from ∼10.0 to ∼5.5 ka. Concentrations gradually increased from ∼5.5 to ∼4.2 ka, significantly increased from ∼4.2 to ∼2.6 ka, and then increased dramatically after ∼2.6 ka. By combining these results with charcoal concentrations (>50 µm), lithic artifacts, bones and potsherds recovered from the JXG2 site, we infer that early pastoralism in Qinghai Lake Basin appeared between ∼6.0 to ∼5.5 ka and gradually intensified throughout the remainder of the Holocene as herding and farming gradually replaced hunting–gathering as the primary subsistence strategies. These results are supported by pollen records, archeological remains and historical records in the northeastern QTP.

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“…Overgrazing in alpine pastures is one of the most frequently mentioned causes of pasture degradation (Unteregelsbacher et al, 2012;Harris, 2010;Miehe et al, 2008), as excessive trampling by livestock might aggravate the initial conditions of polygonal cracking (Miehe et al, 2019). This effect, however, seems to be limited to the direct vicinity of herder's settlements and camps (piosphere centers), and many factors that are usually attributed to degradation are instead proof of environmental control, especially in drier areas (Wang et al, 2018b). Some researchers argue that climate change is the dominant or even sole driver of degradation (Wang et al, 2007), although the effects of rising temperatures and increasing precipitation appear to be an intensifier rather than the cause of degradation (Zhou et al, 2005;Harris, 2010).…”

Section: Vegetation Soils and Pasture Degradation In The Catchmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some researchers argue that climate change is the dominant or even sole driver of degradation (Wang et al, 2007), although the effects of rising temperatures and increasing precipitation appear to be an intensifier rather than the cause of degradation (Zhou et al, 2005;Harris, 2010). In turn, both Wang et al (2018b) and Cao et al (2019) point out that a multitude of effects might be in play, with a locally differing magnitude or even reversion, while usually moderate grazing was not found to cause degradation. Certainly there are more factors than just grazing pressure, and there might be site-specific effects leading to nonequilibrium behavior of the study object, be it pasture or steppe (Wang and Wesche, 2016).…”

Section: Vegetation Soils and Pasture Degradation In The Catchmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews and syntheses: How do abiotic and biotic processes respond to climatic variations in the Nam Co catchment (Tibetan Plateau)?

et al. 2020

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Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is the largest alpine plateau on Earth and plays an important role in global climate dynamics. On the TP, climate change is happening particularly fast, with an increase in air temperature twice the global average. The particular sensitivity of this high mountain environment allows observation and tracking of abiotic and biotic feedback mechanisms. Closed lake systems, such as Nam Co on the central TP, represent important natural laboratories for tracking past and recent climatic changes, as well as geobiological processes and interactions within their respective catchments. This review gives an interdisciplinary overview of past and modern environmental changes using Nam Co as a case study. In the catchment area, ongoing rise in air temperature forces glaciers to melt, contributing to a rise in lake level and changes in water chemistry. Some studies base their conclusions on inconsistent glacier inventories, but an ever-increasing deglaciation and thus higher water availability have persisted over the last few decades. Increasing water availability causes translocation of sediments, nutrients and dissolved organic matter to the lake, as well as higher carbon emissions to the atmosphere. The intensity of grazing has an additional and significant effect on CO2 fluxes, with moderate grazing enhancing belowground allocation of carbon while adversely affecting the C sink potential through reduction of above-surface and subsurface biomass at higher grazing intensities. Furthermore, increasing pressure from human activities and livestock grazing are enhancing grassland degradation processes, thus shaping biodiversity patterns in the lake and catchment. The environmental signal provided by taxon-specific analysis (e.g., diatoms and ostracods) in Nam Co revealed profound climatic fluctuations between warmer–cooler and wetter–drier periods since the late Pleistocene and an increasing input of freshwater and nutrients from the catchment in recent years. Based on the reviewed literature, we outline perspectives to further understand the effects of global warming on geodiversity and biodiversity and their interplay at Nam Co, which acts as a case study for potentially TP-level or even worldwide processes that are currently shaping high mountain areas.

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Multiple indicators yield diverging results on grazing degradation and climate controls across Tibetan pastures

Cited by 21 publications

References 77 publications

Effects of large herbivore grazing on relics of the presumed mammoth steppe in the extreme climate of NE-Siberia

Effects of large herbivore grazing on relics of the presumed mammoth steppe in the extreme climate of NE-Siberia

Using coprophilous fungi to reconstruct the history of pastoralism in the Qinghai Lake Basin, Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Reviews and syntheses: How do abiotic and biotic processes respond to climatic variations in the Nam Co catchment (Tibetan Plateau)?

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