Responses of alpine vegetation and soils to the disturbance of plateau pika ( Ochotona curzoniae ) at burrow level on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau of China

Zhang, Yong; Dong, Shikui; Gao, Qingzhu; Liu, Shiliang; Yan, Lijun; Cao, Xin

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2015.12.034

Cited by 66 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Previous studies showed that the burrows of plateau pika may increase soil permeability, accelerate deeper penetration of soil moisture and improve plant nutrient content (Zhang et al, 2016). Because of the widespread distribution of plateau pika on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, its disturbance might alter the regional hydrologic cycle, biochemical processes and vegetation characteristics (Liu et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microclimate response of soil to plateau pika's disturbance in the northeast Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

Liu

et al. 2018

European J Soil Science

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Summary The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is one of the main native soil faunas on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau and plays a key role in the terrestrial ecosystem there. To understand how and why the soil microclimate changes after the plateau pika's disturbance, this study measured soil, vegetation, hydrologic and thermal properties and investigated soil moisture and soil temperature dynamics from 2014 to 2015 at the plot scale of four types of land surface: original grassland, new mound, old mound and bald patch. Our results showed that the average coefficients of surface runoff of original grassland, new mound, old mound and bald patch were 0.6, 3.0, 4.3 and 10.0%, respectively (P < 0.05). Evapotranspiration was largest for original grassland, especially under wet conditions, and was similar among the other three types of land surface during the growing season (P < 0.01). During varying precipitation events, the soil moisture content of new mound increased first, followed by old mound, original grassland and bald patch. Meanwhile, the increasing magnitude of soil moisture content had the same order. At the seasonal timescale, soil moisture content at 5‐cm depth was largest for old mound and smallest for bald patch (P < 0.01). The mean daily soil temperature at 5‐cm depth of new mound was approximately 0.8°C higher than that of old mound (P < 0.01) because of the smaller land surface reflectance of the former. The daily range of soil temperature at 5‐cm depth of original grassland and bald patch was about 2.7 and 4.7°C higher than the average value of new and old mounds, respectively, because of the larger soil thermal conductivity of the former two. A conceptual framework is suggested in this study to synthesize the evolution of soil microclimate under disturbance by the plateau pika. Overall, results indicated that new and old mounds accelerate soil hydrologic processes and have a better soil temperature buffer. Highlights Change in soil microclimate of different types of land surface under disturbance by the plateau pika. New and old mounds accelerate soil hydrologic processes and have a better soil temperature buffer. New and old mounds provide advantageous environments for plateau pika. Bald patch had the smallest soil moisture content and largest daily range of soil temperature.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microclimate response of soil to plateau pika's disturbance in the northeast Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

Liu

et al. 2018

European J Soil Science

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“…), the Tibetan Plateau is the largest plateau in the world covering an area of about 2.5 million km 2 in China (Chen et al 2014;Zhang et al 2016). The dominant vegetation type in this region is the alpine meadow which occupies more than 40% of grassland on the plateau and provides fundamental sources of livelihood for local residents and ecosystem services .…”

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confidence: 99%

Soil properties and species composition under different grazing intensity in an alpine meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Yang

Xiong

et al. 2016

Environ Monit Assess

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As the main form of land use and human disturbance of grassland, livestock grazing has great influences on the soil resources and plant communities. This study observed the variation of soil properties and community characteristics of four treatments of different grazing intensity (no grazing, UG; light grazing, LG; moderate grazing, MG; and heavy grazing, HG) in an alpine meadow of Sichuan Province on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that grazing increased the pH, soil bulk density (BD), and contents of total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN), and the BD increased while the others decreased with the grazing intensity. At the community level, with the increase of the grazing intensity, the vegetation coverage (R 2 = 0.61, P < 0.001), mean height of community (R 2 = 0.37, P < 0.001), aboveground biomass (R 2 = 0.54, P < 0.001), litter biomass (R 2 = 0.84, P < 0.001), and percentage of aboveground biomass of palatable grasses to total biomass (R 2 = 0.74, P < 0.001) significantly decreased, while the belowground biomass (R 2 = 0.72, P < 0.001) and the root/shoot (R/S) ratio (R 2 = 0.65, P < 0.001) increased. The species richness was the greatest at LG and the total biomass at UG. With grazing, the dominant species of the plant community shifted from palatable grasses (Gramineae and Cyperaceae) to unpalatable grasses (Compositae and Ranunculaceae). Based on the results, LG may be the optimal grassland management mode to be used in the long time in the alpine meadow of the Tibetan Plateau.

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“…; Zhang et al . ). Consequently, government agencies have initiated widespread poisoning campaigns dated back to the late 1950s in an attempt to restore degraded grasslands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Zhang et al . ). The plateau pika is an important prey for several predators (Smith and Foggin ; Aichun et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Effects of plateau pika disturbance levels on the plant diversity and biomass of an alpine meadow

Pang

Zheng

2018

Grassland Science

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The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is known to influence the plant diversity and biomass of the alpine meadow, and it is regarded as a pest. The species has been subject to extensive controls without a clear target density in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We investigated the effects of different plateau pika disturbance levels on plant composition, species diversity and biomass. The density of active burrow entrances was used as an index of disturbance levels I, II, III and IV (corresponding to 8, 19, 27 and 39 active burrow entrances per 625 m 2 ). We found that the plant community composition differed with different disturbance levels. The plant replacements were mainly related to associate plants rather than dominant plants. With the increase in the plateau pika disturbance levels, the plant cover decreased, and the plant height first increased and then decreased. The plant evenness index was higher in the levels II and III disturbance conditions, while the plant diversity index and plant richness index were highest in the level IV disturbance condition. The disturbance levels had no effect on the total plant biomass; however, the intermediate disturbance levels (II and III) increased the palatable plant biomass. The total plant biomass was mainly dependent on the unpalatable plant biomass. The total plant biomass showed a positive correlation with the richness index and a negative correlation with the evenness index. The palatable plant biomass showed a positive correlation with the evenness index and a negative correlation with the richness index. These results imply that the intermediate disturbance levels are beneficial to livestock production as they increase the alpine meadow quality, and the higher disturbance level is better for plant diversity conservation in the alpine meadows of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

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Responses of alpine vegetation and soils to the disturbance of plateau pika ( Ochotona curzoniae ) at burrow level on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau of China

Cited by 66 publications

References 21 publications

Microclimate response of soil to plateau pika's disturbance in the northeast Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

Microclimate response of soil to plateau pika's disturbance in the northeast Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

Soil properties and species composition under different grazing intensity in an alpine meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Effects of plateau pika disturbance levels on the plant diversity and biomass of an alpine meadow

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