Spatial Vegetation Patch Patterns and Their Relation to Environmental Factors in the Alpine Grasslands of the Qilian Mountains

Abstract

Globally, grasslands are affected by climate change and unsustainable management practices which usually leads to transitions from stable, degraded and then to desertification. Spatial vegetation patch configurations are regarded as key indicators of such transitions. Understanding the relationships between this grass-land vegetation and its environment is key to vegetation restoration projects. Spatial vegetation patch patterns were chosen across different soil and topographic conditions. Patch numbers, perimeter, and cover of each patch were measured along transects of each patch type. Using field surveys and multivariate statistical analysis, we investigated the differences in vegetation biomass and distribution and soil properties of four typical alpine plant species patches along with a range of environmental and topographic conditions. It was found that topographic conditions and soil properties, particularly soil moisture explained most of the variation in spatial patch vegetation characteristics and thus control vegetation restoration in the alpine grassland. The Kobresia humilis, Blysmus sinocompressus and Iris lactea patches under the drylands recorded small patch sizes, large patch numbers, low connectivity, and large total perimeter per unit area. Generally, species within the high moisture sites recorded small patch numbers, a large fraction of vegetation cover and a small total perimeter per m2. Patches in limited soil moisture areas recorded patch configurations indicating they are unstable and undergoing degradation and therefore need urgent restoration attention to forestall their further degradation and its resultant effect of desertification. These results would provide quantitative easy-to-use indicators for vegetation degradation and help in vegetation restoration projects.

The ecohydrological response to soil moisture based on the distributed hydrological assimilation model in the mountain region

“…Patchy soil moisture is essential in basin ecohydrological response (Vivoni et al, 2010). The persistent drought of soil moisture may lead to spatial characteristics of grassland patches, which further causes desertification (Abalori et al, 2022). In the case of different soil moisture levels, its spatial variability is dominated by various factors.…”

Quantifying desertification in the Qinghai Lake Basin

“…Fractional vegetation cover (FVC), calculated from EVI, was taken as an indicator of desertification to reflect spatial variation in plant communities (Abalori et al, 2022;Feng et al, 2022). EVI was first calculated from the DN values multiplied by a scaling factor of 0.0001 according to Eq.…”

‘Niao Chao’: A New Iris lactea var. chinensis Cultivar

“…chinensis has a well-developed root system and tolerates salinity and drought conditions well. It is also widely used for landscaping because of its wide distribution and beautiful, colorful, and elegant flowers (Abalori et al 2022;Meng et al 2015). However, the leaves of I. lactea var.…”