Tibetan sheep grazing modifies rodent density and their interactions effect on GHG emissions of alpine meadow

Wang, Yingxin; Yuan, Hao; Zhang, Xinglu; Sun, Yi; Chang, Shenghua; Li, Guang; Hou, Fujiang

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-53480-z

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Grazing events (foraging, trampling and excrements) could change soil water content, soil temperature, and the substrates supply from plant part to soil biota and microorganism that mediate the progress of GHG emissions production (Dowhower et al, 2020). Recent studies also showed that GHG emissions were affected by stocking rate rather than grazing system in grassland ecosystem (Ma et al, 2021; Wang et al, 2019). For example, increased yak excrement decomposition under high stocking rate may promote CO 2 emission by microbes through stimulating soil organic matter mineralization (Tang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Crucially, our results found that the relative importance of pika burrowing was greater than yak grazing on a pastoral scale (Table S2). Generally, compared to plateau pika activities, domestic livestock have broader landscape-scale effects, while plateau pika have more intensive, localized impacts due to their sedentary behaviour and burrowing activities (Wang et al, 2019). Grazing events (foraging, trampling and excrements) could change soil water content, soil temperature, and the substrates supply from plant part to soil biota and microorganism that mediate the progress of GHG emissions production (Dowhower et al, 2020).…”

Section: Responses Of Ghg Emissions To Pika Burrowing and Yak Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies also showed that GHG emissions were affected by stocking rate rather than grazing system in grassland ecosystem (Ma et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2019). For example, increased yak excrement decomposition under high stocking rate may promote CO 2 emission by microbes through stimulating soil organic matter mineralization (Tang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Responses Of Ghg Emissions To Pika Burrowing and Yak Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the meantime, these emission processes are also driven by change in environmental factors due to climate change (Eskander & Fankhauser, 2021; Luo et al, 2020), grazing management (You et al, 2021) and land degradation (Abdalla et al, 2018). To the best of our knowledge, most of the field trials on GHG emissions of Tibetan grassland were conducted in controlled small plots where livestock and small mammals were both excluded (Wang et al, 2019). Crucially, livestock and small mammals always have both independent and interactive impacts on ecosystem GHG emissions through their foraging, burrowing behaviours, and excrement (Qin et al, 2015; Tang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plateau pika burrowing and yak grazing jointly determine ecosystem greenhouse gas emissions of alpine meadow

et al. 2022

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Domestic yak (Bos grunniens) have coexisted with plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) for thousands of and they play irreplaceable roles in shaping the structure and function of alpine meadow ecosystem. However, the mechanisms whereby the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions change in response to the interactive effects between yak grazing and plateau pika burrowing remain unclear. In this study, we examined the response of ecosystem GHG emissions (CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O flux) to yak grazing and pika burrowing in alpine meadow in Zoige County, China. The GHG emissions was measured with a static opaque chamber method. Our results revealed that CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O flux and CO 2 -eq were significantly influenced by yak grazing and pika burrowing independently, and in conjunction. Crucially, the relative importance of pika burrowing was higher than yak grazing on a pastoral scale. Specifically, high pika burrowing led to an increase of 440.29%, and 110.72% for CO 2 -eq relative to low pika burrowing under moderate and heavy yak grazing situations, respectively. The value of CO 2 -eq with low pika burrowing was negative, especially under light yak grazing conditions. Furthermore, we found that GHG emissions were sensitive to plant species richness, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil organic carbon, and soil microbial factors. Structural equation modeling indicated that pika burrowing can affect CO 2 -eq though altering soil temperature and belowground biomass under heavy yak grazing conditions and changing soil moisture and soil microbe under light yak grazing. The results of this study enrich our understanding of the role of small burrowing mammals in the carbon sequestration of alpine meadow. In the context of the carbon neutrality of alpine grassland ecosystem, small mammals' activities and their interactions with domestic livestock-induced changes in microtopography on GHG emissions should not be neglected.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Responses Of Ghg Emissions To Pika Burrowing and Yak Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Responses Of Ghg Emissions To Pika Burrowing and Yak Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plateau pika burrowing and yak grazing jointly determine ecosystem greenhouse gas emissions of alpine meadow

et al. 2022

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“…Following the methodology used in previous studies (Reichman & Smith, 1985; Reichman & Jarvis, 1989), this study used fresh mounds to locate foraging tunnels. First, a transect with 3 km × 35 m size was established at each site in April, and then the number of fresh mounds was recorded in order to estimate the disturbance degree of plateau zokor (Wang et al, 2019; Ye et al, 2023). Second, 30 fresh mounds in the same grassland type were selected and labeled at each site.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of foraging tunnels created by plateau zokors on plant above‐ground biomass and species richness of graminoids and forbs in alpine grasslands

Yang,

Duan,

et al. 2023

Applied Vegetation Science

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QuestionForaging‐tunnel disturbances created by herbivorous mammals can influence the above‐ground plant biomass of grassland communities. The plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi) was considered a focal animal for investigating the effect of foraging‐tunnel disturbances created by herbivorous mammals on the above‐ground biomass and species richness of graminoids and forbs. Here, we ask how foraging‐tunnel disturbances created by plateau zokors influences above‐ground plant biomass and species richness of graminoids and forbs in alpine grasslands.LocationThe study was conducted at three sites of alpine grasslands in the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, China.MethodsIn this study, all vascular plants were divided into graminoids and forbs, and 30 paired quadrats were randomly selected from each site. In total, 90 tunnel quadrats and 90 non‐tunnel quadrats were surveyed and sampled.ResultsThis study showed that foraging‐tunnel disturbances decreased the plant species richness of the grassland community and forbs by 16.5% and 17.7% respectively, whereas the response of graminoid species richness to foraging‐tunnel disturbance was different among the three sites, in which foraging‐tunnel disturbance decreased the graminoid species richness at Maqu and Xiahe sites and had no impact on the graminoid species richness at Tianzhu site. Regarding forbs, some legumes identified in the non‐tunnel quadrats were not observed in the tunnel quadrats. The foraging‐tunnel disturbances resulted in an above‐ground plant biomass decrease of 21.9% in the grassland community, 27.3% in forbs, and 17.2% in graminoids respectively. The percentage of graminoids in the above‐ground plant biomass increased from 50.4% in non‐tunnel quadrats to 55.5% in tunnel quadrats, a relative increase of 10.1% from the initial percentage.ConclusionsThese results indicate that the foraging‐tunnel disturbances seemed to improve the forage availability for livestock in tunnel quadrats due to a higher relative proportion of graminoids in the grassland plant community, despite a decrease in graminoid biomass. However, the tunnels not only decreased the above‐ground plant biomass and species richness of forbs, but also might have a negative impact on soil nitrogen input because of the absence of some legumes. The findings of this study suggest that reseeding some legumes is an effective approach to maintaining plant diversity and soil fertility, which can compensate for the negative effect of foraging‐tunnel disturbance on alpine grasslands.

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Rodents mediate the relationship between seed rain, seed bank, and plant community with increased grazing disturbance

Guo,

Zhao,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Ecological Applications

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Seed rain and the soil seed bank represent the dispersal of seeds in space and time, respectively, and can be important sources of recruitment of new individuals during plant community regeneration. However, the temporal dynamics of seed rain and the mechanisms by which the seed rain and soil seed bank may play a role in plant community regeneration with increased grazing disturbance remain unclear. Seed rain, soil seed bank, aboveground vegetation, and rodent density were sampled along a grazing gradient in an alpine marsh on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. We described the temporal dynamics of seed dispersal using Bayesian generalized mixed models, and nonmetric multidimensional scaling and the structural equation model were used to examine the effects of grazing disturbance on the relative role of seed rain and soil seed bank on aboveground plant community regeneration. The temporal dynamics of seed rain changed from a unimodal to a bimodal pattern with increased grazing disturbance. Both species diversity and seed density of the seed rain and seed bank increased significantly with increased grazing disturbance. Increased grazing disturbance indirectly increased the similarity of composition between seed rain, seed bank, and aboveground plant community by directly increasing species diversity and abundance of aboveground plant community. However, increased grazing disturbance also indirectly decreased the similarity of seed rain, soil seed bank, and aboveground plant community by directly increasing rodent density. The similarity between seed rain and aboveground plant community was greater than that of the soil seed bank and aboveground plant community with increased grazing disturbance. Grazing disturbance spreads the risk of seed germination and seedling establishment by changing the temporal dynamics of seed dispersal. Plants (positive) and rodents (negative) mediated the role of seed rain and soil seed bank in plant community regeneration. The role of seed rain in plant community regeneration is higher than the seed bank in disturbed alpine marshes. Our findings increase our understanding of the regeneration process of the plant community, and they provide valuable information for the conservation and restoration of alpine marsh ecosystems.

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Tibetan sheep grazing modifies rodent density and their interactions effect on GHG emissions of alpine meadow

Cited by 11 publications

References 54 publications

Plateau pika burrowing and yak grazing jointly determine ecosystem greenhouse gas emissions of alpine meadow

Plateau pika burrowing and yak grazing jointly determine ecosystem greenhouse gas emissions of alpine meadow

Effects of foraging tunnels created by plateau zokors on plant above‐ground biomass and species richness of graminoids and forbs in alpine grasslands

Rodents mediate the relationship between seed rain, seed bank, and plant community with increased grazing disturbance

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