Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhigang Hu, Ben Niu, Jiwang Tang, Yu Zhang, Mingxue Xiang, Xianzhou Zhang
Summary: The alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (AG(QTP)) has experienced severe climate change. This study estimated the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving mechanism of the carbon budget in AG(QTP) by analyzing the gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) based on remote sensing models. The results showed significant increases in GPP, ER, and NEP during 2000-2020, with varying effects of temperature and precipitation on the carbon budget.
Article
Ecology
Wei Sun, Shaowei Li, Junhao Wang, Gang Fu
Summary: This study compared the differences of plant species and phylogenetic alpha-and beta-diversity between grazing and fencing conditions at three alpine grasslands in Northern Tibet. The results showed that grazing significantly impacted plant community compositions and diversity indices, especially at the ASMSG site.
ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Meng Li, Jianshuang Wu, Yunfei Feng, Ben Niu, Yongtao He, Xianzhou Zhang
Summary: The research indicated that in the past few decades, Tibet's climate has become warmer and wetter, while grazing intensity has decreased. The aboveground net primary production (ANPP) has increased in most sites, from an average of 27.0 g C m(-2) during 2000-2008 to 28.4 g C m(-2) during 2009-2017. ANPP was positively correlated with annual temperature and precipitation, but negatively correlated with grazing intensity. Random forest modeling showed that precipitation (29.0%) had a much greater impact on grassland ANPP than grazing intensity (14.5%), highlighting precipitation variability as a key factor for the increase in alpine grassland ANPP across Tibet.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Qing Qu, Lei Deng, Zhouping Shangguan, Jian Sun, Jinsheng He, Kaibo Wang, Zhengchao Zhou, Jiwei Li, Josep Penuelas
Summary: Grazing exclusion is a widely implemented strategy for restoring degraded grassland ecosystems and increasing carbon stocks. This study analyzed data from 199 experiments to understand the temporal responses and factors influencing plant and soil carbon stocks following grazing exclusion in different grassland ecosystems. The results showed that plant biomass carbon stocks and soil organic carbon stocks decreased exponentially or rationally with years since enclosure. Grazing exclusion had positive effects on aboveground biomass carbon, but the effects on belowground biomass and soil carbon were influenced by climate, initial carbon levels, and grazing exclusion duration. The response of carbon stocks to grazing exclusion stabilized after approximately 40 years, with soil carbon sequestration showing a lagged pattern compared to plant biomass carbon. The study highlighted the effectiveness of grazing exclusion in regions with low carbon content and non-water limited conditions. However, it might not be an effective measure to increase soil organic carbon stocks in water-limited areas like desert grasslands.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Licong Dai, Ruiyu Fu, Xiaowei Guo, Xun Ke, Yangong Du, Fawei Zhang, Guangmin Cao
Summary: The study shows that different levels of degraded alpine grasslands on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau respond differently to grazing management, with total aboveground biomass and species richness showing varying trends with increasing levels of degradation.
ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Junhe Chen, Yafeng Wang, Jian Sun, Jianxiang Zhang, Jingtian Zhang, Yingxin Wang, Tiancai Zhou, Huangyu Huo, Eryuan Liang
Summary: There is a need to link grazing exclusion policy with fence layout management and assess the benefits. By constructing an intensity index and quantifying ecosystem service benefits, this study provides a new perspective on evaluating fence layout and optimizing it.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhenchao Zhang, Yiran Zhao, Hao Lin, Yanpeng Li, Jinmin Fu, Yingxin Wang, Juan Sun, Yanhua Zhao
Summary: This meta-analysis investigated the effects of grazing intensity on plant characteristics and soil properties in alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau based on 52 peer-reviewed literatures. The results demonstrated that moderate grazing can increase plant richness and diversity, while heavy grazing can lead to grassland degradation. Therefore, moderate grazing is a sustainable agricultural practice on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Shulin Wang, Fujiang Hou
Summary: The dung seed bank and greenhouse gas emissions are two important ecological functions of livestock dung in grassland ecosystems. Although these two processes have been studied separately, there is little research on the effects of dung seedlings on greenhouse gas emissions.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Mingjie Xu, Tao Zhang, Yangjian Zhang, Ning Chen, Juntao Zhu, Yongtao He, Tingting Zhao, Guirui Yu
Summary: The study found that soil drought had the most severe impact on alpine meadow productivity in the Tibetan Plateau, while atmospheric drought and compound drought also significantly inhibited productivity. These drought types significantly increased sensible heat flux, providing positive feedback to droughts and leading to further decreases in GPP.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhenchao Zhang, Ting Hua, Yanhua Zhao, Yanpeng Li, Yi Wang, Fei Wang, Juan Sun, Jian Sun
Summary: Moderate grazing has significant effects on carbon cycling and storage in grassland ecosystems, with different responses observed in temperate and alpine grasslands. Short-term grazing increases soil organic carbon stocks in temperate grasslands, while medium and long-term grazing decreases organic carbon stocks. In contrast, short-term grazing decreases soil organic carbon stocks in alpine grasslands, with no significant changes observed in medium and long-term grazing. These findings have implications for sustainable management of carbon sequestration in China's grasslands.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ailin Zhang, Xiangyi Li, Fanjiang Zeng, Yong Jiang, Ruzhen Wang
Summary: The plant functional group is an important bridge connecting individual plants to the community system in grassland ecosystems, especially in the grassland ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The composition and changes in the plant functional group reflect the community characteristics, and the dominant functional groups have a strong correlation with community and soil nutrients.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yinglan Jia, Shengyun Chen, Peijie Wei
Summary: This study compares ecosystem carbon density (ECD) in intact alpine meadow, extremely degraded grassland, and revegetated grassland in the alpine permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The results show that revegetated grassland significantly increases aboveground biomass carbon density, soil organic carbon density, and ecosystem carbon density, making it an effective approach for restoring degraded grassland.
Article
Agronomy
Tao Zhang, Yuanyuan Tang, Baoxin Shan, Mingjie Xu, Nan Cong, Ning Chen, Ximeng Ji, Guang Zhao, Zhoutao Zheng, Juntao Zhu, Yangjian Zhang
Summary: This study investigates the effects of drought on resource use efficiency in alpine meadow ecosystems. The results show that drought can alter the driving paths of carbon and water fluxes, thereby affecting resource use efficiency. The study also finds that the effects of drought vary depending on the timing of drought occurrence during the growing season.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Rui Qu, Li He, Zhengwei He, Bing Wang, Pengyi Lyu, Jiaxian Wang, Guichuan Kang, Wenqian Bai
Summary: Terrestrial carbon sequestration capacity is crucial for ecosystem service functions and can indicate the climate regulation capabilities of regional ecological environments. The Zoige alpine grassland, a representative area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland ecosystem, has experienced a decrease in carbon stocks due to increased cultivated land and decreased grassland areas.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ya-Li Liu, Jun-Feng Wang, Guan-Li Jiang, Lu-Yang Wang, Zi-Teng Fu, Ho-Jeong Kang, Qing-Bai Wu
Summary: Greenhouse gas emissions from high-cold terrestrial ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau underlain by permafrost have received attention. The factors controlling ecosystem respiration and its components, as well as the differences in carbon emissions from different ecotypes and seasons, are still unclear. This study found that the dominant factors regulating respiration and its components vary with seasons, with autotrophic respiration contributing the most to seasonal changes. Soil temperature, nutrient conditions, and microbial activity were identified as important factors during the growing season.
ADVANCES IN CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH
(2023)