Aboveground community composition and soil moisture play determining roles in restoring ecosystem multifunctionality of alpine steppe on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Alpine steppe is one of the most important grassland ecosystems on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), which has been greatly degraded in past decades. However, few studies have paid attention to the ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) of restored degraded alpine steppes. Four treatments of alpine steppes (degraded alpine steppes, cultivated alpine steppes, fenced alpine steppes and intact alpine steppes) were investigated to explore the effect of treatment, biotic (above- and belowground community composition) and abiotic factors (pH and soil moisture) on restoring nine ecosystem functions (above- and belowground plant biomass, plant nitrogen content, soil organic carbon, soil nitrogen, soil phosphorus, soil microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass nitrogen and microbial biomass phosphorus) and EMF of alpine steppe ecosystem in Madoi County of Qinghai Province, China. Our results showed that both grassland cultivation and fencing significantly promoted EMF of the degraded alpine steppes. Aboveground plant community composition was more significantly correlated with EMF of the alpine steppes than belowground soil community composition in the process of ecological restoration. Combining abiotic factors with biotic factors could improve the ability to explain EMF than biotic factors alone. Overall, aboveground community composition and soil moisture played determining roles in restoring EMF of alpine steppes.

Automated summary

The study found that grassland cultivation and fencing can significantly promote the ecosystem multifunctionality of degraded alpine steppes. Aboveground plant community composition has a greater impact on EMF of alpine steppes, and combining abiotic factors with biotic factors can better explain EMF.