Abstract
Degradation of alpine Kobresia meadow in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is a serious problem, but its effect on the plant community and soil water status is not fully understood. We chose four homogeneous sites with <20, 20–70, 70–90, and >90 % absolute abundance of palatable grasses, and classified them as degradation gradient categories of poor, fair, good, and excellent, respectively. The lowest aboveground biomass and infiltration rate, and the highest root biomass, thickness of mattic epipedon, topsoil (<10 cm) organic matter content and volumetric ratio of root/soil all occurred in fair plots. There was little fluctuation in plant community diversity and topsoil bulk density among the degradation gradients. Results of non-metric multidimensional scaling suggested that vegetation dynamics along degradation processes were non-equilibrium in the alpine Kobresia meadow. The effects of degradation on soil water content and retention were the highest in the top layer (>10 cm). The minimum topsoil water content and maximum topsoil water retention both occurred in fair plots, indicating asynchrony between soil water content and holding capacity along degradation gradients, which likely resulted in a non-equilibrium plant community pattern through physiological desiccation and nutrient deficits. Our findings should be highly informative for threshold-based management of the degraded alpine Kobresia meadow in the future.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asner GP, Elmore AJ, Olander LP, Martin RE, Harris AT (2004) Grazing systems, ecosystem responses, and global change. Annu Rev Env Resour 29:261–299
Cao GM, Li YN, Zhang JX, Zhao XQ (2001) Effect of soil circumstances biogeochemical factors on carbon dioxide emission from Mollic-Gryic Cambisols. Acta Agrestia Sin 9:307–312
Chen J, Yamamura Y, Hori Y, Shiyomi M, Yasuda T, Zhou HK, Li YN, Tang YH (2008) Small-scale species richness and its spatial variation in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Ecol Res 23:657–663
Cheng HY, Wang GX, Hu HC, Wang YB (2008) The variation of soil temperature and water content of seasonal frozen soil with different vegetation coverage in the headwater region of the Yellow River, China. Environ Geol 54:1755–1762
Clarke KR (1993) Non-parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Aust J Ecol 18:117–143
Feddema JJ (1998) Estimated impacts of soil degradation on the African water balance and climate. Clim Res 10:127–141
Greenwood KL, McKenzie BM (2001) Grazing effects on soil physical properties and the consequences for pastures: a review. Aust J Exp Agr 41:1231–1250
Institute of Soil Science (2001) Chinese soil taxonomy. Science Press, Beijing
Kang L, Han X, Zhang Z, Sun OJ (2007) Grassland ecosystems in China: review of current knowledge and research advancement. Philos Trans Roy Soc B 362:997–1008
Li J, Du YG, Zhang FW, Guo XW, Han DR, Liu SL, Cao GM (2012) Mattic epipedon impact on water conservation in alpine meadow. Acta Agrestia Sin 20:836–841
Medina-Roldán E, Moreno JTA, Moya EG, Martínez FMH (2007) Soil water content dynamics along a range condition gradient in a shortgrass steppe. Rangel Ecol Manag 60:79–87
Miehe G, Miehe S, Kaiser K, Liu J, Zhao X (2008) Status and dynamics of the Kobresia pygmaea ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau. Ambio 37:272–279
Mills AJ, Fey MV (2003) Declining soil quality in South Africa: effects of land use on soil organic matter and surfacing crusting. S Afr J Sci 99:429–435
Milton SJ, Dean WRJ, du Plessis MA, Siegfried WR (1994) A conceptual model of arid rangeland degradation. Bioscience 44:70–76
Mwendera EJ, Saleem MAM, Woldu Z (1997) Infiltration rates, surface runoff, and soil loss as influenced by grazing pressure in the Ethiopian highlands. Soil Use Manag 13:29–35
Neary DG, Clary WP, Brown TW Jr (2000) Applicability of Montreal Process Criterion 4—soil and water conservation—to rangeland sustainability. Int J Sust Dev World 7:128–137
O’Connor TG, Haines LM, Snyman HA (2001) Influence of precipitation and species composition on phytomass of a semi-arid African grassland. J Ecol 89:850–860
Perevolotsky A, Seligman NG (1998) Role of grazing in Mediterranean rangeland ecosystems. Bioscience 48:1007–1017
Sasaki T, Okayasu T, Jamsran U, Takeuchi K (2008) Threshold changes in vegetation along a grazing gradient in Mongolian rangelands. J Ecol 96:145–154
Snyman HA (2000) Soil-water utilisation and sustainability in a semi-arid grassland. Water Use S Afr 26:333–342
Suding KN, Gross KL, Houseman GR (2004) Alternative states and positive feedbacks in restoration ecology. Trends Ecol Evol 19:46–53
Swemmer AM, Knapp AK, Snyman HA (2007) Intra-seasonal precipitation patterns and above-ground productivity in three perennial grasslands. J Ecol 95:780–788
Valentini C, D’Herbes JM, Poesen J (1999) Soil and water components of banded vegetation patterns. Catena 37:1–24
van de Koppel J, Rietkerk M, Weissing FJ (1997) Catastrophic vegetation shifts and soil degradation in terrestrial grazing systems. Trends Ecol Evol 12:352–356
Wang XH, Fu XF (2004) Sustainable management of alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau: problems overlooked and suggestions for change. Ambio 33:169–171
Wang W, Wang QJ, Wang H (2006) The effect of land management on plant community composition, species diversity, and productivity of alpine Kobresia steppe meadow. Ecol Res 21:181–187
Wang GX, Wang YB, Li YS, Cheng HY (2007) Influences of alpine ecosystem response to climatic change on soil properties on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China. Catena 70:506–514
Wang GX, Li YS, Hu HC, Wang YB (2008) Synergistic effect of vegetation and air temperature changes on soil water content in alpine frost meadow soil in the permafrost region of Qinghai–Tibet. Hydrol Process 22:3310–3320
Wang S, Duan J, Xu G, Wang Y, Zhang Z, Rui Y, Luo C, Xu B, Zhu X, Chang X, Cui X, Niu H, Zhao X, Wang W (2012) Effects of warming and grazing on soil N availability, species composition, and ANPP in an alpine meadow. Ecology 93:2365–2376
Whitford WG, De Soyza AG, Van Zee JW, Herrick JE, Havstad KM (1998) Vegetation, soil, and animal indicators of rangeland health. Environ Monit Assess 51:179–200
Wilcox BP, Dowhower SL, Teague WR, Thurow TL (2006) Long-term water balance in a semiarid shrubland. Rangel Ecol Manag 59:600–606
Zhang WR, Yang GC, Tu XN (1999) Forest industry standard of the People’s Republic of China—Forest soil analysis method. Chinese Press of Standard, Beijing
Acknowledgments
We sincerely appreciate the invaluable comments provided by two anonymous reviewers and Dr. Jeremy Lundholm. This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41030105, 31270520 and 31270576) and the National Key Technology R&D Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No. 2012BAC08B06).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Li, J., Zhang, F., Lin, L. et al. Response of the plant community and soil water status to alpine Kobresia meadow degradation gradients on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China. Ecol Res 30, 589–596 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1258-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1258-2