The response of vegetation phenology to environmental changes is very complex. We used time-lapse digital cameras to monitor the phenology of an alpine steppe in four winter pastures with different grazing intensities during 2015-2017. The results showed that the beginning of the growing season (BGS) and the growing season length (GSL) of the alpine steppe separately presented advances or prolonged trends with the increase in grazing intensity. There was no regularity in the end of the growing season (EGS) under the change in grazing intensity gradient, but the EGS of the no grazing (NG) plot occurred 24 days ahead of the other plots disturbed by grazing. Different winter grazing intensities obviously had different influences on the surface litter, soil temperature (ST), and soil moisture (SM) during spring but not during autumn. The ST under different grazing intensities played a decisive role in controlling the BGS of alpine steppe, followed by surface litter and SM. The EGS showed a significant correlation with the surface litter in autumn but did not show correlations with ST and SM. These results could further help us understand the phenological mechanisms of the soil surface and guide the scientific management of grazing to adapt to climate change.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.07.028 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Climate, not land-use, drives a recent acceleration of larch expansion at the forest-grassland ecotone in the southern French alps.
Sci Total Environ
January 2025
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, 38000 Grenoble, France.
In recent decades significant forest expansion into treeless alpine zones has been observed across global mountain ranges, including the Alps, driven by a complex interplay of global warming and land-use changes. The upward shift of treelines has far-reaching implications for ecosystem functioning, biodiversity, and biogeochemical cycles. However, climate variables alone account for only a fraction of treeline dynamics, highlighting substantial research gaps concerning the influence of non-climatic factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAncient engineers: The role of plateau pika in shaping ecological uniqueness and guiding plant diversity conservation in alpine grasslands.
J Environ Manage
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China. Electronic address:
Small burrowing herbivores play a crucial role in maintaining structure and function of grassland ecosystems. To date, our understanding of whether practicing ecological uniqueness can enhance plant diversity conservation under small herbivore disturbances remains limited. Here, we investigate the ecological uniqueness of plant communities, which include habitats disturbed and undisturbed by plateau pikas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUncovering the multi-fencing effects: Changes in plant diversity across dimensions and spatio, and the relationship between diversity and stability.
J Environ Manage
January 2025
Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. Electronic address:
Plant diversity is fundamental to maintaining grassland ecosystem function. Rangeland managers use fencing as a strategy to enhance plant diversity in degraded grasslands. However, the effects of this natural management approach on grasslands across a wide range of environmental gradients and its spatial pattern remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEffects of nitrogen deposition on soil nitrogen fractions and enzyme activities in wet meadow of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Sci Rep
December 2024
Wushan County Productivity Promotion Center, Tianshui, 741300, China.
Soil nitrogen (N) transformation is an essential portion of the N cycle in wetland ecosystems, governing the retention status of soil N by controlling the effective soil N content. N deposition produced by human activities changes the physical characteristics of soil, affecting N fractions and enzyme activities. To characterize these influences, three different N addition levels (N5, 5 g/m; N10, 10 g/m; N15, 15 g/m) were established using a wet meadow on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) as a control treatment (0 g/m).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecovery in soil carbon stocks but reduced carbon stabilization after near-natural restoration in degraded alpine meadows.
Sci Rep
December 2024
Grassland Technique Extension Station of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China.
Near-natural restoration is acknowledged as an effective strategy for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in degraded grasslands. However, the alterations in SOC fractions, stability, and relative sequestration capacity after restoration of degraded alpine meadows remain uncertain. In this study, we utilized the degraded alpine meadows on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau as a research area, with grazing as the control (CK) and restoration of 20 years of banned grazing (BG) and growing season resting grazing (RG).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!