Vegetation Responses to A Long-term Grazing Intensity Experiment in Alpine Shrub Grassland on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

NWIPB OpenIR

	Vegetation Responses to A Long-term Grazing Intensity Experiment in Alpine Shrub Grassland on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
	Zhou Huakun ; Zhao Xinquan ; Wang Shiping ; Zhao Liang ; Xu Shixiao
	2008
发表期刊	西北植物学报 ; Zhou Huakun,Zhao Xinquan,Wang Shiping,Zhao Liang,Xu Shixiao.Vegetation Responses to A Long-term Grazing Intensity Experiment in Alpine Shrub Grassland on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.西北植物学报,2008,28(10):2080-2093
摘要	The grassland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of the world＇s most remarkable grazing lands. Livestock grazing appears to exert significant effects on the vegetation and ecosystem processes on the plateau,although the effects of livestock grazing on grasslands are in need of further study. In this study, a long-term grazing experiment with different stocking rates in alpine Potentilla fruticosa shrubland was carried out at Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The effects of grazing intensity on plant species diversity,community structure,above ground standing biomass and grassland quality were analyzed after grazing for 4,11 and 18 years which represented short-term grazing,medium term grazing and long term grazing,respectively. Our results suggest that the height and cover of plant community were decreased with the increase of stocking rate in different grazing period. The change in biodiversity and evenness indices as stocking rate increased was a typical unimodal curve after grazing for 11 years. The dominated shrub and gramnoids were replaced by the typical forbs with the increase of the stocking rate in the long term heavy grazing period. Long-term heavy grazing simplifies the alpine shrub community and decreases the standing above-ground biomass, especially palatable herbage plants. The heights and cover of plant communities were decreased as the stocking rate increased. Changes in the vegetation of different grazing treatments was also correlated with the variation in local moisturetemperature conditions except key factors such as grazing intensities and grazing time. From grazing release,light grazing to heavy grazing, the dominant shrub and graminoid species were replaced by typical forbs after grazing for 18 years. All species of Potentilla fruticosa shrubland in this study can be sorted into 4 groups which were fostering, sensitive, tolerant and indifferent to long term grazing disturbance. Our results did not support the intermediate disturbance hypothesis very well except three cases,i, e. , richness, biodiversity and evenness indices. It is concluded that long-term heavy grazing plays an important role in alpine grassland degradation on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. From responses of species diversity and standing biomass of different functional types to grazing,moderate grazing appears to be suitable for biodiversity conservation and the utilization of alpine shrub grassland. The standard grazing rule of ＂take half leave half＂ is recommended as a conservative management tool to prevent grassland degradation, to improve grass utilization,and to sustain higher biodiversity on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://210.75.249.4/handle/363003/34245
专题	中国科学院西北高原生物研究所
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Zhou Huakun,Zhao Xinquan,Wang Shiping,et al. Vegetation Responses to A Long-term Grazing Intensity Experiment in Alpine Shrub Grassland on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau[J]. 西北植物学报, Zhou Huakun,Zhao Xinquan,Wang Shiping,Zhao Liang,Xu Shixiao.Vegetation Responses to A Long-term Grazing Intensity Experiment in Alpine Shrub Grassland on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.西北植物学报,2008,28(10):2080-2093,2008.
APA	Zhou Huakun,Zhao Xinquan,Wang Shiping,Zhao Liang,&Xu Shixiao.(2008).Vegetation Responses to A Long-term Grazing Intensity Experiment in Alpine Shrub Grassland on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.西北植物学报.
MLA	Zhou Huakun,et al."Vegetation Responses to A Long-term Grazing Intensity Experiment in Alpine Shrub Grassland on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau".西北植物学报 (2008).