Alpine grassland degradation intensifies the burrowing behavior of small mammals: evidence for a negative feedback loop

NWIPB OpenIR

	Alpine grassland degradation intensifies the burrowing behavior of small mammals: evidence for a negative feedback loop
	Wang, Zaiwei; Yan, Jiawen; Martin, Amy; Brunton, Dianne H. H.; Qu, Jiapeng; He, Jin-Sheng; Ji, Weihong; Nan, Zhibiao
	2023
发表期刊	INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
摘要	Globally, grassland degradation is an acute ecological problem. In alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau, increased densities of various small mammals in degraded grassland are assumed to intensify the degradation process and these mammals are subject to lethal control. However, whether the negative impact of small mammals is solely a result of population size or also a result of activity and behavior has not been tested. In this study, we use plateau pika as a model to compare population size, core area of colony, and the number of burrow entrances and latrines between lightly and severely degraded grassland. We test whether the alleged contribution of pika to grassland degradation is a result of increased population size or increased burrowing activities of individuals in response to lower food abundance. We found that grassland degradation resulted in lower plant species richness, plant height, and biomass. Furthermore, the overall population size of pika was not significantly affected by location in lightly and severely degraded grassland. However, pika core areas in severely grassland degradation were significantly larger and had significantly higher densities of burrows and latrines. Our study provides convincing evidence that habitat-induced changes in the behavior of small, burrowing mammals, such as pika, can exacerbate grassland degradation. This finding has significant implications for managing small mammals and restoring degraded grassland ecosystems.
收录类别	SCIE
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://210.75.249.4/handle/363003/61635
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	Wang, Zaiwei,Yan, Jiawen,Martin, Amy,et al. Alpine grassland degradation intensifies the burrowing behavior of small mammals: evidence for a negative feedback loop[J]. INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY,2023.
APA	Wang, Zaiwei.,Yan, Jiawen.,Martin, Amy.,Brunton, Dianne H. H..,Qu, Jiapeng.,...&Nan, Zhibiao.(2023).Alpine grassland degradation intensifies the burrowing behavior of small mammals: evidence for a negative feedback loop.INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY.
MLA	Wang, Zaiwei,et al."Alpine grassland degradation intensifies the burrowing behavior of small mammals: evidence for a negative feedback loop".INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY (2023).