To better understand the ecological and economic benefits of short-term grazing exclusion on the aboveground net primary productivity(ANPP)of alpine pastures,we conducted annual multi-site transect surveys in the summ...To better understand the ecological and economic benefits of short-term grazing exclusion on the aboveground net primary productivity(ANPP)of alpine pastures,we conducted annual multi-site transect surveys in the summers from 2009 to 2011 and calculated the aboveground biomass discrepancy(ABD)between grazed and ungrazed pastures at plant community and economic group levels for three zonal alpine grassland types—meadow,steppe,and desert-steppe—across the northern Tibetan Plateau.Our results indicated that aboveground biomass(AGB)significantly differed among grassland types and declined northwesterly from 64.07 to11.44 g m-2with decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature.The mean ABD exhibited considerable community dependency,with meadow(12.47 g m-2)[steppe(6.91 g m-2)[desert steppe(2.54 g m-2),and it declined from 25.42 to 1.29 g m-2with decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature.‘Good forage’,i.e.grasses and sedges,benefited most from grazing exclusion,followed by edible forbs.With longer grazing exclusion durations(GEDs),the aboveground biomass of poisonous locoweeds initially decreased and then increased compared with the adjacent grazed sites.In the nested analysis of co-variances with a general linear model,growing season precipitation(GSP;from May to September)accounted for 52.67%ofthe observed variation in AGB,followed by AGT(9.77%)and pasture management systems(PMSs;grazing or grazing-excluded,5.31%).The variation in ABD was explained primarily by AGT(16.52%),GED(20.25%),and the interaction of AGT 9 GED(19.58%).Our results confirm that precipitation is the primary factor controlling the ANPP of alpine grasslands on the Northern Tibetan Plateau and that the ecological benefits arising from grazing exclusion are also partly dependent on grassland type and exclusion duration.Therefore,spatial and temporal variations in growing season precipitation and plant functional traits or economic group composition should be jointly considered when developing policies concerning the management and spatial layouts of grazing exclosures in this region.展开更多
Aims Evapotranspiration(Et)is an important component of the terrestrial water cycle and is easily affected by external disturbances,such as climate change and grazing.Identifying Et responses to grazing is instructive...Aims Evapotranspiration(Et)is an important component of the terrestrial water cycle and is easily affected by external disturbances,such as climate change and grazing.Identifying Et responses to grazing is instructive for determining grazing activity and informative for understanding the water cycle.Methods this study utilized 2 years(2014 and 2017)of eddy covariance data to test how grazing regulated Et for an alpine meadow ecosystem on the tibetan Plateau(tP)by path analysis.Important Findings Radiation dominated Et with a decision coefficient of 64-74%.the soil water content(SWc)worked as the limiting factor in the fenced site.However,in the grazing site,the limiting factor was the vapor pressure deficit(VPD).Grazing had large effects on Et because it greatly affected the water conditions.the SWc and VPD were enhanced by 14.63%and 4.36%in the grazing site,respectively.therefore,sufficient water was supplied to Et,especially during drought,and strengthened the transpiration pull.As a result,a favorable micrometeorological environment was created for Et.Grazing shifted the limiting factor of Et from the SWc to VPD,which weakened the limiting effect of the water conditions on Et and advanced the Et peak time.In addition,grazing altered the compositions of Et by changing the community structure,which directly resulted in an increased Et.In summary,grazing enhanced Et through altering the community structure and micrometeorological environments.the findings of this study further improve our understanding of the driving mechanisms of grazing on Et and will improve our predictions for the global water cycle.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41171044)Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB03030401&KZCXZ-XB3-08)by a General Financial Grant from theChina Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2013M530716)
文摘To better understand the ecological and economic benefits of short-term grazing exclusion on the aboveground net primary productivity(ANPP)of alpine pastures,we conducted annual multi-site transect surveys in the summers from 2009 to 2011 and calculated the aboveground biomass discrepancy(ABD)between grazed and ungrazed pastures at plant community and economic group levels for three zonal alpine grassland types—meadow,steppe,and desert-steppe—across the northern Tibetan Plateau.Our results indicated that aboveground biomass(AGB)significantly differed among grassland types and declined northwesterly from 64.07 to11.44 g m-2with decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature.The mean ABD exhibited considerable community dependency,with meadow(12.47 g m-2)[steppe(6.91 g m-2)[desert steppe(2.54 g m-2),and it declined from 25.42 to 1.29 g m-2with decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature.‘Good forage’,i.e.grasses and sedges,benefited most from grazing exclusion,followed by edible forbs.With longer grazing exclusion durations(GEDs),the aboveground biomass of poisonous locoweeds initially decreased and then increased compared with the adjacent grazed sites.In the nested analysis of co-variances with a general linear model,growing season precipitation(GSP;from May to September)accounted for 52.67%ofthe observed variation in AGB,followed by AGT(9.77%)and pasture management systems(PMSs;grazing or grazing-excluded,5.31%).The variation in ABD was explained primarily by AGT(16.52%),GED(20.25%),and the interaction of AGT 9 GED(19.58%).Our results confirm that precipitation is the primary factor controlling the ANPP of alpine grasslands on the Northern Tibetan Plateau and that the ecological benefits arising from grazing exclusion are also partly dependent on grassland type and exclusion duration.Therefore,spatial and temporal variations in growing season precipitation and plant functional traits or economic group composition should be jointly considered when developing policies concerning the management and spatial layouts of grazing exclosures in this region.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31600362,31500360,41725003 and 41571195)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project(2018M631819)+2 种基金the National Key Research and Development Project of China(2016YFC0502001)the Science and Technology Project of State Grid Corporation of China(SGxzzzlwzhbGCJS1700095)the National Key R&D Program of China(2017YFA0604801).
文摘Aims Evapotranspiration(Et)is an important component of the terrestrial water cycle and is easily affected by external disturbances,such as climate change and grazing.Identifying Et responses to grazing is instructive for determining grazing activity and informative for understanding the water cycle.Methods this study utilized 2 years(2014 and 2017)of eddy covariance data to test how grazing regulated Et for an alpine meadow ecosystem on the tibetan Plateau(tP)by path analysis.Important Findings Radiation dominated Et with a decision coefficient of 64-74%.the soil water content(SWc)worked as the limiting factor in the fenced site.However,in the grazing site,the limiting factor was the vapor pressure deficit(VPD).Grazing had large effects on Et because it greatly affected the water conditions.the SWc and VPD were enhanced by 14.63%and 4.36%in the grazing site,respectively.therefore,sufficient water was supplied to Et,especially during drought,and strengthened the transpiration pull.As a result,a favorable micrometeorological environment was created for Et.Grazing shifted the limiting factor of Et from the SWc to VPD,which weakened the limiting effect of the water conditions on Et and advanced the Et peak time.In addition,grazing altered the compositions of Et by changing the community structure,which directly resulted in an increased Et.In summary,grazing enhanced Et through altering the community structure and micrometeorological environments.the findings of this study further improve our understanding of the driving mechanisms of grazing on Et and will improve our predictions for the global water cycle.