Elevational patterns of warming effects on plant community and topsoil properties: focus on subalpine meadows ecosystem

Climate warming profoundly affects plant biodiversity, community productivity, and soil properties in alpine and subalpine grassland ecosystems. However, these effects are poorly understood across elevational gradients in subalpine meadow ecosystems. To reveal the elevational patterns of warming effects on plant biodiversity, community structure, productivity, and soil properties, we conducted a warming experiment using open-top chambers from August 2019 to August 2022 at high(2764 m a. s. l.), medium(2631 m a. s. l.), and low(2544 m a. s. l.) elevational gradients on a subalpine meadow slope of Mount Wutai, Northern China. Our results showed that three years of warming significantly increased topsoil temperature but significantly decreased topsoil moisture at all elevations(P<0.05), and the percentage of increasing temperature and decreasing moisture both gradually raised with elevation lifting. Warming-induced decreasing proportions of soil organic carbon(SOC, by 19.24%), and total nitrogen(TN, by 24.56%) were the greatest at high elevational gradients. Experimental warming did not affect topsoil C: N, p H, NO_(3)^(-)-N, or NH_(4)^(+)-N at the three elevational gradients. Warming significantly increased species richness(P<0.01) and Shannon-Weiner index(P<0.05) at low elevational gradients but significantly decreased belowground biomass(P<0.05) at a depth of 0–10 cm at three elevational gradients. Warming caused significant increases in the aboveground biomass in the three elevational plots. Warming significantly increased the aboveground biomass of graminoids in medium(by 92.47%) and low(by 98.25%) elevational gradients, that of sedges in high(by 72.44%) and medium(by 57.16%) elevational plots, and that of forbs in high(by 75.88%), medium(by 34.38%), and low(by 74.95%) elevational plots. Species richness had significant linear correlations with SOC, TN, and C: N(P<0.05), but significant nonlinear responses to soil temperature and soil moisture in the warmed treatment(P<0.05). The warmed aboveground biomass had a significant nonlinear response to soil temperature and significant linear responses to soil moisture(P<0.05). This study provided evidence that altitude is a factor in sensitivity to climate warming, and these different parameters(e.g., plant species richness, Shannon-Weiner index, soil temperature, soil moisture, SOC, and TN) can be used to measure this sensitivity.

Modelling of Energy Flow,Rotational Grazing and Potential Productivity in an Alpine Meadow Grazing Ecosystem

An eight-compartment model of the energy dynamics of an alpine meadow-sheep grazing ecosystem was proposed based on SHIYOMI’s system approach. The compartments were the above-ground plant portion, the underground live portion including roots, the underground dead portion including roots, the above-ground litter Ⅰ (degradable portion), the above-ground litter Ⅱ (undegradable portion), the sheep intake, the sheep liveweight, and the faeces. Energy flows between the eight compartments were described by eight simultaneous differential equations. All parameters in the model were determined from paddock experiments. The model was designed to provide a practical method for estimating the effects of the number of rotational grazing subplots, grazing period, and grazing pressure on the performance of grazing systems for perennial alpine meadow pasture. The model provides at least 28 different attributes for characterizing the performance of the grazing system. Analyses of 270 simulated rotational grazing systems of summer-autumn meadow pasture (grazing from 1st June to 30 October each year) provided an inference base to support two recommendations concerning management variables. First, with a three-paddock, 29-day grazing period and 30.14kJ·m -2 ·day -1 grazing pressure scheme, the system has the highest total grazing intake, 4250.44kJ·m -2 , during the grazing season. Secondly, with a three-paddock, 7-day grazing period and 28.89kJ·m -2 ·day -1 grazing pressure scheme, the accumulated graze is 4073.34kJ·m -2 . The potential productivity of the alpine meadow under grazing is defined in this paper as the maximal dry biomass of herbage grazed by the grazing animals over the whole growing season. It has been analysed by applying optimal control theory to the model. The productivity is regarded as the objective function to be maximized through optimization of the time course of the grazing pressure, the control variable. The results show that: (1) under constant grazing pressure, the optimal grazing pressure is f 16 =25.90kJ·m -2 ·day -1 (f 46 =f 56 =0) with the highest accumulated intake of J (1) =3268.17kJ·m -2 ; and (2) the optimal grazing pressure is f 16 =25.94kJ·m -2 ·day -1 (f 46 ≠0, f 56 ≠0) with the maxial accumulated intake J (145) =3500.39kJ·m -2 . Under variable grazing pressure, the dynamics of optimal grazing pressure is shown in Fig.6(a) and Eqs. (9)(11), while the potential productivity (the highest accumulated intake) is J (145) =8749.01kJ·m -2 , 2.5 times the constant grazing pressure.[