How to Build Artificial Grassland in the Cold and Semi-Arid Regions? ——A Case Study in Naqu

Construction of artificial grassland is a key factor to solve the shortage of grass and forage balance in cold and semi-arid areas of high plateau,and it is the key measure to ensure the sustainable development of grassland animal husbandry in this area. At present,the artificial grassland construction is neither reasonable nor scientific,which restricts the healthy and rapid development of artificial grassland in the cold and semi-arid areas of high plateau. In this research,with Naqu Area in Tibet as a case,problems and current status in construction process of artificial grassland are analyzed in cold and semi-arid areas of high plateau. Suitable artificial forage species in Nagqu are elaborated,and recommendations for the construction and development of artificial grassland are discussed.

Management of re‐established artificial grasslands via grazing or fencing: Effects on plant and soil properties

Background:Revegetation is widely used in degraded grassland restoration.However,the responses of grassland plant and soil properties to fencing(FC)and grazing(GZ)remain poorly understood,especially the vegetation–soil coupling coordination(C_(d))mechanism.This study explored single and interactive responses of vegetation and soil properties under FC and GZ after revegetation.Methods:A field experiment with FC and GZ treatments was conducted in Loess Plateau reconstructed grassland,with degraded grassland as the control(CK).Plant and soil properties and C_(d) were analyzed using the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)and principal component analysis(PCA).Results:The order of soil comprehensive evaluation(SCE)was GZ>FC>CK,while that of vegetation comprehensive evaluation(VCE)was FC>GZ>CK.The C_(d) of CK was 0.39(mild imbalance),while the values of FC and GZ were 0.57 and 0.54,respectively(little coordination).The VCE/SCE of FC was 1.48(soil lag type),and the values of GZ and CK were 0.69 and 0.35,respectively(vegetation lag and vegetation loss type,respectively).Conclusions:Both GZ and FC improved C_(d) and facilitated recovery.However,degraded grasslands should be restored via moderate grazing for sustainable ecological and economic development.

Current Distribution of Vegetation Resources in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and Mechanism Research of Its Effects on Rocky Desertification Process

Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is the core area of the rocky desertification in the Chinese southwest Karst regions, and the existing studies are very limited to describe the process of rocky desertification quantitatively. The vegetation resources are applied as the key indicators in quantitative description of the degree of rocky desertification damage, and the previous methods using only remote sensing datasets are not competent to distinguish the detailed information of vegetation type, coverage and patch fragmentation on a large scale. Previous research shows that the technology of unmanned aerial vehicle and the estimation software of fraction vegetation coverages and patches could be accurately and rapidly to exploit vegetation resource information. In this project, current distribution of vegetation resources in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau was clarified to reveal the influence mechanism of the rocky desertification. The control factors of rocky desertification distribution and the driving reasons of its dynamic changes were explained by the data of terrain, climate, population, economics and policy. Therefore, it could get the current distribution of vegetation resources in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, especially the grassland resources could be updated, which could not provide research foundations and scientific implications for resolving the rocky desertification, but also could provide valuable background information for the programs of restoring ecological environment and increasing local people's income in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.