Degradation of alpine meadows exacerbated plant community succession and soil nutrient loss on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China

doi:10.1007/s40333-025-0008-8

Journal of Arid Land

2025, Vol. 17

Issue (3): 368-380 DOI: 10.1007/s40333-025-0008-8 CSTR: 32276.14.JAL.02500088

Research article

Degradation of alpine meadows exacerbated plant community succession and soil nutrient loss on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China

LI Shuangxiong¹^,²^,³, CHAI Jiali¹^,²^,³, YAO Tuo¹^,²^,³^,^*(

), LI Changning¹^,²^,³, LEI Yang¹^,²^,³

¹College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
²Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education/Sino-U.S. Center for Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability, Lanzhou 730070, China
³Pratacultural Engineering Laboratory of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730070, China

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Abstract

In recent decades, global climate change and overgrazing have led to severe degradation of alpine meadows. Understanding the changes in soil characteristics and vegetation communities in alpine meadows with different degrees of degradation is helpful to reveal the mechanism of degradation process and take the remediation measures effectively. This study analyzed the changes in vegetation types and soil characteristics and their interrelationships under three degradation degrees, i.e., non-degradation (ND), moderate degradation (MD), and severe degradation (SD) in the alpine meadows of northeastern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China through the long-term observation. Results showed that the aggressive degradation changed the plant species, with the vegetation altering from leguminous and gramineous to forbs and harmful grasses. The Pielou evenness and Simpson index increased by 24.58% and 7.01%, respectively, the Shannon-Wiener index decreased by 17.52%, and the species richness index remained constant. Soil conductivity, soil organic matter, total potassium, available potassium, and porosity declined. However, the number of vegetation species increased in MD. Compared with ND, the plant diversity in MD enhanced by 8.33%, 8.69%, and 7.41% at family, genus, and species levels, respectively. In conclusion, changes in soil properties due to degradation can significantly influence the condition of above-ground vegetation. Plant diversity increases, which improves the structure of belowground network. These findings may contribute to designing better protection measures of alpine meadows against global climate change and overgrazing.

Key words： alpine meadow degradation long-term observation plant diversity soil and vegetation characteristics

Received: 09 July 2024 Published: 31 March 2025

Corresponding Authors: ^*YAO Tuo (E-mail: yaotuo@gsau.edu.cn)

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Cite this article:

LI Shuangxiong, CHAI Jiali, YAO Tuo, LI Changning, LEI Yang. Degradation of alpine meadows exacerbated plant community succession and soil nutrient loss on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China. Journal of Arid Land, 2025, 17(3): 368-380.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-025-0008-8 OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2025/V17/I3/368

Fig. 1 Overview map of non-degraded (ND; a), moderately degraded (MD; b), and severely degraded (SD; c) alpine meadows in the Haibei Scientific Station, Qinghai Province, China

Table 1 Methods for measurement of soil physical-chemical characteristics

No.	Species	Family	Life type	IV (%)
No.	Species	Family	Life type	ND	MD	SD
S1	Elymus nutans Griseb.	Gramineae	P	40.05±2.4362^a	33.61±2.0526^b	25.15±1.0638^c
S2	Medicago archiducis-nicolai Sirj.	Leguminosae	P	13.95±1.8952^a	8.16±0.3524^b	4.99±0.6614^c
S3	Potentilla anserina Linn.	Rosaceae	P	7.54±0.5236^c	11.36±1.9931^b	28.55±3.5268^a
S4	Potentilla saundersiana Royle	Rosaceae	P	5.85±0.7455^a	4.68±0.3869^b	0.65±0.0142^c
S5	Lancea tibetica Hook. f. et Thoms.	Scrophulariaceae	P	5.46±0.4538^b	15.67±1.2514^a	5.51±0.6891^b
S6	Oxytropis ochrocephala Bunge	Leguminosae	P	4.71±0.3869^a	1.75±0.1417^b	0.72±0.0302^c
S7	Saussurea nigrescens Maxim.	Compositae	P	3.16±0.4258^a	1.07±0.1314^b	0.22±0.0624^c
S8	Gentiana straminea Maxim.	Gentianaceae	P	2.65±0.4736^a	0.62±0.0695^b	-
S9	Koeleria litvinowii Dom.	Gramineae	P	2.07±0.3847^a	0.98±0.0524^b	0.49±0.0625^c
S10	Astragalus peterea Tsai et YV	Leguminosae	P	1.93±0.1652^a	1.32±0.0589^b	0.22±0.0056^c
S11	Aster farreri W. W. Sm. et J.F. Jeffr.	Compositae	P	1.85±0.0769^b	5.37±0.1564^a	-
S12	Angelica nitida Wolff	Umbelliferae	P	1.58±0.1449	-	-
S13	Gentiana macrophylla Pall.	Gentianaceae	P	1.17±0.1864	-	-
S14	Oxytropis kansuensis Bunge	Leguminosae	P	1.11±0.0558^a	0.40±0.0146^b	-
S15	Thalictrum rutifolium Hook. f. et Thoms.	Ranunculaceae	P	1.02±0.0498	-	-
S16	Allium cyaneum Regel	Liliaceae	P	0.92±0.0089^a	0.65±0.0042^b	-
S17	Thalictrum alpinum Linn.	Ranunculaceae	P	0.91±0.0735	-	-
S18	Gentianella azurea (Bunge) Holub	Gentianaceae	A	0.71±0.1248^b	-	2.17±0.4561^a
S19	Artemisia moorcroftiana Wall. ex DC.	Compositae	P	0.64±0.0864	-	-
S20	Ranunculus tanguticus (Maxim.) Ovcz.	Ranunculaceae	P	0.57±0.0548^a	0.37±0.0423^b	0.08±0.0081^c
S21	Euphrasia regelii Wettst.	Scrophulariaceae	A	0.56±0.0039^b	-	0.66±0.0041^a
S22	Microula sikkimensis (Clarke) Hemsl.	Boraginaceae	P	0.52±0.0713^b	1.59±0.1347^a	-
S23	Festuca sinensis Keng	Gramineae	P	0.44±0.0059	-	-
S24	Anemone rivularis Buch.-Ham.	Ranunculaceae	P	0.37±0.0024	-	-
S25	Tibetia himalaica (Baker) Tsui	Leguminosae	P	0.26±0.0089^c	1.20±0.1489^b	1.49±0.1312^a
S26	Saussurea pulchra Lipsch.	Compositae	P	-	2.50±0.3337^b	5.57±0.7855^a
S27	Anaphalis lactea Maxim.	Compositae	P	-	2.20±0.0568	-
S28	Erigeron acer Linn.	Compositae	P	-	1.86±0.1004	-
S29	Ajania tenuifolia (Jacq.) Tzvel.	Compositae	P	-	1.24±0.6389^b	6.13±0.9184^a
S30	Morina chinensis (Bat.) Diels	Dipsacaceae	P	-	0.77±0.1832^b	1.31±0.3537^a
S31	Ligularia sagitta (Maxim.) Mattf.	Compositae	P	-	0.69±0.0518^b	4.21±0.4113^a
S32	Gentianopsis paludosa (Hook.f.) Ma	Gentianaceae	A	-	0.49±0.3737	-
S33	Aconitum gymnandrum Maxim.	Ranunculaceae	A	-	0.49±0.0045^a	0.05±0.0001^b
S34	Delphinium caeruleum Jacq. ex Camb.	Ranunculaceae	P	-	0.44±0.0121	-
S35	Astragalus polycladus Bur. et Franch.	Leguminosae	P	-	0.29±0.0526^a	0.33±0.0051^a
S36	Viola bulbosa Maxim.	Violaceae	P	-	0.23±0.0109^b	0.89±0.0417^a
S37	Stachys sieboldin Miq.	Labiatae	P	-	-	3.30±0.2568
S38	Polygonum sibiricum Laxm.	Polygonaceae	A	-	-	2.59±0.1471
S39	Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz.	Compositae	P	-	-	2.39±0.6627
S40	Stipa penicillate Hand.-Mazz.	Gramineae	P	-	-	1.17±0.0504
S41	Festuca rubra Linn.	Gramineae	P	-	-	0.73±0.0068
S42	Cerastium pusillum Seringe	Caryophyllaceae	P	-	-	0.43±0.0037

Table 2 Species and their important values (IV) of different degraded alpine meadows

Fig. 2 Changes in vegetation characteristics of ND, MD, and SD alpine meadows. (a), number at family level; (b), number at genus level; (c), number at species level; (d), percentage of plant functional group.

Fig. 3 Plant diversity indices of ND, MD, and SD alpine meadows. (a), Shannon-Wiener index; (b), Simpson index; (c), Pielou evenness index; (d), species richness index. In Figure 3, width indicates the density of data, and length indicates the range of variability.

Fig. 4 Soil characteristics of ND, MD, and SD alpine meadows. (a), EC (electrical conductivity); (b), SOM (soil organic matter); (c), TK (total potassium); (d), AK (available potassium); (e), SP (soil porosity). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences among different degraded alpine meadows at P<0.050 level. The abbreviations are the same in the following figures.

Fig. 5 Comparison of soil nutrient status in ND, MD, and SD alpine meadows. The values represent the relative distribution of the data in each dimension, and the overall approximation to a positive polygon represents a more balanced distribution of the soil nutrient status.

Fig. 6 Pearson's correlation coefficient between species diversity index and soil physical-chemical properties. H', Shannon-Wiener index; D, Simpson index; E, Pielou evenness index; S, species richness index. *, P<0.050 level; **, P<0.010 level; ***, P<0.001 level.


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