Dataset Information

Different responses of ecosystem carbon exchange to warming in three types of alpine grassland on the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Climate is a driver of terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange, which is an important product of ecosystem function. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau has recently been subjected to a marked increase in temperature as a consequence of global warming. To explore the effects of warming on carbon exchange in grassland ecosystems, we conducted a whole-year warming experiment between 2012 and 2014 using open-top chambers placed in an alpine meadow, an alpine steppe, and a cultivated grassland on the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We measured the gross primary productivity, net ecosystem CO 2 exchange (NEE), ecosystem respiration, and soil respiration using a chamber-based method during the growing season. The results show that after 3 years of warming, there was significant stimulation of carbon assimilation and emission in the alpine meadow, but both these processes declined in the alpine steppe and the cultivated grassland. Under warming conditions, the soil water content was more important in stimulating ecosystem carbon exchange in the meadow and cultivated grassland than was soil temperature. In the steppe, the soil temperature was negatively correlated with ecosystem carbon exchange. We found that the ambient soil water content was significantly correlated with the magnitude of warming-induced change in NEE. Under high soil moisture condition, warming has a significant positive effect on NEE, while it has a negative effect under low soil moisture condition. Our results highlight that the NEE in steppe and cultivated grassland have negative responses to warming; after reclamation, the natural meadow would subject to loose more C in warmer condition. Therefore, under future warmer condition, the overextension of cultivated grassland should be avoided and scientific planning of cultivated grassland should be achieved.

SUBMITTER: Ganjurjav H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792621 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Different responses of ecosystem carbon exchange to warming in three types of alpine grassland on the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Ganjurjav Hasbagan H Hu Guozheng G Wan Yunfan Y Li Yue Y Danjiu Luobu L Gao Qingzhu Q

Ecology and evolution 20171230 3

Climate is a driver of terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange, which is an important product of ecosystem function. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau has recently been subjected to a marked increase in temperature as a consequence of global warming. To explore the effects of warming on carbon exchange in grassland ecosystems, we conducted a whole-year warming experiment between 2012 and 2014 using open-top chambers placed in an alpine meadow, an alpine steppe, and a cultivated grassland on the central ...[more]

PMID: 29435228

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Project description:Grazing is one of the main human disturbance factors in alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), which can directly or indirectly influence the community structures and ecological functions of grassland ecosystems. However, despite extensive field grazing experiments, there is currently no consensus on how different grazing management approaches affect alpine grassland diversity, soil carbon (C), and nitrogen (N). Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of 70 peer-reviewed publications to evaluate the general response of 11 variables related to alpine grassland ecosystems plant diversity and ecological functions to grazing. Overall, the results showed that grazing significantly increased the species richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and Pielou evenness index values by 9.89% (95% CI: 2.75-17.09%), 7.28% (95% CI: 1.68-13.62%), and 3.74% (95% CI: 1.40-6.52%), respectively. Aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) decreased, respectively, by 41.91% (95% CI: -50.91 to -32.88%) and 17.68% (95% CI: -26.94 to -8.52%). Soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (TN), soil C:N ratio, and soil moisture decreased by 13.06% (95% CI: -15.88 to -10.15%), 12.62% (95% CI: -13.35 to -8.61%), 3.27% (95% CI: -4.25 to -2.09%), and 20.75% (95% CI: -27.89 to -13.61%), respectively, whereas, soil bulk density and soil pH increased by 17.46% (95% CI: 11.88-24.53%) and 2.24% (95% CI: 1.01-3.64%), respectively. Specifically, moderate grazing, long-durations (>5 years), and winter grazing contributed to increases in the species richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and Pielou evenness index. However, AGB, BGB, SOC, TN, and soil C:N ratios showed a decrease with enhanced grazing intensity. The response ratio of SOC was positively associated with AGB and BGB but was negatively related to the Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou evenness index. Furthermore, the effects of grazing on plant diversity, AGB, BGB, SOC, and TN in alpine grassland varied with grazing duration, grazing season, livestock type, and grassland type. The findings suggest that grazing should synthesize other appropriate grazing patterns, such as seasonal and rotation grazing, and, furthermore, additional research on grazing management of alpine grassland on the QTP is needed in the future.

Dataset Information

Different responses of ecosystem carbon exchange to warming in three types of alpine grassland on the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Publications

Different responses of ecosystem carbon exchange to warming in three types of alpine grassland on the central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

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