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Synergies between mini-patches of plant communities and steady-stage alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
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  • li lin,
  • Xingliang Xu,
  • guangmin cao,
  • Fawei Zhang,
  • Yikang Li,
  • Junjie Huang
li lin
Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Xingliang Xu
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences
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guangmin cao
Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Fawei Zhang
Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Yikang Li
Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Junjie Huang
School of Mechanical and Power Engineering Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo China 454000
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Abstract

Mini-patches are considered indicators of an ecosystem’s response to interference, particularly those in alpine meadow ecosystems. Thus, monitoring the characteristics of mini-patches can elucidate the organization of an ecosystem’s components, the strategies it employs to survive interference, and the mechanisms whereby it maintains stability. In this research, we used multivariate statistical analysis methods to investigate the characteristics of the plant community and the micro-topography of mini-patches in alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from August 2012 to August 2013. Our findings show that (1) mini-patches were distributed in alpine meadows with different levels of degradation and the effects of meteorological characteristics (accumulated temperature above 0°C and accumulation of precipitation) and geographical characteristics (altitude, longitude, and latitude) contributed less than 20% to their distribution and characteristics; (2) alpine meadows maintained aboveground biomass within a certain range under a relative larger range of grazing intensity, illustrating their ability to regulate community structure and components under various intensities of disturbance and showing that alpine degradation could itself counteract grazing disturbance; and (3) overgrazing is the main driver of multi-steady stage coexistence in alpine meadows, as the mini-patches that remain involved in plant community succession function, and as a source of germplasm in the plant community regime shift under different grazing intensities damaged alpine meadows.
07 Sep 2022Submitted to Land Degradation & Development
12 Sep 2022Submission Checks Completed
12 Sep 2022Assigned to Editor
24 Nov 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
07 Dec 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
20 Dec 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Major