Traditional Removal Strategies Mitigate Shrub Encroachment Driven by Canopy Competition on the Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Alpine grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau rank among Earth's ecologically critical yet vulnerable ecosystems. These ecosystems sustain pastoral livelihoods and preserve nomadic cultural traditions. However, climate warming combined with intensified anthropogenic pressures is accelerating shrub encroachment in these ecosystems. For centuries, Tibetan pastoralists have counteracted this process through targeted interventions: manual uprooting of dominant shrubs, controlled patch burning during dormant seasons, and rotational grazing systems coupled with strategic herbivore deployment to suppress woody seedlings. Despite their shrub management efficacy, the scientific rationale underlying Tibetan traditional ecological knowledge-the role of shrub-herbaceous interaction variability in driving e

SUBMITTER: Yang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12699206 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature