Is grazing exclusion effective in restoring vegetation in degraded alpine grasslands in Tibet, China?

ABSTRACT: Overgrazing is considered one of the key disturbance factors that results in alpine grassland degradation in Tibet. Grazing exclusion by fencing has been widely used as an approach to restore degraded grasslands in Tibet since 2004. Is the grazing exclusion management strategy effective for the vegetation restoration of degraded alpine grasslands? Three alpine grassland types were selected in Tibet to investigate the effect of grazing exclusion on plant community structure and biomass. Our results showed that species biodiversity indicators, including the Pielou evenness index, the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, and the Simpson dominance index, did not significantly change under grazing exclusion conditions. In contrast, the total vegetation cover, the mean vegetation height of the commun

SUBMITTER: Yan Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4476103 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature