Vegetation degradation impacts soil nutrients and enzyme activities in wet meadow on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Vegetation degradation, due to climate change and human activities, changes the biomass, vegetation species composition, and soil nutrient input sources and thus affects soil nutrient cycling and enzyme activities. However, few studies have focused on the responses of soil nutrients and enzymes to vegetation degradation in high-altitude wet meadows. In this study, we examined the effects of vegetation degradation on soil nutrients (soil organic carbon, SOC; total nitrogen, TN; total phosphorus, TP) and enzyme activities (i.e., urease, catalase, amylase) in an alpine meadow in the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Four different levels of degradation were defined in terms of vegetation density and composition: primary wet meadow (CK), lightly degraded (LD), moderately degraded (M

SUBMITTER: Wu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7718246 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature