Grazing alters species relative abundance by affecting plant functional traits in a Tibetan subalpine meadow.

ABSTRACT: Domestic livestock grazing has caused dramatic changes in plant community composition across the globe. However, the response of plant species abundance in communities subject to grazing has not often been investigated through a functional lens, especially for belowground traits. Grazing directly impacts aboveground plant tissues, but the relationships between above- and belowground traits, and their influence on species abundance are also not well known. We collected plant trait and species relative abundance data in the grazed and nongrazed meadow plant communities in a species-rich subalpine ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We measured three aboveground traits (leaf photosynthesis rate, specific leaf area, and maximum height) and five belowground traits (root average diameter, ro

SUBMITTER: He Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8366865 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature