Temporal stability and maintenance mechanisms of alpine meadow communities under clipping and fertilization.

ABSTRACT: Negative effects of long-term overgrazing have been seriously, grasslands temporal stability is an important ecological concern we need to research. Here, we performed a 12-year-long (2007-2018) two-factor controlled experiment on Kobresia humilis meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. The manipulations included three clipping levels (no clipping, NC; moderate clipping, MC; heavy clipping, HC) and two fertilization levels (no fertilization, NF; fertilization, F). Our results revealed that the two clipping manipulations significantly increased the temporal stability of alpine meadow communities, whose significant increase was more pronounced under the MC than HC treatment. Species asynchrony had a significant positive correlation with species abundance along with compound community gradient.

SUBMITTER: Wang T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8601914 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature