Response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near-natural restoration measures in alpine grassland, Tibetan plateau
IntroductionNear-natural restoration measures enhance the stability of plant life forms in degraded grasslands, facilitating the natural succession of plant communities.MethodsIn this study, we investigated the effects of three natural restoration measures on the alpine meadows of the northeastern T...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1504754/full |
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| author | Guoxing He Guoxing He Xiaoni Liu Xiaoni Liu Yali Li Yali Li Tong Ji Tong Ji |
| author_facet | Guoxing He Guoxing He Xiaoni Liu Xiaoni Liu Yali Li Yali Li Tong Ji Tong Ji |
| author_sort | Guoxing He |
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| description | IntroductionNear-natural restoration measures enhance the stability of plant life forms in degraded grasslands, facilitating the natural succession of plant communities.MethodsIn this study, we investigated the effects of three natural restoration measures on the alpine meadows of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau: banned grazing (BG), rest grazing (RG), traditional grazing (TG), and continuous grazing (CG). We utilized redundancy analysis (RDA), variation partitioning(VP), hierarchical partitioning (HP), and partial least squares pathway modeling (PLS-PM) to dissect the quantitative relationships between the distribution of plant life forms and soil physical properties under these restoration measures.Results and discussionThe results indicated the following: 1) Under each restoration measure, the distribution of life form plants were predominantly characterized by the highest number of hemicryptophytes, followed by geophytes, with the least number of therophytes. We found that the BG treatment had the highest hemicryptophyte height, coverage, aboveground biomass, and importance value, while the CG treatment had the lowest. 2) After near-natural restoration, the soil bulk density (BD) was decreased. The soil moisture characteristics (MC) were increased including soil saturated water content(SSWC), capillary water holding capacity (CWHC), field water capacity (FWC). And capillary porosity (CP) and non-capillary porosity (NP) were increased. 3) VP analysis revealed that MC, BD, and CP together explained 57.4% of the variation in plant life forms communities. 4) The hemicryptophytes benefited from restoration measures and increased CP. In contrast, the decrease in BD negatively affected geophytes. In summary, restoration measures reduce BD by enhancing MC and increasing CP, which affects the distribution of plant life forms. This finding reveals the important role of soil physical properties in plant survival strategies during alpine meadow restoration. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-7b1d9aa702884d4fafabf8d80fdfb6212025-01-20T07:20:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2025-01-011510.3389/fpls.2024.15047541504754Response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near-natural restoration measures in alpine grassland, Tibetan plateauGuoxing He0Guoxing He1Xiaoni Liu2Xiaoni Liu3Yali Li4Yali Li5Tong Ji6Tong Ji7Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Pratacultural College, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaSino-U.S. Center for Grazing Land Ecosystem Sustainability, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Pratacultural College, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaSino-U.S. Center for Grazing Land Ecosystem Sustainability, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Pratacultural College, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaSino-U.S. Center for Grazing Land Ecosystem Sustainability, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Pratacultural College, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaSino-U.S. Center for Grazing Land Ecosystem Sustainability, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaIntroductionNear-natural restoration measures enhance the stability of plant life forms in degraded grasslands, facilitating the natural succession of plant communities.MethodsIn this study, we investigated the effects of three natural restoration measures on the alpine meadows of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau: banned grazing (BG), rest grazing (RG), traditional grazing (TG), and continuous grazing (CG). We utilized redundancy analysis (RDA), variation partitioning(VP), hierarchical partitioning (HP), and partial least squares pathway modeling (PLS-PM) to dissect the quantitative relationships between the distribution of plant life forms and soil physical properties under these restoration measures.Results and discussionThe results indicated the following: 1) Under each restoration measure, the distribution of life form plants were predominantly characterized by the highest number of hemicryptophytes, followed by geophytes, with the least number of therophytes. We found that the BG treatment had the highest hemicryptophyte height, coverage, aboveground biomass, and importance value, while the CG treatment had the lowest. 2) After near-natural restoration, the soil bulk density (BD) was decreased. The soil moisture characteristics (MC) were increased including soil saturated water content(SSWC), capillary water holding capacity (CWHC), field water capacity (FWC). And capillary porosity (CP) and non-capillary porosity (NP) were increased. 3) VP analysis revealed that MC, BD, and CP together explained 57.4% of the variation in plant life forms communities. 4) The hemicryptophytes benefited from restoration measures and increased CP. In contrast, the decrease in BD negatively affected geophytes. In summary, restoration measures reduce BD by enhancing MC and increasing CP, which affects the distribution of plant life forms. This finding reveals the important role of soil physical properties in plant survival strategies during alpine meadow restoration.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1504754/fullnear-natural restoration measuresalpine meadowsplant life formssoil physical propertiessoil moisture characteristics |
| spellingShingle | Guoxing He Guoxing He Xiaoni Liu Xiaoni Liu Yali Li Yali Li Tong Ji Tong Ji Response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near-natural restoration measures in alpine grassland, Tibetan plateau Frontiers in Plant Science near-natural restoration measures alpine meadows plant life forms soil physical properties soil moisture characteristics |
| title | Response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near-natural restoration measures in alpine grassland, Tibetan plateau |
| title_full | Response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near-natural restoration measures in alpine grassland, Tibetan plateau |
| title_fullStr | Response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near-natural restoration measures in alpine grassland, Tibetan plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near-natural restoration measures in alpine grassland, Tibetan plateau |
| title_short | Response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near-natural restoration measures in alpine grassland, Tibetan plateau |
| title_sort | response of plant life forms and soil physical properties to near natural restoration measures in alpine grassland tibetan plateau |
| topic | near-natural restoration measures alpine meadows plant life forms soil physical properties soil moisture characteristics |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1504754/full |
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