Effects of Heavy Degradation on Alpine Meadows: Soil N 2 O Emission Rates and Meta-Analysis in the Tibetan Plateau

Huidan He, Jingbin Zhu, Yangong Du (), Jiapeng Qu, Chen Kelong and Huakun Zhou
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Huidan He: College of Tourism, Resources and Environment, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang 277160, China
Jingbin Zhu: College of Tourism, Resources and Environment, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang 277160, China
Yangong Du: Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Jiapeng Qu: Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Chen Kelong: College of Geography, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810001, China
Huakun Zhou: Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-8

Abstract: Heavy grassland degradation is evident across the Tibetan Plateau. However, atmospheric nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission rates and their underlying driving mechanisms in the southeast regions and across the Tibetan Plateau remain unclear. We analyzed the N 2 O emission rates of heavily degraded and undegraded alpine meadow soil incubation using gas chromatography in three river sources and meta-analysis methods across the Tibetan Plateau. The N 2 O emission rates of the heavily degraded and control meadows were respectively 4.29 ± 0.64 and 3.27 ± 0.53 g kg −1 h −1 in the southeast Tibetan Plateau ( p < 0.01), indicating an increase of 31.16% on the N 2 O flux of heavy degradation. Heavy degradation increased N 2 O emission rates by 0.55 ± 0.14 (95% confidence interval: 0.27–0.83) through meta-analysis. High degradation increased by approximately 71.6% compared with that of the control. The water-filled pore space (WFPS) significantly influenced the N 2 O emission rate based on the moderator test ( p < 0.05). The mixed-effect model results revealed that WFPS, soil nitrate, and bulk soil could explain 59.90%, 16.56%, and 15.19% of the variation in the N 2 O emission rates between the control and heavily degraded meadows, respectively. In addition, the N 2 O emission rates of heavily degraded meadows can be reduced by increasing WFPS and bulk density, and by reducing the soil nitrate content.

Keywords: heavy degradation; N 2 O rates; meta-analysis; Tibetan Plateau (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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