Effects of Main Land-Use Types on Plant and Microbial Diversity and Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Degraded Alpine Grasslands

Hongye Su, Li Ma, Tao Chang, Ruimin Qin, Zhonghua Zhang, Yandi She, Jingjing Wei, Chenyu Zhou, Xue Hu, Zhengchen Shi, Haze Adi, Honglin Li and Huakun Zhou ()
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Hongye Su: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Li Ma: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Tao Chang: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Ruimin Qin: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Zhonghua Zhang: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Yandi She: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Jingjing Wei: College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China
Chenyu Zhou: College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China
Xue Hu: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Zhengchen Shi: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Haze Adi: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China
Honglin Li: State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China
Huakun Zhou: Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Grassland resources occupy an important place in the national economy. However, grasslands in alpine regions of China are severely degraded, and the effects of land-use types on species composition, soil nutrients, and ecosystem multifunctionality of degraded alpine grasslands are less certain. To ascertain the effects of main land-use types (no-tillage reseeding and fertilization) on species diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality in alpine grasslands, we investigated the changes in these factors by subjecting specified areas. Using a standardized field survey, we measured the cover, richness, and evenness of plants. At each site, we measured microbial diversity and twelve soil variables critical for maintaining ecosystem multifunctionality in alpine grasslands. The results showed that: (1) the Margalef, Shannon–Wiener, and Simpson indices of plant community, and fungal diversity indices increased significantly in no-tillage reseeding and fertilization; (2) at the phyla level, the relative abundances of Basidiomycota, Olpidiomycota, and Proteobacteria increased significantly in no-tillage reseeding and fertilization, as well as, at the genus level, those of Coniochaeta, Solirubrobacter, Pseudonocardia, and Microvirga; (3) the soil physicochemical properties (except the C:N of soil) increased significantly in no-tillage reseeding and fertilization; (4) correlation analysis showed that species diversity was mainly correlated with soil nutrients in control check, while it was mainly correlated with soil physical properties in no-tillage reseeding and fertilization; (5) linear regression analysis showed significant positive relationships between Margalef, Shannon–Wiener, and Simpson indices of plant community and ecosystem multifunctionality. In addition, ecosystem multifunctionality was positively related to Pielou, Shannon–Wiener, and Simpson indices of the fungal community and it was positively related to Pielou and Shannon–Wiener indices of bacterial community. These observations indicated that no-tillage reseeding and fertilization of degraded alpine grasslands had the potential to improve ecosystem functions in many ways.

Keywords: species diversity; plant community; microbial community; ecosystem functions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
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