Soil Organic Carbon Content and Density in Response to Pika Outbreaks Along the Altitudinal Gradient in Alpine Meadows of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, West China

Wenzhi Yao, Jing Zhang () and Xilai Li ()
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Wenzhi Yao: State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China
Jing Zhang: College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining 810000, China
Xilai Li: State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of plateau pika ( Ochotona curzoniae ) disturbances and altitude on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage characteristics, including SOC content and SOC density (SOCD). In this study, plateau pika outbreak areas and non-outbreak areas at different altitudes were compared in terms of vegetation biomass, soil physicochemical properties, SOC content and SOCD to establish the relationship between vegetation and soil characteristics (including SOC content and SOCD). The results showed that SOC and SOCD decreased significantly ( p < 0.01) in plateau pika outbreak areas, but SOCD increased first and then decreased with elevation in non-outbreak areas. Soil total nitrogen (TN) content decreased significantly ( p < 0.01) with elevation in both plateau pika outbreak and non-outbreak areas. There were significant differences ( p < 0.05) in total phosphorus (TP) at low elevations and nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 − -N) at high elevations between outbreak and non-outbreak areas, but other nutrients did not differ hugely between outbreak and non-outbreak areas at the same elevation. Correlation analysis revealed that belowground biomass (BGB) in the plateau pika outbreak area was significantly and positively correlated with SOC ( p < 0.01); structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that altitude had a direct effect on SOC (path coefficient = −0.882, p < 0.001) in the plateau pika outbreak area, but only a reduced influence on SOC and SOCD in the non-outbreak area; nitrate nitrogen in the plateau pika outbreak area and TN were the key influencing factors, which exerted a strong direct influence on SOC and SOCD (path coefficient = −0.666 and 0.639 ( p < 0.001), respectively). Therefore, increasing vegetation biomass and nitrogen nutrient content through reseeding pasture and fertilization can facilitate the accumulation and recovery of SOC and SOCD in the ecological restoration of degraded alpine meadows, and it is especially important to quickly enrich soil nitrogen content in the outbreak area of plateau pika populations at high altitudes.

Keywords: SOC; SOCD; plateau pika; elevation change; plant biomass; soil properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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